Help with Wales

Suggestion for Wales: Cardiff The National Museum of Walesan open-air museum located just east of Cardiff is fantastic. See website: http://www.ukattraction.com/a_print/print_entries_frames.php?&e=750ODJ&a=0. There's also Cardiff Castle and lots of restaurants in town. See website: http://www.visitcardiff.com/things-to-do/themed-breaks/history-and-heritage-cardiff. There's a "foodies" section on the visit Cardiff website listed above to take care of your cravings as well. Cardiff should be an O.K. drive from Costwolds or you can take the train from Gloucester I think.

I also went to Wales for a day trip and went to Cardiff...enjoyed it. The next time ending up staying overnite in Brecon, which was a great little town and a sister city to Saline, Mi. and I was traveling with a friend from there, so it was fun. We also went to Cardiff that time, so I don't think the drive was too far.
I go for crazy, long, mostly unplanned days most of the time, so I can relate... more fun that way!

Northern Wales would be a bummer in one day - - Conwy is a good three hours from Gloucester and that's if you use the boring freeways and sprint the whole way. Going by anything a bit more scenic makes it well more than four. If you went Stroud, Cardiff, Caerphilly, Stroud, you'd only have about three hours of total road time. Caerphilly is a really good castle and speaks for itself; the Cardiff castle reeks; the National Museum in Cardiff (at Cathys Park, not the open-air deal outside of town) is great. (St Fagans is the open-air museum - - I don't think it's so hot.) Little Chepstow is a gem and where I try to start all of my tours when I'm showing folks around the Welsh castles. It's small enough to understand and complete enough so they can see how a castle is designed to work.

Thank you for your replies! I don't mind a three-hour drive but one that takes place all on freeways has little to no appeal. It's rather looking like Northern Wales is out of the picture for this trip. I will check out these places you all have mentioned. I'd really like to enjoy my one day in Wales so sticking closer to home would probably be a better choice. I looked over the Wales website but missed the "foodie" section so thanks for the heads up! I appreciate you all taking the time to respond. Enjoy your Friday! Kristen

When and if you are around Cardiff, try the Brains Beer. A unique experience. We enjoyed Cardiff. We went to the covered market and really enjoyed it.

Hi Kristen!
We are also planning a trip to the Cotswolds and Wales in May/June 2012. Having been to the Cotswolds before, I highly recommend renting a self-catering cottage for a week (Chipping Campden or we did Blockley and loved it) and do day trips (Snowshill - Bridget Jones village! and lavender fields; the Swells, Sudley Castle a must; Broad Campden for its beautiful thatched roofed homes and wonderful pub, The Bakers Arms; Stow-on-the-Wold and the church with the yew trees growing on either side of the doors; and mostly walking The Cotswold Way - fantastic!!!. We took the train from London to Evesham and picked up a car there. This time we will drive Wales (Powys area where my gg grandparents lived). My friend also said to make sure we perused the wonderful, old bookshops in Hay on Wye. Whenever we travel to Europe, we always stay one week in a cottage/home then do B&B's/inns the other days. It's so nice to not have to drag suitcases and it saves so much money having breakfast and some dinners "at home." If you haven't been to the Cotswolds before, I'd be happy to share what we (my sister and two friends - hubbies were home!) did.

Hi Kristen, as I'm originally form Wales I couldn't resist replying. From the Stroud area it will be easy to drive to South Wales over one of the two huge Severn bridges. Chepstow is a lovely small town just over the bridge and has a great 'real' castle (begun 1067). By 'real' I mean a castle that is medieval and has seen action in war unlike the more luxurious ones build for more for display later (such as Bodiam). Cardiff is great although the central castle is small and you would be better going to Caerphilly (begun 1268) just outside Cardiff. The following site has great photos of Castles over Wales and you can plan to visit the castles of North Wales on your next trip: http://www.castlewales.com/caerphil.html Foodie wise there are ae lots of nice restaurants in Cardiff, especially in the Bay area. If you have a car however and want to try something different you could try the Farmer's Daughter: http://www.thefarmersdaughter.co.uk/ as they not only have Welsh recipes but also exotic meats such as Zebra, crocodile etc. Cheers
Steve.

I appreciate all the advice and ideas! We will be staying in a cottage for our week in the Cotswolds. Likewise, we have a flat rented for London. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to take this trip. Thank you for responding!! Kristen

Cardiff castle isn't that bad. There may be better castles but I liked many of the rooms at Cardiff, the preserved Roman wall in one area, and climbing the keep.