Who cares about the tractors chugging along at a snail’s pace and hair-raising single tracks? Get behind the wheel in Wales and you certainly won’t want to rush the drive. Wales delivers one lyrical landscape after another. Go slow and wind down the window to listen to the distant bleat of sheep. Find yourself high on a moor where there isn’t another soul for miles. Pause to climb the ramparts of a medieval castle. Stay overnight in a tiny hamlet in a Dark Sky Reserve with just the stars for company. Wild and often remote, this country delivers some of Britain’s most memorable road trips.
From the fin-shaped, glacier-sculpted peaks of the Brecon Beacons in the southeast, to the wave-bashed cliffs and coves of Pembrokeshire in the southwest, to the brooding mountains of Snowdonia up north, we bring you six of our all-time favorites.
The Coastal Way
Best for sea views on repeat
Start: St Davids; End: Aberdaron; 180 miles
Advertisement
Taking Cardigan Bay in its stride, the 180-mile Ffordd yr Arfordir (Coastal Way) is a week-long jaunt along the shores of west Wales. Buckle up for a drive that whips along narrow roads and hedgerowed lanes. Cliffs nosedive into the booming Irish Sea to the west, while mountains ripple east. The magic here is in the mix: secluded coves, dune-flanked beaches, charismatic coastal towns and villages, Celtic forts, medieval castles and wildlife-rich islands.
Kick off in the south in St Davids, the UK’s smallest city. Crowned by a huge, purple-stone cathedral, this is one of Wales’ holiest pilgrimage sites and birthplace of the nation’s patron saint. On the doorstep, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park entices with coasteering, surfing and hiking on the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path. Edging north brings you to Abereiddi’s shockingly turquoise Blue Lagoon and the cute harbor of Porthgain, where you can grab crab sandwiches at The Shed. North of here, wave-beaten, lighthouse-topped Strumble Head is great for spotting seals, sunfish and porpoises out at sea.
Pushing on north of Pembrokeshire brings you to Cardigan and its trophy medieval castle, cliff-rimmed New Quay, where you can hop on a boat in search of dolphins, and the John Nash-designed Georgian estate of Llanerchaeron. Factor in ample time for a romp of the National Library in Aberystwyth and an uplifting walk through the dunes at Ynyslas. Close to here, the brooding peaks of Eryri (Snowdonia) begin to pucker up for the final leg of the drive. Highs including the Mawddach Estuary’s shifting sands, Harlech’s whopping medieval castle, one of Edward I’s now Unesco-listed Iron Rings and the color-charged, Italianate fantasy village of Portmeirion. Rest up on the surf-beaten coast of the Llŷn Peninsula, rounding out your drive in prettily whitewashed Aberdaron.
Planning tip: Though there isn’t specific road trip signage, the route essentially sticks to the coastal roads running south-north (or vice-versa) and isn’t difficult to navigate. For best chances of the Welsh weather behaving, plan your trip from April to September.
Wye Valley
Best for road trip romance
Start: Chepstow; End: Ross-on-Wye; 31 miles
You could easily dash through it in an hour or two, but don’t. Devote a long weekend to this stunning road trip through the thickly forested, river-woven Wye Valley, snug against the Welsh-English border. It’s a valley so delightful that even great Romantics like Turner, Coleridge and Wordsworth were smitten by its deep gorges, plunging cliffs, ancient broadleaf woods and ruined abbeys and castles.
Begin on a high at the formidable ruins of medieval Chepstow Castle, perched on a limestone crag. The river twists and turns north to Lower Wyndcliff, where you should break from the wheel to puff up 365 steps to the Eagle’s Nest for riveting views over the Forest of Dean to the Severn Bridge, Cotswolds and Mendips. Driving north along the A466, you’ll want to stop in Tintern to explore the Gothic ruins of its abbey and hike up to the knife-edge cliffs of the Devil’s Pulpit, where myth has it the devil once lured monks away from their order.
Wending your way north, pause in the tiny village of Trellech, home to a lost medieval city, Bronze Age standing stones and a miracle well that once drew pilgrims. From here, narrow, hedgerowed lanes unfurl to the market town of Monmouth, with elegant Georgian streets to explore. Soaring 504m above the Wye, Symonds Yat Rock, topped by an Iron Age hill fort, is a terrific spot to stretch your legs. Bring binoculars for good chances of glimpsing goshawks and peregrine falcons. Goodrich Castle, with its 12th-century keep, is a final stop, as the landscape mellows into the orchards of Herefordshire and you arrive in the market town of Ross-on-Wye.
Planning tip: Come in spring to see a riot of daffodils and bluebells on walks in the valley; in summer to tag on a paddle along the river; or in autumn for leaf-peeping as the foliage turns gold and russet.
The Cambrian Way
Best for mountain scenery
Start: Cardiff; End: Conwy; 185 miles
Advertisement
Shining a light on the verdant, oft-overlooked heart of Wales as it slices from south to north through patchwork-quilted fields, forests and sheep-nibbled hills, the Cambrian Way reveals every shade of green, and not one of them is jaded.
Get a shot of culture in Wales’ vivacious capital Cardiff, with its showstopping medieval castle, art-filled National Museum of Wales and architecturally striking Bay, as it’s the last fix you’ll have for a while. Slip behind the wheel and things almost instantly take a turn for the wilder as you drive north through the fin-like peaks, glacier-scoured hollows and waterfall-splashed valleys of Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), perhaps hoofing up the highest mountain, 886m Pen-y-Fan.
