Wales Guide
Mid-Wales
Mid-Wales is a huge, beautiful region, crisscrossed by breathtaking mountain passes, dotted with characterful little towns and never far from water – whether sparkling rivers, great lakes or the sea of the Cambrian coast. This is certainly the least-known part of Wales, which is perhaps to its advantage, for it's here that you'll find Welsh culture at its most natural, folded into the contours of the land, as it has been for centuries.
Highlights
1 Andrew Logan Museum of Sculpture A surprising blast of high camp and glitter in bucolic Montgomeryshire.
2 Harlech A perfect castle and beautiful town wedged between the mountains and the sea.
3 Mawddach Estuary Sublime estuary crossed by the rickety rail bridge to Barmouth, with some great hiking on the Barmouth– Fairbourne Loop.
4 Ardudwy Beach Eight miles of one of the best beaches in Wales, with wide sands and a warm sea.
5 Aberystwyth Lively, seaside resort town rooted firmly in Welsh culture and language.
6 Centre for Alternative Technology Imaginative showcase for sustainable and community development.
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke has provided a potent symbol of Welsh– English antipathy ever since it was created in the eighth century as a demarcation line by King Offa of Mercia, ruler of central England. George Borrow, in his classic Wild Wales, notes that, once, "It was customary for the English to cut off the ears of every Welshman who was found to the east of the dyke, and for the Welsh to hang every Englishman whom they found to the west of it".
The earthwork – up to 20ft high and 60ft wide – made use of natural boundaries like rivers in its run north to south, and is best seen in the sections near Knighton. Today's England– Wales border crosses the dyke many times, although the basic boundary has changed little since Offa's day. A glorious, 177-mile long-distance footpath runs the length of the dyke from Prestatyn in the north to Chepstow, and is one of the most rewarding walks in Britain.