One of my big UK bucket list items has been to visit Wales. When I was studying abroad, I did a quick coach day trip that took me to Tintern Abbey, and allowed me to jump between Gloucester and Monmouth (one foot in Wales, and one foot in England, as it were). Ever since then, I’ve wanted to see more. This year, when I was presented with the opportunity to head back to Wales for a 36 hour coach adventure, it seemed like a no brainer!

Day One

The day started bright and early with the coach departing at 7:45am, with a quick stop at a service station en route. As soon as you cross into Wales, the signs are in Welsh and English, and all throughout the trip, I kept looking to find the Welsh signs. I respect the continued effort to revitalize the Welsh language, and make it once more as spoken as English. It truly is a beautiful language.

The first stop of the day was Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre, which is impressive, although not to the extend of some other amphitheaters I’ve seen. There are also barracks around, and it’s always fun to see ruins from a time that pre-dates the US by several centuries. There’s also a museum, and around the corner, Roman baths. It was a nice stop to stretch the legs, and take in some history!

Lunch was in Cardiff after a quick stop at Cardiff Bay. A lot of Doctor Who and Torchwood are filmed in that area, so it was neat to see them in person, and to recognize them from certain episodes. I ate lunch in the grounds of Cardiff Castle, and while I didn’t go in, it was a lovely little picnic location. I’ve already put Cardiff on my list of cities to visit again, because I didn’t get that much time there, and I feel like there’s way more to explore there!

A quick drive away is Caerphilly Castle, and it is an impressive sight. It’s surrounded by water, which on its own is a cool thing to see, but then the ruins themselves are fascinating to explore. It’s Wales’ largest castle, and the second largest castle in Britain (second only to Windsor), and as a Medieval Castle, the fact that so much of it has survived is astonishing. There’s even a leaning tower of sorts (which they call wonkier than Pisa). While wandering through the ramparts, we came across a beautiful double rainbow, and that just added to the mythical, magical feel of the castle.

Day Two

The first stop of the day was the Big Pit National Coal Museum in Blaenafon. What was once an active coal mine, is now a museum where you can learn all about the coal mining industry in Wales, and the impact coal mining had on Wales’ economy. The highlight of the museum is the opportunity to join an underground tour, and head down into the mines themselves. You get kitted out in a hard hat, complete with headlamp, and then head down the shaft 300 feet below the ground. The tours are led by ex-miners so you get first hand accounts of what the experience of working down a mine would’ve been like for them, but also for their predecessors. I found it fascinating to learn about it all, and to get to do so in the mine itself. The tour itself was a little daunting, especially with the descent into the underground, and the fact that you aren’t allowed to bring anything down there that has a battery, but I’m so glad I did it. If you plan to do the underground tour while visiting the museum, be sure to wear warm clothes, and wear sturdy shoes – at one point you walk directly into the air being pulled in to ventilate the mines, and depending on the temperature outside, that air may not be very warm!

Once resurfacing, the museum also has exhibits about the process of coal mining, baths, and other buildings used when the mine was operational. They do also have an audio-visual experience you can do if you’d rather not go underground. Be sure to also visit the gift shop to pick up some traditional Welsh items such as lovespoons, or even items made from Welsh coal! I picked up a magnet of a Welsh dragon, made out of Welsh coal, and handmade in Wales, which felt like the perfect souvenir for the trip.

After a quick lunch in Monmouth, the final stop of the weekend trip was Tintern Abbey. I first visited in 2016, so it was nice to go back again, and to revisit the Cistercian Monk Abbey ruins. The architecture is beyond impressive, and beautiful. The whole area seems unreal, especially when you see modern day houses in the distance, and surrounding the abbey. It was the perfect ending to an introduction to Wales.

All throughout the drive, we crossed through beautiful autumnal colors, and that alone has made me want to revisit Wales. I can wholly understand why so many people holiday there, and I know that I barely scratched the surface of it. I hope to be back very soon, and to be able to explore more of Wales’ incredible landscape and history.

Diolch Cymru!