September in Wales

Check where the Edward Castles are and get a CADW pass at the first listed site you visit. Mid September is a great time to travel. You may have some rain...so bring rainproof garment. If you are driving you have more flexibility about how long you stay in one location. It always drives me crazy to have to back track to the same place unless it is easy access to many locations. The time of year that you are traveling may allow you to move on if you just feel like it. Look at Betwys Coed for an overnight. We also stayed on a sheep farm near Lanfair.

Are you driving a car or using public transport?

Not sure how many days you have and assume that you have a car.
I would consider a fourth night in Conwy, then 2 days meandering down the coast to St David. Borth has nice beaches and would make a good over night.
After St David I would spend a few days on the Pembrokeshire Coast near Tenby.
If you still have time, you could spend a few days hiking around Brecon.

Not quite on topic, but here is a list of festivals in Wales in Sept:
http://www.visitwales.com/things-to-do/whats-on/events/september
The Abergavenny Food Festival might be interesting, although if you're going north to south it may not fit your itinerary.

I loved St Davids. It's a great little town with a very cool cathedral and access to endless spectacular hikes along the coast. There is a very good bus system that stops at various points along the coast. I would suggest spending more time in the Snowdonia area as well. Maybe less in Cardiff.

Thanks to all for your thoughts & suggestions! I'd love to hear if anyone has a B&B they'd recommend or a particularly wonderful meal
at a local restaurant or pub ... or a town that was well worth the visit.
Yes, we will be driving, starting in the Conwy area on September 13 and ending in Cardiff (have accommodations only in Cardiff so far) the end of the month.

Thanks again !!

Two places I highly recommend:
- In St Davids - Ramsey House
- In Conwy - Bryn Guest House

You have been given good advice thus far. 7 nights in Cardiff area is too many in my opinion. Much depends on exactly where you are staying in Cardiff regarding ease of parking and routes out to places of interest.

From Conwy, you could just follow the A470 all the way down through the middle of Wales to Cardiff. This would take the best part of a day and is mostly scenic. However, I would be inclined to travel down the western side of Wales. (I take it that you are visiting Portmeirion - the Italian style village near Porthmadog)? Try & include the A496 route via Harlech - to see the Castle. Then, have a break at Barmouth before proceeding up the beautiful Mawddach estuary to Dolgellau. Then A487 to Machynlleth though a detour via Aberdovey might also be considered before proceeding to Aberystwyth. So, you should consider staying 1 night somewhere between Aberdovey & Aberystwyth.

You may like to consider taking a steam train ride form Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge on the The Vale of Rheidol Railway. From Aberystwyth, continue S on the A487 coast road and visit the beautiful harbour at Aberaeron before continuing to New Quay. Then take a look at Llangrannog - which has lovely coast walks - but they are steep in places. In this area, I stayed at > https://www.penbontbren.com - which is down some narrow country lanes just off the A487 near Sarnau. (Put the name into Google Earth and it will show you if interested in this accommodation).

Try and stay about 3/4 nights in Pembrokeshire = the south westernmost county of Wales. Tenby is the most attractive coastal town and the coast to the west has wonderful beaches and spectacular cliffs. (Also visit Pembroke Castle and the Bosherston lily pools/ Barafundle Bay). However, before heading for south Pembrokeshire, you may like to continue via Cardigan to visit St.David’s.

From the Tenby area, it is 100 miles to Cardiff which takes 1 hour 35 minutes on a clear run via the M4. Once in the Cardiff area, you have the following castles nearby:> Cardiff, Castle Coch, Caerphilly & St.Fagans. You should take a day trip to the Brecon Beacons National Park and also the lower Wye Valley = Chepstow - Tintern area. Dyffryn Gardens - just west ion Cardiff is also worth a visit though most of the flowers will be gone over by Sept. Also consider Tredegar House just W of Newport.

You will find more relevant info in this recent post:>https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/wales/8-day-wales-roadtrip

Thanks to all for their great info !
I booked 3 nights in Conwy, 3 in Aberystwyth & 3 in Tenby. Going to
art class in Cardiff for the last
week, so couldn't change that. Can't
wait !!