Escorted guided tour with live commentary en route . . .

Cardiff Bay is the regeneration area created by the Cardiff Barrage which impounded the River Taff and River Ely to form a new 500 acre freshwater lake around the former dockland area.  Enjoy a short walking tour and discover its maritime heritage, marvel at innovative architecture, alongside historical buildings. 

The picturesque village of St Fagans is home to one of Europe's largest open-air museums.  St Fagans National History Museum, set in 100 acres of countryside with over forty buildings that have been moved brick by brick from across Wales and re-erected in the museum.  Buildings include an elegant mansion house, a quarryman's cottage, farmhouses, a terrace of six cottages, a toll-house and a Celtic village.  We use the Castle Gardens entrance to nearby St. Fagans Castle for guided castle tour. Free time to explore the stunning formal gardens and buildings.   

Llantwit Major, a town steeped in history and still retains an air of antiquity with its narrow streets and quaint stone cottages.  St Illtud's Church, built on the site of the famous monastery of St Illtud founded in the 5th century, contains one of the most significant collections of Celtic stones in Wales. An inn reputed to date back to the 11th century formerly a banking house for the last Welsh Prince of Glamorgan.  

At Southerndown which is part of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, we walk to the beach  to take a closer look at the jurassic layered limestone cliffs.  They strangely resemble  giant steps into the sea and give testament to the treacherous nature of a coast once infamous for its wrecks and smugglers. The coastline was the design inspiration for welsh architect Jonathan Adams, who was commissioned to build Wales Millennium Centre at Cardiff Bay.

Nearby is  Ogmore-by-sea and Wales' tallest sand dunes, which in 1961 was the location for filming scenes for Lawrence of Arabia.  Nestling in the beautiful Ewenny Estuary is the original earthworks of the imposing 11th century Ogmore Castle.  From the castle we cross the ancient stepping stones (optional) and Swing Bridge to Merthyr Mawr, an idyllic little settlement with an outstanding collection of thatched dwellings, beautifully positioned around an old village green.

 

Images courtesy of © Crown copyright (2008) Visit Wales.