From here, the drive swings north into the lonely, bracken-cloaked moors and wooded heights of the Cambrian Mountains in Mid Wales where, when you switch the engine off, it’s often silent enough to hear your own heartbeat or the rumble of a distant tractor.
Stay overnight in Rhayader, gateway to the Elan Valley, with its rugged reservoirs and phenomenal stargazing. Make sure to get plenty of rest before ramping the adventure the next day: trekking up 732m Pumlumon Fawr, the highest point in the Cambrian Mountains, or biking along the trails at Coed Y Brenin Forest Park in Snowdonia.
Moving north, you’ll be captivated by the stark slate landscapes of World Heritage Blaenau Ffestiniog, the town that once “roofed the world,” where you can descend on the UK’s steepest mining cable railway to the Llechwedd Slate Caverns. Further north still, the beautifully landscaped gardens of Bodnant and Conwy’s formidable waterfront castle beckon.
Planning tip: While you can cover the highlights in a week, this isn’t a drive to rush. Allow yourself to stay longer and slow the pace for a deep dive into this under-the-radar region, rich in culture and natural beauty. Bring walking boots and waterproofs to tag on a hike or two.
Black Mountains
Best for remote wilderness
Start/end: Hay-on-Wye; 42 miles
Even if you have to negotiate single-track roads, dodge unruly sheep on the lanes or trundle behind a pootling tractor, you’ll want to go slow on this short-but-sweet drive. It starts and ends in the bookish town of Hay-on-Wye, on the banks of the River Wye, and snakes deep into the rugged, moody Black Mountains.
From Hay-on-Wye, the road narrows to a single track, twisting steeply up to forlorn, heathery moors as it traverses the Gospel Pass, Wales’ highest road at 549m, with the Black Mountains on the horizon and wild ponies grazing the heights. Look east to glimpse Hay Bluff and England. There’s an almost reverent hush in the remote Vale of Ewyas – the inspiration for Bruce Chatwin’s 1982 novel On the Black Hill. Patchworked hills rise up either side of the valley as you pass the whitewashed chapel of Capel-y-Ffin, with its lopsided belfry. Allow plenty of time to see the evocative ruins of Augustinian Llanthony Priory, which mesmerized Romantic painters and poets – Turner among them.
Beyond the small village of Llanvihangel Crucorney, civilization reemerges as you reach the food-loving market town of Abergavenny, topped by a ruined castle. The A40 west out of town brings you to the picture-book village of Crickhowell. Shortly after, you’ll bear right to reach Tretower, with its Norman keep and Tudor manor, continuing on to Talgarth, with its restored mill and bakery-cafe. From here, follow the signs back to Hay-on-Wye.
Local tip: Stop off at the historic and haunted Skirrid Inn in Llanvihangel Crucorney. Billed as Wales’ oldest pub, the tavern has been in business for 900 years. Rumor has it the inn inspired Shakespeare to create the character of Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Abergwesyn Pass
Best for stomach-flipping bends
Start: Tregaron; End: Llanwrtyd Wells; 14 miles
There are only 14 miles between the remote, moor-rimmed towns of Tregaron and Llanwrtyd Wells, deep in the wilds of Mid Wales, but they are 14 gear-crunching, head-spinning, grab-the-camera miles you will never forget. Your GPS might draw a blank on this off-grid road trip, but it’s less about what you see and more about the drive itself. Get behind the wheel in the serene, stone-built town of Tregaron and you’re in for a back-to-nature treat, as you head through the mossy oak woods of Nant Irfon National Nature Reserve.
En route you’ll pass the most remote phone box in Wales. Here you should start summoning the nerve for the drive’s highlight: the Devil’s Staircase, an old drovers’ road with a series of sharp hairpin bends that helter-skelter down to verdant, silent Abergwesyn Common. Here sheep-bobbled moors and heathery mountains swoop down to the banks of the burbling River Irfon. With no phone signal, it’s a place that feels immune to time and trends.
You’ll end your drive in hard-to-pronounce Llanwrtyd Wells, famous for being both Britain’s smallest town and the host of Wales’ wacky events like August’s World Bog Snorkelling Championships.
Detour: When in Tregaron, don’t miss the chance to visit nearby Strata Florida, a romantically ruined Cistercian abbey, the final resting place of generations of medieval Welsh princes.
The North Wales Way
Best for castles and culture
Start: Holyhead, Isle of Anglesey; End: Chester; 75 miles
Defined by the tides and shaped by the elements, the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) is where you’ll launch this road trip skimming the country’s north coast. Surf-lashed beaches, prehistoric standing stones, cliff-clasped coves and mellow fishing villages tempt you to linger for a spell before you get behind the wheel in lighthouse-topped Holyhead, where ferries breeze across the wave-ruffled Irish Sea.
Heading east, you’ll be captivated by Edward I’s knockout medieval moated castle, Beaumaris in the pretty Georgian seaside town of the same name. Skipping over the Menai Bridge to the mainland, make a brief detour south to another of his stunners, Caernarfon, a hefty fortress with polygonal towers.
Back on the route proper, just after Bangor you’ll reach Aber Falls on the northern cusp of Snowdonia National Park, where wispy falls plummet over mossy cliffs. Stop for a tour and tasting of award-winning gins and Welsh whiskey at Aber Falls Distillery. Next up is Conwy, Britain’s most complete walled town, with another resplendent castle courtesy of Edward I. Over the Conwy River is the cheery Victorian seaside resort of Llandudno, with its pier and a slice of proper wilderness at trail-woven limestone headland of Great Orme.
Drive on east through the little-explored Clwydian Range, stopping to clamber up the highest peak, Moel Famau (1820ft), for sublime views of Snowdonia and the North Wales coast.