South Wales

Counties: Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Powys, Pembrokeshire.

Principal towns: Newport, Swansea, Cardiff.

Wales has its’ own Celtic culture, and the inhabitants are fiercely proud of being Welsh. Tourists who interchange ‘Britain’ with ‘England’ will get short shrift here! Road signs are both in Welsh and English and many place names look unpronounceable (e.g. ‘Ll’ at the start of a name is pronounced ‘Cl’ with a guttural sound).

Wales is a country of diverse landscapes but they all have one thing in common – castles! Throughout Wales there are many great medieval castles, mostly built by English Kings to subjugate the Welsh.

Most of the population of Wales lives in the far south around the towns and villages which grew up around the coal mines and iron works. Now the closed pits are tourist attractions that give fascinating glimpses into the hard life of the miners.

Further north the sparsely populated Brecon Beacons National Park provides an unspoiled landscape of moorland, sheep farms, wooded valleys and massive reservoirs.

The Pembrokeshire coast line is amongst the most beautiful in Britain with sandy beaches and rugged cliffs.

The many castles include the impressive Cardiff Castle in the Welsh capital city.