Recommendations for one week in Wales

Have you looked in to the Offa's Dyke walking trail? You don't have to walk the entire path. There are Farm b n b's along the way.

Look up the Castles & Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd. These are World Heritage Sites in Wales on Wikipedia. It includes the Castles of Beaumaris, Harlech, Conwy and Caernarfon, etc. These are in North Wales. These will give great views and exercise climbing steps and walking around Walls. You can get an Admission Pass at any participating site. There are charming accommodations available; we stayed on a sheep farm on Anglesey and a Rustic BnB in Bets-y-Coed and a Pub close to Chester on the road to Conwy. There are excursion trains that go up into the mountains; some ride up and hike down. We have our most vivid memories from our visit to Wales,

We stayed at Agar House B&B in the seaside town of Llandudno in North Wales. It was adorable, breakfast every morning was so good, and the owners were the nicest people. You can walk 15-20 minutes to the town center which includes a charming beachfront Victorian promenade, the East Shore, and the West Shore. This was also a good base for exploring North Wales by car: the town of Conwy (Conwy Castle looks straight out of a fairy tale and I highly recommend Popty Conwy bakery), Anglesey, the Wales Coast Path, Snowdonia, more castles, the National Slate Museum (admission is free to to the seven national museums of Wales), cheese companies, etc.. Bodnant Garden looks amazing too!

Agar House Tripadvisor Reviews
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g190724-d569859-Reviews-or75-Agar_House-Llandudno_Conwy_County_North_Wales_Wales.html

Agar House Website
http://www.agarhouse-llandudno.co.uk/

Agar House listing on Visit Wales
https://www.visitwales.com/accommodation/guest-accommodation/agar-house-2137182

How does Wales fit into your plans - where are you coming from and where are you heading after Wales? That could influence where you stay.

North Wales with its castles has already been mentioned. I'd like to suggest South Wales and in particular Pembrokeshire. The area between Tenby/St Davids is lovely with some super scenery, small villages, stunning coastline with lots of good walking, sandy beaches as well as ruined castles (Pembroke, Carew with its tidal mill, Manorbier...) There is also St David's Cathedral and the ruined Bishop's Palace as well as boat trips from St Davids to the offshore islands.

We went camping/hiking (staying in a farmer's meadow) near Crug Hywel (Crickhowell).
Lovely easy rolling afternoon circuit hike up over Pen Cerrig-calch and Pen Allt-mawr. Iron age fort ruins, great views, wild ponies.
Our farmer's campground had full bathroom and laundry facilities but they only charged us 2 quid.
It was near the village of Llanbedr which has a nice little pub, the Red Lion. A few cottages and farmstays available in the area.
Crug Hywel is a gorgeous little town, ruined castle, historic bridge, lovely old houses, great scenery.
Not too far away is the bigger town of Y Fenni (Abergevenny) which has good services and also a very significant castle and museum. We also visited the magnificent 15th C Castell Rhaglan while in the area.
Nice area, probably not a particularly high profile tourist area though.

I always recommend Pembrokeshire as I just love it there. It’s very beautiful and peaceful. It gets tourism but isn’t overwhelmed. I like to stay near Newport in North Pembrokeshire which has good pubs, cafes and small shops. Don’t confuse it with the other Newport near Cardiff.

Which part to visit depends on where you’re coming from. If coming from the Bath area, then southern Wales would work. If coming from the Liverpool or Chester area, then northern Wales might be best. Others have mentioned some nice places. It would be easy to spend a week in any of the Cardiff, Pembrokeshire, Tintern, Anglesey, or any of the national parks areas.

It would help to know if you are renting a car or using public transportation. Wales is much easier by car, but there is some train service, which you could probably supplement with buses. Although I can’t comment on that having rented a car when I was there.

With one week, I would suggest you pick two places to stay. Where you pick will depend in part on where you are coming from, where you will be going next, and how you will be getting around. I loved Crickhowell (nearby Brecon would also work), St David’s, Conwy, and the area near Mt Snowden. I just adored Wales. Beautiful scenery, wonderful people, great castles, I could go on and on.

Another place we really enjoyed was Ynes Lawd/ South Stack (near Holyhead). If you have ever watched the Escape to the Country series you will have seen the lighthouse in the opening credits.
Great sea cliffs and plentiful birdlife inc puffins. Great hiking on Holy Mountain with great views and history. We were able to visit the historic lighthouse inc climbing right up to the reflective mirrors. Also visited Ty Mawr a group of 4000 year old stone circle hut remains.
We stopped either side of travelling to Ireland. No help with accommodation as we slept in our van in farmer's fields.
The nearby town of Holyhead was well worth a bit of time too.

Thank you to all the folks who have already replied to my query about travel in Wales. Our tentative plan is our first week in London, then a one week bike trip in the Cotswolds, and then a week in Wales, after which we return home to NYC. So, we will likely be traveling to Wales after a one week bike trip in the Cotswolds, and end our trip in Wales. Based on my research thus far, we will likely take a train (only 1 1/2 hour trip) from London to our first Cotswolds destination, and a train from Broadway to either north or south Wales. We'd like to stay one place (preferably and B&B or small guest house) in North Wales and one place in South Wales (3-4 days in each location). We'll rent a car in Wales (or in Broadway depending on how easy it is to travel from Broadway to Wales by train).

One additional question - are there any recommended books to get to help us plan our trip in Wales, and also good fiction related to Wales, or Great Britain in general. Thanks!

In the north another fave was Caernarfon. Caernarfon was our favourite castle of all of UK and Ireland. Spent hours there. Nice town too. By coincidence I was watching one of Steve Marsh's travel vlogs on YouTube about Caernarfon on the weekend. Worth a wee peek to get a bit of a look at the place.
It is about 45 mins from South Stack and Holyhead so it would be practical to stay in one and visit the other. We were sleeping in our van so I can't help with accommodation.

We were based in Wiltshire at a friend's when we did the Crug Hywel hike in the south that I previously mentioned. Easy drive from that part of England to that part of Wales.

You aren't going to get a train from Broadway. You will need to take a bus to Cheltenham then a train from Cheltenham Spa.

The buses are not frequent- Pulhams #606 and 608

The only trains from Broadway are steam trains on a preserved line, which has no connection with the national rail network.

Or there is the Stagecoach #1 at 0951 and 1254 to Stratford on Avon and at 1000 and 1405 to Moreton in Marsh Railway Station- given your next destinations the last option to Moreton in Marsh is your most sensible option. [no Sunday buses on any route].

Then train to Worcestershire Parkway or Worcester depending on whether north or south Wales. Parkway for South Wales, Worcester for Hereford/North Wales. Or change at Parkway for Birmingham, then again for direct trains to North Wales.

I also doubt you'll get a car rental in Broadway, you probably have to go to Cheltenham or another larger nearby town for that.

If you make it up to North Wales, I highly recommend the very lovely Bodnant Garden. I was able to get there via public transportation, but it would be considerably easier with a rental car.

National Trust -- Bodnant Garden