ESSENTIALS

Getting there & around

Take the train to Chester and hire a car on a one-way rental — it’s then a pretty two-hour drive to the Llŷn Peninsula. Drop the car at Swansea or Cardiff.

When to go

Year-round. The school holidays bring crowds, and avoid winter if you don’t care for storms while walking coastal paths.

Places mentioned

Bardsey Island day trips. bardseyboattrips.com

Portmeirion. portmeirion.wales Llechwedd Slate Mine. llechwedd.co.uk Machynlleth Parliament House. canolfanglyndwr.org

National Library of Wales. library.wales Black Lion. blacklionnewquay.co.uk Cardigan Castle. cardigancastle.com Nevern Church. nevern-church.org.uk St Davids Cathedral. stdavidscathedral.org.uk

Where to stay

Gwesty Ty Newyd, Aberdaron. gwesty-tynewydd.co.uk

Nanhoron Arms Hotel, Nefyn. nanhoronhotel.com

Castell Deudraeth, Portmeirion. portmeirion.wales

Marine Hotel Aberystwyth (for Ynyslas). gwestymarinehotel.co.uk

Castle Hotel, Aberaeron (for New Quay). castle-hotel-aberaeron.co.uk

Twr Y Felin Hotel, St Davids. twryfelinhotel.com

More information

visitwales.com

How to do it

Book your trip independently and take a week to do the route, with around five or six overnight stops. At the time of going to press, Wales was out of lockdown. But some sites are reopening gradually. Llechwedd Slate Caverns is doing so in stages: glamping and quarry tours have begun, but there’s still no reopening date for the Llechwedd Deep Mine Tour.