The Rough Guide to Wales

by Rough Guides, Tim Burford

Discover this beautiful country with the most incisive and entertaining guidebook on the market. Whether you plan to hike through the wilds of Snowdonia, follow in Wordsworth's footsteps at Tintern Abbey or explore Welsh music and theatre in Swansea, The Rough Guide to Wales will show you the ideal places to sleep, eat, drink and shop along the way.

Inside The Rough Guide to Wales
- Independent, trusted reviews written with Rough Guides' trademark blend of humour, honesty and insight, to help you get the most out of your visit, with options to suit every budget
- Full-colour maps throughout - navigate the arcades of central Cardiff or the peaks of Brecon Beacons National Park without needing to get online.
- Stunning, inspirational images
- Itineraries - carefully planned routes to help you organize your trip.
- Detailed regional coverage - whether off the beaten track or in more mainstream tourist destinations, this travel guide has in-depth practical advice for every step of the way. Areas covered include: Cardiff, Swansea and the southeast; the southwest; the Brecon Beacons and Powys; the Cambrian coast; the Dee Valley; Snowdonia and the Llyn; the north coast and Anglesey. Attractions include: Cardiff Bay; St David's Cathedral; Pembrokeshire National Park; Conwy Castle; Cadair Idris; Ffestiniog Railway; Hay Festival; the beaches of the Llyn and Gower peninsulas.
- Basics - essential pre-departure practical information including getting there, local transport, accommodation, food and drink, the media, health, festivals and events, maps, sports and outdoor activities and LGBT Wales.
- Background information - a Contexts chapter devoted to Welsh history, politics, natural history, music, film and books, plus a handy language section.

Make the Most of Your Time on Earth with the Rough Guide to Wales.

Genres: Travel, Reference, Nonfiction, Guidebook

480 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Founded in 1982, Rough Guides Ltd is a British publisher of print and digital guide book, phrasebooks and inspirational travel reference books, and a provider of personalised trips. Since November 2017, Rough Guides has been owned by APA Publications UK Ltd, the parent company of Insight Guides.
With the company's personalised trip service encompassing over eighty destinations, and 200 guidebooks covering 180 destinations, Rough Guides is a multi-faceted travel platform, with global sales of 100 million guidebooks since their inception.

Reviews

[Yvonne]

I did not like the sarcastic comments of the writers of this guide, especially when they don't inform themselves well enough before pointing their arrows.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a handy little guide to the main tourist sites across Wales and is certainly handy for those with some familiarity with the country but may not be enough for those without. Admittedly I have managed to tick off a lot of places in here but there are a few that still need a visit.

[Darren Jolley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book useful, as I visit Wales on a regular basis. It is slightly annoying that they spell whisky as whiskey (we do not spell it that way on this side of the Irish sea and I see that there is not the same mistake with “The Rough Guide To Scotland”).

[David Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was The Rough Guide To Wales which is an excellent book which I bought from Amazon. There are only 3 big cities in Wales which are Cardiff, Swansea & Newport & Newport was declared a city in 2002. All 3 are in the south and are ports. Most people live in the south because traditionally they mined coal and iron ore there. Wales got its own National Assembly in Cardiff in 1999. Many of the buildings in the centre of Cardiff are very stylish & it's becoming a bit of a tourist attraction. Much of the centre of Swansea - Wale's 2nd city - has been modernized too. Considering Wales is only a small country with 3 million inhabitants it does have a lot of tourist attractions. There is Britain's smallest city St Davids which has a very impressive cathedral where the patron saint is buried. In times past many people made pilgrimages here. In central Wales Machynlleth houses the renewable resource centre where you can find out about looking after the environment. Not that far away is Dinorwic which is a power station built inside a mountain and when the National Grid is short of electricity sluice gates are opened allowing water to go from a high up reservoir to a lower one and this creates a huge amount of electricity. When the National Grid is less busy the water is pumped back up. They do tours around Dinorwic. There is also the Blaneau Ffestiniog Railway which is a narrow gauge but links the North Coast Railway to the cambrian Coast line. The entire coastline of Wales has been connected up into 1 very long footpath & this along with other long distance footpaths like Offa's Dyke are very popular with tourists. Near Rhayader in Central Wales is the Elan Valley Reservoir System which stretches for 9 miles and has a visitors centre. These were built to supply Birmingham with water and the way land was usurped at the time was very controversial. There are many castles in Wales and some of the best preserved are at Harlech & Caernarvon in North Wales. Mount Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales and has a narrow gauge railway that runs up it. One of the beauties of Wales is it has a lot of the celtic culture of Scotland & Ireland but is less commercialized.

[Greg Scowen · Rating 2 out of 5]

We have now used Rough Guides to travel extensively to many countries, and have typically found there to be no better guide. Unfortunately, the Rough Guide to Wales seems to let the series down a little.

We are fans of getting off the beaten track, and we certainly did that when following this guide. However, some of the destinations we went out of way too (often by hours) just weren't all that the guide left us expecting. Often we would arrive at a muddy field with a mediocre attraction, having expected a spectacular view or ancient monument. We also failed to stay in any accommodation mentioned in the guide, but this was due to lack of availability, albeit out of season. It seems many places in Wales won't accept one-night stays. Forewarning of this would be beneficial.

Typical of Rough Guides, though, the restaurant reviews, and a couple of mentioned attractions were worth visiting. The guide appears to be written by an older person that is particularly keen on the inside of churches, and may not appeal so much to people looking for something a bit more adventurous. For us, this was fine... as history is what draws us on our travels.

I would still suggest anyone planning a Wales holiday should buy the book. We didn't find a better one. Also, visit Wales... it is worth the effort.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the brutal honesty in this guide. It's helped me to focus some on where I'd like to go. It seems one of the big challenges is getting around in Wales and I wish it had more suggested itineraries with details on buses and trains. Originally I was thinking Wales would be the only place in the UK where I'd rent a car then someone told me if I was brave enough to get a car in Wales where most of the streets are two-way single lanes, then I could get a car for the whole trip which made me worry that I didn't understand what I was getting myself into.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very thorough....perhaps a bit too much. It contains the facts and information, but there is so much that it's not really plausible as a take along guide. It's more for the months-ahead planning read.
It is certainly a good read and good reference, though not as excited as some others.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read and well worth getting if you'll be visiting Wales.

[Maddalenah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rough Guides are my favorite travel guides, and this was as satisfying as the others

[Celtic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrible cover and needs a lot more pictures; otherwise OK.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough overview of pretty much everything there is to see or do in Wales.

[David Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems to be very thorough, but may spend a bit too much time on restaurants and accommodations and not enough on things to see.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first rough guide. I managed to put together a list a route for the things I want to see in Wales. It was a great jumping off point.