Best road trip around Wales: routes & expert tips

Despite being a relatively small country (under a sixth the size of England), you can see a huge amount on even a short Wales road trip. A country of mountains and coastline, Wales is equally famous for both. Two of its three national parks are mountainous (Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons), while the third highlights the gorgeous Pembrokeshire coast, Britain’s only fully coastal national park.

In this guide, we bring you the top 10 unmissable stops on a Wales road trip, starting in Cardiff and going south to the Gower Peninsula, the first area in the UK to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Our 488-mile trip also takes in all three Welsh national parks, Anglesey and many other highlights: discover these incredible road trip stops below.

Best road trips around Wales: 10 places you can’t miss

Total distance: 488 miles | Recommended days: 10 | Best time to drive the route: April to October | Route on Google Maps

1. Cardiff

Start your Wales road trip at Cardiff, one of our favourite cities in the UK and a wonderful place to visit. It’s home to beautiful Cardiff Castle, sporting events of all types at the Millennium Stadium, lively nightlife and heaps of cultural events and venues in music, theatre, comedy, dance, visual arts and much more.

If you’re new to the city, we recommend taking a tour first, either by bus or on foot, then setting out to explore the city once you have your bearings. Bute Park is the place for picnics, Queen Street, St Mary Street and Cardiff Indoor Market where to shop, and St Mary Street and Cardiff Bay your destinations for pubs and restaurants.

You don’t have to drive far to find a Cardiff campsite either: Cardiff Caravan and Camping Park in Pontcanna Fields (postcode CF11 9XR) is in the city centre and is open 365 days a year. Pitches with or without electric hook-up are available, starting from £27 per night.

2. Gower Peninsula (distance from Cardiff: 64 miles)

Next up is a drive west from Caridff to reach the Gower Peninsula on the southwest coast of Wales. Covering a 19-mile strip of beautiful coastline and beaches running west from Mumbles, Gower was the UK’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and voted the nation’s favourite in 2020. Don’t try to see the entire peninsula in one day: it’s worth taking your time to fully enjoy highlights like Rhossili Bay, Three Cliffs Bay, Oxwich, and hundreds of ancient sites including barrows and caves.

There are plenty of places to eat and drink around the peninsula; some of the best known are the Gower Inn, King Arthur’s Inn, the Fairyhill Hotel and Restaurant, and Langland's Brasserie.

Gower campsites are plentiful too: Greenways of Gower Premier Leisure Park (postcode SA3 1LY) is four-star rated by Visit Wales and overlooks Oxwich Bay and the Bristol Channel. Pitches start from £33 per night (small campervans only). Three Cliffs Bay Holiday Park (postcode SA3 2HB) is a five-star park a short walk from Three Cliffs Bay, on the Wales Coastal Path, with pitches from £36.50.

3. Pembrokeshire coast (distance from Gower/Rhossili Bay: 64 miles)

From Gower to more stunning seaside scenery and the first of our three stops at Welsh national parks. Home to the seaside resorts of Tenby and Saundersfoot, this part of Wales is also the setting of Britain’s only fully coastal national park and includes the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path, running from Amroth to Poppit Sands. St Bride’s Bay, Milford Haven, Barafundle Bay and Newport are among the many highlights of the area.

Stay just north of Tenby’s North Beach at Meadow Farm Campsite (postcode SA70 8AU), the only campsite within Tenby town and with spectacular views over the sea and coast. Pitches start from £20.

The Pembrokeshire Beachfood Company (Cafe Môr) at Freshwater West Beach offers award-winning street food plus seaweed based deli products.

4. St Davids (distance from Teny; 34 miles)

Also on the Pembrokeshire coast, your next stop is St Davids, Britain’s smallest city, but probably one of the best known tourist destinations in all of Wales. It’s been a place of pilgrimage for centuries and is the resting place of David, Wales's patron saint. History fans can see the cathedral and Bishop’s Palace, while surfers should head to Whitesands Bay two miles away, acclaimed as one of the best surfing beaches in the world.

St Davids Food and Wine on the High Street sells local produce as well as sandwiches and baguettes. For a drink, head for The Farmers Arms in Goat Street. And to stay nearby, Caerfai Bay Caravan & Tent Park (postcode SA62 6QT) is only 15 minutes’ walk from the city centre; pitches start from £15.50 per night.

5. Aberystwyth and Devil’s Bridge (distance from St Davids: 74 miles)

Drive along the coast to your fifth stop, Aberystwyth. This isn’t just a seaside resort: it’s been one of Wales’s main education centres since the 19th century, and is home to the National Library of Wales and one of the biggest arts centres in the country. Its Cardigan Bay setting also includes Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, Constitution Hill and the Parc Penglais nature reserve. As a university town, it has plenty of pubs; the The Pier Brasserie on the seafront is a good option for food.

Take the Vale of Rheidol steam railway from Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge, one of three old bridges over gushing waterfalls. Once off the train, there’s a choice of two walks to see the falls. The easiest is the Punchbowl Walk, which includes a seating area with views of the three bridges; it has 220 steps and should take about 20 minutes. The more difficult walk takes in the site's nature trail, waterfalls and all three bridges, taking about 45 minutes.

