Is Southern Wales nice?

ChloeInSydney · Post by **ChloeInSydney** » Fri, 01 Jul 2005 7:59 pm

Hi there,

I just got back from Europe and found northern Wales to be very scenic (surprise surprise). I nearly wasn't going to go there.

UK was unremarkable maybe because I had been there before. Northern Wales is mountains and rivers. We went from Caenarfon to Shewsbury via a pretty postcard place with rivers and waterfalls called Betws-y-Coed. Before that there were towering slade (??) mountains just before Betws-y-Coed. A very grand impressive castle in Caenarfon! Read somewhere Wales has some of the biggest castles in the UK??

Anyone been to other parts of Wales or expats from there? Any nice places to recommend? I plan on going back next yr and this time intend on staying longer in Wales (instead of the UK) if it is nice. Thanks in advance.

Bubbles · Post by **Bubbles** » Fri, 01 Jul 2005 10:04 pm

Hiya Chloe

I'm from just outside Cardiff and live here at the moment. South Wales is lovely but more industrialized than the north. Cadiff, Swansea, Newport, all large cities, but Cardiff is great, lots of life on the seafront etc and all the great clubs, restaurants etc.

Of course, it does depend on our weather, which you can never depend on, but lately it's been just wonderful.

I'm attaching some pics of the Gower Peninsula beaches and some near me in the Vale of Glamorgan.

We really do have some wonderful coastline, but whether you're brave enough to swim in the sea (cold) is up to you. Great surfing though and lots of surfy types.

We have an United World College near us, like the one in Singapore and there are young people from all over the world here, as Cardiff Uni has the largest UK campus.

Try to come.

Bubbles · Post by **Bubbles** » Fri, 01 Jul 2005 10:15 pm

A few more.....by the way, where did my pic of Bubbles go....was that my fault trying to add a pic earlier? Doh, doh.

ChloeInSydney · Post by **ChloeInSydney** » Sat, 02 Jul 2005 10:27 am

Gee the pics look great. Thanks Bubbles. We were going to go to Cardiff but it did not fit into our plan. There seem to be a lot of ppl on another Travel Forum that suggest Northern + mid Wales is nicer than the south; someone even mentioned not much to see south of Barmouth but another did say Swansea is a nice city to go. What do you think about an area (assumed it not a city) called Pembrokeshire? I don't seem to be able to locate this on my map.

It doesn't seem I am able to load my pics here so when I register I will post some pics from my trip. I really liked Betws-y-Coed, a classic old town/village with rivers and waterfalls and cute bridges. Also a very small town 1 hr's drive before that which I forgot the name, ppl were mountain tracking, there was also a train/cable to get to the top. We didn't have time to stop. The mountains are not as extreme like the French/Swiss Alps but the rolling hills/mountains into cute villages makes it really really pretty.

Cheers

Chloe

Bubbles · Post by **Bubbles** » Sat, 02 Jul 2005 7:01 pm

http://www.newquay-westwales.co.uk/photos.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/si ... nsea.shtml

http://www.visitpembrokeshire.com/

http://www.visitwales.com/

http://www.south-wales.org.uk/southwale ... o_go.shtml

http://www.blackmountain.co.uk/multi/

http://www.visitwales.co.uk/52639/22.BB.html

http://www.tregoydriding.co.uk/Pages/ca ... wales.html

http://www.expedia.co.uk/pub/agent.dll? ... 0301549875&

http://www.country-holidays.co.uk/ch_homepage.html

http://www.wales-breaks.co.uk/

Hi Chloe
I hope the above is of some use to you. Yes, it's true, the north of the country does tend to be more spectacular if you love the really big mountainous vistas but here in the south there are still mountains, just softer and smaller. There is much more to do of course, as the cities are very big. Swansea is a sprawling place and has good nightlife. The Mumbles area...just out of the city....is a very good place to stay if you're youngish, very lively of an evening, especially weekends where it's famous for it's Mumbles Mile...i.e...a mile of pubs which all the people drink in, starting one end and trying to get to the last before off to town to the big clubs....

The Gower peninsula which is just a few miles from there is beautiful and Mumbles itself is on the bay, with Caswell and Langland bay just a mile away. Last two are quite famous surfy beaches but if you're a serious surfy then a place called Llangennith is your destination. Really good waves there....about ten miles from Swansea.

I love Cardiff best but I'm a townie. The beaches here do tend to stop at Southerndown, or Barry, both near to Cardiff to the West.....to be honest I would not bother with Newport unless you have a historical interest in the forming of Wales as it was there that the Chartist Riots took place in the nineteenth century.

Wales has a proud industrial and mining history so try to go down one of the old coalpits which are now tourist attractions.....sounds quite twee thing to do, but when you do it you realise how they lived and it makes you realise how hard life must have been.

