Do you consider Wales to be a holiday destination for...

  • a week/weekend as the destination in it's own right?

    Votes: 11 84.6%
  • as a day trip as an add on to a holiday elsewhere?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • as a destination i wouldn't consider as a holiday?

    Votes: 2 15.4%

  • Total voters
    13

Jerry

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I've just seen an article from BBC news about tourism in Wales and made me wonder how people on this forum view Wales as a holiday destination. So i thought I'd ask!
 
I love Wales although with Cornwall being our default UK holiday spot. I haven't spent as much time there as I probably should have.

I am a huge fan of North Wales and although the seaside towns are great it's Snowdonia that does it for me.

I've only visited South Wales once or twice but I definitely enjoyed it.

Cardiff is one of my favourite cities for a weekend break.
 
Living right on the Welsh border, or almost, I've visited Wales numerous times down the years from day trips to Barry Island from Weston-super-Mare via Campbells White Funnel fleet when I was a youngster, to day trips in South Wales in later years, to tours of the country via hired motor caravans when our kids were young, to full-blown blown holidays in North Wales (Snowdonia, Anglesey and Porthmadog/Portmadoc are three of the destinations that come to mind).

The Forest of Dean on both the English and Welsh sides of the border is a very pleasant afternoon drive for us.

So yes, in my opinion the country is very much a tourist destination with its myriad of attractions, both natural and man-made (I suppose it should be person-made these days), whether for a day trip, a 2-3 day visit or a longer holiday.

Several years ago the Welsh Tourist Board featured a superb tv advert. Two characters were lying on a cliff overlooking a beach. The camera panned slowly along the beach to reveal beautiful golden sands basking in sunshine, with few people. One of the characters said to his mate, "Dai's gone to Tenerife for his holiday". There was a superbly-timed pause before the mate replied in a quiet unbelieving/quizzical tone, "Why?"

My commentary does not do justice to the advert. I've tried unsuccessfully to find it on YouTube.
 
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"Dai's gone to Tenerife for his holiday".
My parents are like that, they don't consider Wales a holiday destination at all, i honestly don't think they've been to North Wales and any trip to West Wales would've been for my dad with the rugby in the old days. I think sometimes people don't realise what they've got on their own doorstep.
 
When I was in my teens, we would often go to Wales for the weekend or half term. The caravan would be ready on a friday night and as soon as my Dad was home from work, it was hooked up and off we'd go. We usually went to Rhayader, a lovely little town on the Wye in central Wales. It was a great base for exploring the Elan Valley, Devil's Bridge or a trip to the sea at Aberystwyth.
The Professor that I used to work for used to organise an annual weekend away for his staff and PhD students to the Pembrokeshire coast. We stayed at a farmhouse whilst others camped in the feild. It was great fun. Lots of walks, stunning sceney and the evenings in the pub.
I highly recommend Wales as a holiday destination.

Kevin
 
Snowdonia is a fantastic place haven't been up there for quite a while!

We used to stop at Betws-y-Coed on the way either to or from Snowdonia. It became sort of a tradition to grab a Welsh Oggie before buying lots of goodies in one of the many shops. Although extremely beautiful it's a very touristy place and can get pretty busy at times.
 
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We used to stop at Betws-y-Coed on the way either to or from Snowdonia. It became sort of a tradition to grab a Welsh Oggie before buying lots of goodies in one of the many shops. Although extremely beautiful it's a very touristy place and can get pretty busy at times.
Yeah i think there have been complaints of too many tourists sometimes! Especially the effect they have on Snowdon.
 
We used to stop at Betws-y-Coed on the way either to or from Snowdonia. It became sort of a tradition to grab a Welsh Oggie before buying lots of goodies in one of the many shops. Although extremely beautiful it's a very touristy place and can get pretty busy at times.

Give me a Welsh Oggie over a Cornish Pasty any day! There is a butcher/deli shop in Llangollen that does rather nice (and rather large) ones!
 
It’s a lovely little spot, it was usually where we stopped for a toilet break back in the day when we went to the caravan at Barmouth.

Highly recommended for a day out - you can be there in about an hour and a half from her. There isn’t a huge amount to see - the Steam Railway and the walk along the canal to the Aquaduct and/or the Horse Shoe falls being the main draw.

You can take a ride on a horse drawn barge along the canal which is good for the kids and there is a very nice cafe on the side of the river which overlook the old train station which I highly recommend for a bite to eat.

The more adventurous can hire a small barge for the day and take a trip across the aquaduct. The Rhyg state is just down the road too if you fancy sampling a bison burger!
 
There is a related discussion taking place in the CWL General thread following a certain Mr S Calder's opinion that a lack of direct flights to Wales has played a part in the disappointing tourist figures for the country last year.
 
There is a related discussion taking place in the CWL General thread following a certain Mr S Calder's opinion that a lack of direct flights to Wales has played a part in the disappointing tourist figures for the country last year.

I should imagine given the fine weather we have enjoyed this summer the number of tourists visiting Wales will be very high.

Just for balance I should point out Wales is the location of the one and only place I have visited that I said in no uncertain terms I would never EVER go back to - Rhyl! That place has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
 
Just realised a lot of my recommendations are based on food!

Which is why I have made a note of all of them ;)

Just for balance I should point out Wales is the location of the one and only place I have visited that I said in no uncertain terms I would never EVER go back to - Rhyl! That place has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

I haven't been since I was a kid but a friend went about 2/3 years ago and said it was just awful.
 

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9 trips in 9 days done 70 miles walked and over 23-00 photos taken with a large number taken at 20mph or above. Heavy rain on 1 day only
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wondering why on my "holidays" I choose to get up 2 hours earlier than when going to work. 6 trips in 6 days soon coming up with 3 more days to sort out

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