Holidaying in wonderful Wales

[Huginamugg]

We are planning a 2 week holiday and would like to spend at least a week visiting North and South Wales, restrictions permitting.

Could we have some recommendations for towns/places to stay and things to do?
We have an energetic 16 year old DS who likes outdoor activities and DH and I would like some sightseeing, places of interest, nice beaches, scenery etc.

There is plenty of nice food, history, cute towns, gardens, beaches, scenery, castle and stately homes etc wherever you go in Wales, so that's not an issue. You will find plenty to entertain you.

If you want to do north AND south, with your active DS in mind, I'd be looking at Llanberis in North Wales for the climbing / hiking in the first week and then buzz down the coast to somewhere in Pembrokeshire for the surfing / watersports scene for the second.

BUT it's a surprisingly long drive between the two - four hours or so... I don't know if it will really buy you many beans trying to cram in both into one trip. And you'd miss out on a lots of lovely places in between!

When we went to North Wales a couple of years back, DS absolutely loved this place: www.zipworld.co.uk/adventure/bounce-below

Thank you. We haven't any concrete plans so we can add a few days on. We will be travelling down from Scotland so we have to factor travelling days into our 2 weeks.
Zipworld sounds like something DS would love. Someone had mentioned it before but I'd forgotten the name, so thank you for reminding me.

North and south in a week would be very whistlestop! There’s a lot of driving there too.

Brecon Beacons/Cardiff, Snowdonia and Pembrokeshire would do a week in each!

Pembrokeshire but go towards St David’s, stay away from the crowds. Coasteering, wake boarding, learn to paddle board. Lots of great places to eat. Great beaches.

4 days in Snowdonia, 4 days in Pembrokeshire and one day travelling in between would be perfectly doable, though not as relaxing as I’d personally choose. Are you planning to stay in holiday cottages or hotels? Cottages normally book by the week in high season.

I’d definitely recommend Snowdonia with a teen, not least because of Zip World. The adventure park is amazing, especially the surfing! www.adventureparcsnowdonia.com
King Arthur’s Labyrinth www.kingarthurslabyrinth.co.uk
Corris Mine Explorers www.corrismineexplorers.co.uk
Mountain Railway snowdonrailway.co.uk
National White Water Centre www.visitwales.com/activity/activity/national-white-water-centre-926700

www.thornleyleisure.co.uk/park/maenan-abbey/

we stayed here 2 years ago. It wasn't expensive but the site and caravan were immaculate and lovely. .,its quiet..,but a brilliant base for north wales. easy reach of mountains and sea!

I went on a great dolphin watching boat trip with Bay To Remember.

You can find plenty of water based activity places in Pembs, surf lessons, coasteering. I love Tenby but it gets very busy.

Big pit
Brecon railway.
Merthyr mawr dunes.
If you want to see history there’s St Fagans.

Probably hotels b&bs @DilysPrice. We'll book with free cancellation just in case.
I would love to be able to stay longer but once we get to see what's there it means we could return and do the places we've missed.

We've spent some holidays touring around Yorkshire, Oxford, Winchester and Wales was always on our to visit list, so really looking forward to it!

Our faves (Covid permitting) are Portmeirion, the Blaenau Ffestiniog railway. Snowdon. Harlech castle (other fabulous castles are available), and dolphin watching boat trips.