Blaenavon
Big Pit National Coal Museum · Photo: Nessy-Pic
Put on a helmet and lamp and go down a real coal mine with a former miner as your guide, then explore the surface buildings for free. In the afternoon, visit the furnaces and workers' cottages of the nearby ironworks that made this valley a World Heritage Site.
Museum · 10:00–13:00 (3h)
Free museum; book the underground tour for a small fee.
An indoor and outdoor museum in Blaenavon, aimed at ages 4 and up.
Photo: Nessy-Pic
Museum · 13:30–15:00 (1h30m)
Cadw site with blast furnaces and a restored row of cottages.
An indoor and outdoor museum in Pontypool, aimed at ages 9 and up.
Photo: Alan Stanton
WalesStable Cottage, Llanfendigaid Estate, Rhoslefain (near Tywyn)
A weekend based at a cottage on the Llanfendigaid Estate, between Tywyn and Fairbourne, with a heated indoor pool to come back to. Break the drive with a boat ride into King Arthur's Labyrinth and a beach stop at Aberdyfi, then spend Sunday on the Talyllyn steam railway and Tywyn's beach.
King Arthur's Labyrinth → Corris Café, Corris Craft Centre → Stable Cottage, Llanfendigaid Estate → Talyllyn Railway + 1 more
WalesCardiff city centre
Start under cover at the national museum, where natural history and Welsh art sit side by side and entry costs nothing. After lunch, cross the city centre to Cardiff Castle to explore its wartime tunnels, Victorian rooms and the Norman keep on its mound.
National Museum Cardiff → Cardiff Castle
WalesWest Cardiff
Spend the morning wandering between farmhouses, a school and a row of miners' cottages rebuilt at the open-air museum of Welsh life. Then head to a Victorian mansion in Llandaff for a café lunch and a run around its free gardens.
St Fagans National Museum of History → The Potting Shed Café, Insole Court → Insole Court
