Weekend in wales with kids

[FurForksSake]

looking at going for a weekend late September, area doesn’t really matter, just two nights to see a little wales. We prefer self catering but for two nights could do a hotel.

Any suggestions on area for a short trip?

Anglesey is lovely

It’s a big place. Where are you travelling from? People won’t suggest Tenby for a weekend if you’re travelling from Sunderland for example.

Home Counties. I was thinking potentially Cardiff?

Cardiff is lovely, there is a Museum of Welsh Life. St Fagans, you could have a day there. Its free to get in, just pay for parking.

Cardiff Bay has Techniquest is great, depending on ages of the kids. And other stuff to do in the bay .Penarth is lovely too.

Loads of Castles: Cardiff Castle, Castell Coch - looks like a fairy tale castle and Caerphilly isn't too far away.

Climbing centre or large soft play if its wet. Theres a Museum in the city, but the St Fagans is much better.

Cardiff is alright. It has a castle but lots of places do in Wales. It wouldn’t be my first thought with kids but hopefully some locals can advise. Chepstow area is nice and area around Tintern. St Fagans is interesting depending on ages of children.
Good beaches further along the coast on the Gower.

Brecon is also lovely. There's a fab farm - Cantref. Pen Y Fan if you feel like climbing a mountain. Theres a small military Museum there. Theres the Brecon and Monmouth canal, for a boat trip.

Theres good youth hostels with pods and camping. And you could go to Crickhowell - lots of independent shops on the high street.

God I think we visited the lock museum or something on that canal in the 90s when they were restoring it and almost got thrown out? Ha.

crickhowell sounds nice!

Another vote for Cardiff!
Caerphilly Castle has just reopened after an eight million refurbishment, so now would be a good time to visit, it's an easy trip from Cardiff.
The Great Hall has been restored to how it would have looked in its medieval heyday.

Wales is a fantastic destination you could easily travel for two weeks and see different things each day, something for everyone and all budgets.
The North is very diverse and compact 20 minutes away and it like a totally different place, the south we have only done Cardiff, Tenby and Barry Island which we liked, I know people mock it but its a nice quiet family day out with a good beach.
Mid wales is great too, Borth not for everyone as its quiet, Newquay, Aberystwyth etc all great places, plenty of hidden gems too.

The weather can be very variable here, so basing yourself in Cardiff would be a safer option - although if you book late, you can wait until you view the short-range weather forecast and then decide.
The Gower is beautiful in good weather, or head up to the Bannau Brycheiniog and Brecon if you want countryside and mountains.

Clearwell caves near Monmouth is a good day out

Cardiff is a straightforward drive down the M4 for you, really so that would appeal to me with children and lots of potential loo breaks. Techniquest is fab and the Red Dragon centre at Tiger Bay has bowling, cinema etc and lots of places to eat. The National Museum is there, and the Museum of Welsh Life just outside is great, as a pp mentioned. Crickhowell is very pretty, but ghastly to drive to and, frankly, a bit shit for children. POB LWC!!

Depending on ages of children, cwmcarn forest is lovely. It is a scenic drive with playgrounds up the mountain.
nearby is Mountain View ranch with a lovely park and gruffalo trail.
we had a lovely weekend with our then 3yo a few years ago visiting those areas.

How old are the kids and which area of England are you travelling from?

Kids are 9 and 11, driving would be down the m4 from Home Counties.

What do the kids like doing? Can they ride bikes? If so and they're over 1.5m tall,I can recommend this if you come to Cardiff:
Ding Cycle Tours https://share.google/80j3WkZg4gVua7taS

They are both very good on a mountain bike, as is dh and they’ve taken bikes to Scotland before.

You could either do a Ding cycle tour and/or hire bikes from Pedal Power in Sophia Gardens and explore on your own. The ride from Cardiff to Caerphilly or Pontypridd is not too far for children of they're decent cyclists (I think Ding would take you on that route if you ask them).

There’s a Haven caravan park on the edge of New Quay which we’ve been going to with our kids for years and they love it, you can walk into town, there’s a fantastic ice cream shop and a few pubs which do good food, the beach is lovely, good for sand castles. It’s quite a bit further, takes us about 4 hours from Hampshire, but just lovely.

Gower also really pretty and not quite as far.

I would suggest Pembrokeshire - lots of amazing beaches like Barafundle, Freshwater West and Whitesands.

Also Tenby has three beaches and is a nice, buzzy little town with some really good places to eat and feels very seasidey but not in a tacky way.

Two good castles in the area that do plenty for kids in the holidays - think Horrible Histories, reenactments and knights quests - are Carew Castle: https://www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales/carew-castle/events-at-carew-castle/ and Pembroke Castle: https://pembrokecastle.co.uk

Also lots of activity/adventure places within easy reach:
https://www.thedinosaurpark.co.uk
https://www.folly-farm.co.uk
https://www.heatherton.co.uk
http://www.ritec-valley.co.uk

Also if you want a bit of history you could go across to St Davids to see the cathedral and if you do, I highly recommend this tour: https://www.firedonkey.co.uk

Have a nice trip this side of the bridge!

(Sorry it took me forever to post this - some stupid error message kept popping up)

Agree, Pembrokeshire is fantastic but another 90 minutes or so beyond Cardiff and best in lovely weather.

Yes it is further - but if I was coming to Cardiff from the Home Counties I wouldn't bother driving and would just get the train, it's under 2.5 hours from Paddington after all.

unfortunately I have mobility difficulties so train doesn’t work well for us, because as you say a city break in Cardiff could be a very easy train journey!

Ah sorry to hear that - yes otherwise train would be ideal! Hope you have lots of fun whatever you decide to do! 😁

With most of these things it’s finding somewhere I can pootle a little and they can really investigate. I’m leaning towards Cardiff for them to do the ding tour and I can do something I can manage and take my sketch book. It can be a bit of a challenge to find duality!