wales info
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DISCOVER WALES AREA HIGHLIGHTS Savage mountain grandeur; pastoral peace in wooded valleys; stunning coastlines of rugged cliffs and wild, wide beaches; a country of legend - the Land of the Red Dragon.
Caernarfonshire - Cardiganshire - Carmarthenshire - Denbighshire - Glamorgan - Gwent - Gwynedd - Flintshire - Isle of Anglesey - Monmouthshire - Pembrokeshire - Powys Snowdon, the ‘king of the mountains’, set in the big, bold Snowdonia National Park, which stretches from Llanberis, in the north, to the Dovey Estuary, on Cardigan Bay. Snowdonia National Park Snowdon stands at 1,085m, the highest peak south of the Scottish border. Reaching the summit need not be a feat of mountaineering, there’s a railway all the way to the top. Another favourite with hill walkers is Cader Idris, in the south of the park. Visit the Isle of Anglesey, after crossing the Menai Straits bridge, Victorian engineer Thomas Telford’s famous chain bridge. The island has 100 miles of varied coastline. Pembrokeshire has Britain’s only coastal based national park, with a 170 mile path following the cliffs and beaches. Meanwhile, the Brecon Beacons National Park boasts the greenest of hills on its backbone of red sandstone, with its sheer precipices, caverns Brecon Beacons National Park and underground lakes. Wales qualifies as the Land of the Castle,it has hundreds of them. They range from the magnificent Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris to hilltop fortresses such as Carreg Cennen, near Llandeilo. the mighty, medieval Caerphilly Castle, near the Welsh capital, Cardiff, is the largest of the Welsh castles.
Caerphilly Castle
The first game of lawn tennis was played in 1873 at Nantclwyd Hall, in Clwyd, north Wales. Further north, Wales’ industrial past is remembered in the now silent slate quarries at Blaenau Ffestiniog. The Ffestiniog railway, with its narrow gauge trains, follows the route that once took slate to Porthmadog harbour, to be shipped all over the world. Back to the southwest and the wild beauty of the Gower Peninsula. To Cardiff, Europe’s youngest capital city. It’s cosmopolitan, cultural and vibrant, with the city centre castle dominating its bright lights and stunning new waterfront. Wales more than lives up to its own special greeting. 64