Anyway Chloe, if there's anything else I can help you with, just ask. My son is young.....early twenties, so if you want me to ask him young type stuff I will.

Good luck.

Bubbles · Post by **Bubbles** » Sat, 02 Jul 2005 7:07 pm

By the way Chloe, Pembrokeshire is way out to the western tip of the country, southern edge........places like Newquay are great....but be prepared.....it's turned into a party place for stag and hen holidays and is teeming with young people from all over Britain, sort of the new Dublin.....but cheaper cos of the need not to get ferries or flights..

Honestly, if you go there get booked up with accom first as it's very very busy all year....it's a lovely place, truly beautiful....but for me a bit remote as it's a trek out there....motorways to Carmarthen then country roads...all good, but twisty and turny. There's no escaping those roads either as British Rail ends at Carmarthen too........arrgh!!

But really worth it if you want to party the weekend away.

Bubbs · Post by **Bubbs** » Sun, 03 Jul 2005 1:55 am

Hi Chloe

I think I meant TENBY which is near Newquay for the crazy weekends. But both are near to each other.

Take some Alka Seltzer as it's a bit of a drinkfest down there.

ChloeInSydney · Post by **ChloeInSydney** » Sun, 03 Jul 2005 4:35 pm

Thanks Bubbles for all the effort. You have given me a lot of info to keep me busy and this gets saved into my travel file.

Cheers

Chloe

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun, 03 Jul 2005 6:08 pm

ChloeInSydney wrote:Hi there,

I just got back from Europe and found northern Wales to be very scenic (surprise surprise). I nearly wasn't going to go there.

UK was unremarkable maybe because I had been there before. Northern Wales is mountains and rivers. We went from Caenarfon to Shewsbury via a pretty postcard place with rivers and waterfalls called Betws-y-Coed. Before that there were towering slade (??) mountains just before Betws-y-Coed. A very grand impressive castle in Caenarfon! Read somewhere Wales has some of the biggest castles in the UK??

Anyone been to other parts of Wales or expats from there? Any nice places to recommend? I plan on going back next yr and this time intend on staying longer in Wales (instead of the UK) if it is nice. Thanks in advance.

North Wales is much nicer and prettier. It is more scenic than Singapore

English Gent · Post by **English Gent** » Sun, 03 Jul 2005 6:43 pm

Southern Wales is GREAT!!!!!!!!

Independant (wanna wear my kilt) Englishman.

H

ChloeInSydney · Post by **ChloeInSydney** » Sun, 03 Jul 2005 6:53 pm

ChloeInSydney wrote:Hi there,

I just got back from Europe and found northern Wales to be very scenic (surprise surprise). I nearly wasn't going to go there.

UK was unremarkable maybe because I had been there before. Northern Wales is mountains and rivers. We went from Caenarfon to Shewsbury via a pretty postcard place with rivers and waterfalls called Betws-y-Coed. Before that there were towering slade (??) mountains just before Betws-y-Coed. A very grand impressive castle in Caenarfon! Read somewhere Wales has some of the biggest castles in the UK??

Anyone been to other parts of Wales or expats from there? Any nice places to recommend? I plan on going back next yr and this time intend on staying longer in Wales (instead of the UK) if it is nice. Thanks in advance.

oops... must be the jet lag, replace all the words "UK" by "England"... Chloe

English Gent · Post by **English Gent** » Sun, 03 Jul 2005 7:10 pm

North Yorkshire too?

ChloeInSydney · Post by **ChloeInSydney** » Sun, 03 Jul 2005 8:30 pm

Err, north Yorkshire.. We must have driven thru it from Edinburgh to York on my last trip but I couldn't remember anything that stood out. This time though we drove from Durham to Windermere (having flown from London we picked up a car at the Durham Tee-side airport). We went through this mountain range (in Durham country) which was nice but scary as it was very poor visibility due to the mist and the road was narrow and there were lots of serious cyclists about.

We did do the lakes districts around Windermere but didn't see anything eventful. We had been to Windermere on our previous trip.

I am not saying England is not nice, it is, but maybe it is because I have been there before.

.. and you, English Gent, been to any nice places in Wales to recommend
or for that matter anywhere in N Yorkshire?

Chloe

ChloeInSydney · Post by **ChloeInSydney** » Sun, 03 Jul 2005 8:34 pm

Oh yes, we were meant to go to the Codwolts but we were held up or rather held back by some friends in the Midlands so I missed out!!
Was told it is a nice area too.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon, 04 Jul 2005 1:26 am

South Wales cannot beat North Wales.

SINGAPORE EXPATS FORUM
Singapore Expat Forum and Message Board for Expats in Singapore & Expatriates Relocating to Singapore

Is Southern Wales nice?

Is Southern Wales nice?

Thanks!

Thanks again

Re: Is Southern Wales nice?

Re: Is Southern Wales nice?

Who is online