As a popular seaside resort, Aberystwyth has several campsites in its vicinity. Family-friendly Brynowen Holiday Park (SY24 5LS) just north of the town at Borth is five minutes from the beach in a setting overlooking Cardigan Bay. Two nights for a campervan or motorhome pitch start from £38.

6. Caernarfon Castle (distance from Aberystwyth: 77 miles)

Heading up to Wales’s northwest coast now, the medieval fortress of Caernarfon Castle is one of four fortress-palaces (Conwy, Beaumaris and Harlech are the others) making up the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd World Heritage Site. It was built by Edward I as his seat of power in Wales and has a turbulent history going back centuries.

There are toilets and a gift shop for visitors. The Caernarfon Tourist Information Centre is opposite the castle. Within the city walls, both the Black Boy Inn and the Anglesey Arms are popular dining spots. Just north of town and only four miles from the castle, Rhyd Y Galen Caravan And Camping Park (LL55 1UL) has pitches from £27 with free showers, hot water and wifi included.

7. Isle of Anglesey (distance from Caernarfon Castle: 21 miles)

From Caernarfon, make the short drive west to your next stop. The biggest island in Wales is off the country’s northwest coast, covering 260 square miles (only slightly smaller than Singapore). It’s a region of mountains, seaside towns and stunning coastline including an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the 124-mile Anglesey Coastal Path. If you’re hiking the path, there’s easy access to around 20 towns and villages for food and drink.

Llangefni, the island’s county town, has pubs, cafês, shops and an open-air market on Thursdays and Saturdays. Just a mile and a half outside town, Trefollwyn Campsite (LL77 7SJ) is a Caravan and Camping Club Certified Site on a working beef and sheep farm, with pitches from £11 per night.

8. Conwy Castle (distance from Anglesey: 30 miles)

Our second mighty castle on our Wales road trip, the 13th-century fortress of Conwy Castle is described by UNESCO as among “the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe”. It’s a Wales must-see: walk the circuit around the battlements to see the mile-long ring of town walls.

There are toilets, a shop and a water refill station at the castle, but for food and drink you’ll need to head down into Conwy: the CAMRA Albion pub and Conwy Marina and Quay are both top local picks. Leave plenty of sightseeing time too, for Conwy attractions like Bodnant Gardens, the Quay House (the smallest house in Britain) and the Royal Cambrian Gallery of Art. Conwy’s tourist information centre is on Rose Hill Street.

Follow up your Conwy Castle trip with beautiful views from Trwyn yr Wylfa Caravan & Camping Site on the coast, listed by the Guardian as one of the top 20 coastal campsites in the UK. Pitches start from £17.

9. Snowdonia National Park (distance from Conwy Castle: 17 miles)

From Conwy Castle drive south to our second national park. The first designated national park in Wales is also home to Snowdon, the country’s highest mountain and third most visited attraction. Most visitors to Snowdonia come for the huge range of outdoor activities - hiking, climbing, mountain biking and whitewater rafting are all popular – but there are plenty of cultural and historic attractions to take in too. There are several heritage railways to ride on, castles including Conwy and Harlech, and Llechwedd Slate Mines is one of the top attractions in North Wales.

The park has three visitor centres: Betws-y-Coed (postcode LL24 0AH), Beddgelert (LL55 4YD) and Aberdyfi (LL35 0EE). There are plenty of Snowdonia campsites to pick from, such as Quarry View Touring Park at Blaenau Ffestiniog (from £24 for an electric pitch; site postcode LL41 3LD).

To the west of the park by the coast, award-winning Graig Wen (LL39 1YP) comes with stunning views over the Mawddach Estuary, and won the North Wales Tourism Award for Best Campsite as well as a Green Snowdonia Award for Most Sustainable Campsite. Campervan/motorhome pitches start from £20.

10. Brecon Beacons National Park (distance from Snowdonia: 121 miles)

Our final stop is at the third of Wales’s three national parks, the Brecon Beacons, centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales, including the Black Mountains and the Great Forest.

Opt to have a scenic road trip soaking up Brecons scenery, or get stuck into the many outdoor activities easily available in the park. Either way, a must-do is the Gospel Pass, the highest driving road in Wales, running over the Black Mountains from Abergavenny to Hay-on-Wye.

If arriving from England, drive into the Brecon Beacons via Crickhowell, and stop off for an afternoon browsing the bookshops of Hay-on-Wye. Other highlights in the park include

market towns like Brecon and Abergavenny, waterfalls in remote spots, and ancient sites such as Brecon Castle or Carreg Cennen.

For overnights, Brecon campsites include Bishops Meadow Caravan and Camping Park on the very edge of the park at Brecon (from £20 per night; postcode LD3 9SW), and [Brecon Beacons Camping & Caravan Park](https://brecon-beacons-camping-and-caravanning.co.uk/index.html# pricing-table2-18) at the famous National Showcaves Centre for Wales (SA9 1GP). Campervan/motorhome pitches are £25 for two people and £30 for up to four; dogs stay for free.

The Brecon Beacons National Park Visitor Centre and Tearooms is at Libanus (postcode LD3 8ER).

Organise your road trip with Camplify

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Whatever type of road trip you plan for Wales, or wherever you’re setting off from, Camplify will have a van to suit. Have a look at campervan hire in Wales listings to get started.

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