| |
Walking holidays & hiking tours in Wales |
Click here for more info >> Walking holidays and hiking tours in Wales
A walking holiday is a wonderful way to explore Wales, walking from one place to another, stopping somewhere different each night. On these hiking tours we arrange your accommodation along the trail, provide maps and a guidebook describing the route, and transport your luggage between overnight stops. We take care of every detail, leaving you free to enjoy the countryside of Wales at your own pace, knowing everything is taken care of. Contours Walking Holidays organise several hiking tours in Wales. These include Offa's Dyke Path, Glyndwr's Way, the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and the Three Castles Walk. Offa's Dyke Path During the 8th century, King Offa of Mercia ordered a great dyke to be built, stretching from sea to sea, to mark the western boundary of his kingdom with Wales. In places it is still visible as a bank up to 25 feet high with a deep ditch alongside. Beginning at Chepstow on the Severn Estuary, Offa's Dyke Path follows the course of this ancient earthwork to Prestatyn on the coast of North Wales. It passes through scenery of great beauty and variety ranging from the woodlands of the spectacular Wye gorge to the windswept ridges of the Black Mountains and from the rolling hills and secluded valleys of mid-Wales to the heather-clad Clwydian Hills. Along the way it visits a succession of historic border towns and attractive villages including Monmouth, Hay-on-Wye, Knighton, Montgomery and Welshpool. There is much of historic interest along the trail: Chepstow Castle, the first stone fortress built in Wales; the picturesque ruin of Tintern Abbey on the banks of the Wye, founded in 1131 for monks of the Cistercian Order; the 13th century gatehoused bridge at Monmouth; the imposing stronghold of White Castle with its high curtain walls and deep moat; the castle-like church of St Cadoc's at Llangattock Lingoed, where villagers sheltered in times of conflict; magnificent Powis Castle at Welshpool; the drum-towered Marcher fortress of Chirk Castle and the hilltop fort of Dinas Bran overlooking Llangollen. Glyndwr's Way In the early 15th Century, Owain Glyndwr led an audacious, but ultimately ill-fated rebellion against English rule. This superb walk through some of the finest scenery in Wales visits many of the sites connected with his campaign for an independent Welsh nation. Glyndwr's Way begins in the attractive old market town of Knighton on the English border, which, like Welshpool at the end of the trail, was attacked by Glyndwr's soldiers in the early years of his campaign. It visits the ruin of Abbey Cwmhir, which was destroyed by Glyndwr when he discovered that the monks were supporting the English; crosses the heather-clad slopes of Plynlimon where Glyndwr raised his standard and won his first victory over the English; the bustling little market town of Machynlleth, where Glyndwr established his first Welsh parliament. Then it heads towards the Berwyn Mountains and Llyn Efyrnwy. Beyond is Mathrafal, home of the Welsh Princes of Powis from whom Glyndwr was descended and Welshpool, in the shadow of Powis Castle, one of the mighty bastions of Glyndwr's enemies.
This magnificent trail follows the coastline of the Pembrokeshire National Park through some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in Britain. For much of the time the path keeps to the clifftops, providing superb views of the cliffs, beaches and offshore stacks and islands with their abundant birdlife. Each turn in the path reveals something different – a little harbour, an attractive village, a Neolithic cromlech, Bronze Age standing stones, Iron Age promontory forts, a church or chapel of the Celtic saints and their followers or a castle built by Norman invaders. Three Castles Walk For four centuries following the conquest of 1066, the Normans sought to subdue the rebellious Welsh, building castles as they pushed further west into Wales. In the borderlands of Monmouthshire they built a triangle of castles to control the routes between England and Wales on this strategically important stretch of border country. The Three Castles Walk is a short circular trail linking the ‘Trilateral' of Skenfrith, Grosmont and White Castles. The scenery of this secluded corner of the Welsh borders is superb - a lovely patchwork of low hills, hidden valleys, fields criss-crossed with hedgerows and small belts of woodland. What's included in a self-guided walking holiday (hiking tour) in Wales?
Contours
Walking Holidays,
|
