The Great Outdoors of North Wales

Your first impression – the green rolling Clwydian Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is soon followed by the sandy coastline of the Irish Sea. Within half an hour you are hit by the dramatic vistas of Snowdonia’s mountains and valleys.

You know you’ve arrived, the road signs are in Welsh and English! Wales – a nation with its own language, culture, cuisine and flag. Try your Welsh,  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychchwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, or listen to a male voice choir rehearsing in a Welsh chapel. Welsh local food is at its best; dine out at a True Taste venue. 

Go for a fling on the Isle of Anglesey, with its endless beaches, visit Beaumaris Castle, one of the best-designed medieval castles; blow away those cobwebs on Llanddwyn Island and its St Dwynwen’s Church, named afterWales’ patron saint of lovers.

Brave Snowdon Summit –steam up by train or by foot. Be amazed at Portmeirion, an Italianate masterpiece, and on our movie map trail.

Open golf at Nefyn, on a pre Cambrian headland, out of bounds is the Irish Sea!

Promenade Victorian Llandudno, a resort in tune, with trendy shops. Go underground, back to the Bronze Age, at the Great Orme Copper Mine – 4000 years in the making. Garden North Wales could not be better than at the laburnum arch, Bodnant.

Test your nerve, cross the 200 year old Pontcysyllte Aqueduct by narrow boat – the world’s highest and Britain’s longest. Walking North Wales could not be more exhilarating than on Offa’s Dyke Path.

The Peak District & Derbyshire

Take a journey from the wild moorland of Kinder Scout in the Dark Peak, over craggy gritstone edges, through theWhite Peak’s deep limestone gorges, rich with wild flowers. Continue down to the gentler, verdant dales of South Derbyshire and the warm-hearted city life of Derby… the Peak District & Derbyshire is a region of amazing variety and contrast – in its landscape and natural beauty, and in the wealth of attractions it has to offer.

It is a unique living landscape, steeped in stories from the past, with sites stretching from prehistoric man to the Industrial Revolution, including the Derwent ValleyWorld Heritage Site.
Contrasting buildings include Derby Cathedral or early village churches, Haddon Hall and big National Trust houses, and includes the Georgian Spa town of Buxton.

Hollow with caverns, it is here you will find Blue John Stone, a unique fluorspar found only in the village of Castleton. A chief event to see is the ancient custom of 'well dressing', through-out the summer months, where each village takes a turn to make giant pictures out of flower petals. With Chatsworth voted as Britain’s favourite stately home, Alton Towers the number one theme park and of course, The Peak District National Park being the first in the country, The Peak District & Derbyshire is definitely a number one place to visit.