Car-freeAdventures in South Waleswith Great Western Railway
Whether you're after blustery beach walks and spectacular coastal scenery, inspirational museums and local food, Roman ruins or state-of-the-art TV studios, or all of the above, South Wales has a lot to offer. The biggest cities in Wales and several colourful towns are strung along the railway like pearls on a necklace with some fabulous countryside in between: meadows full of orchids, waterfalls in wooded valleys or seabird-magnet estuaries between salt marshes and castle topped hills. Ride GWR trains to Newport, Cardiff, Swansea, Neath and Carmarthen and explore the areas around them by train, bus, bike and foot.
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1. Newport
The first thing you see when you arrive in Newport by train are the ruins of the Norman castle, which are right next to the railway, overlooking the River Usk. Beyond the iconic Transporter Bridge, the Usk flows into the Severn, where there has been a port since medieval times. Here are some great things to see and do while you’re in the city.
- Visit Roman Caerleon: the huge legionary fort at Caerleon, just fifteen minutes from Newport by bus, was built in AD 75 on the edge of the Roman empire. In medieval times, the fortress remains were still so impressive that people began to insist that Caerleon was the seat of King Arthur’s legendary court.
- There is an imposing ruined amphitheatre, a Roman Legion Museum and Roman baths in a museum that atmospherically recreates them with lighting that looks like water and a soundtrack of singing and splashing. And don’t miss cobbled Ffwrwm nearby, with shops, cafes and a walled garden full of Arthurian sculptures, green men, folkloric creatures, and the world’s longest love spoon.
- How do I get to Caerleon by bus? Bus 27 and bus 29 and bus 29A all leave from stand 9 in Newport’s Friars Walk bus station and run to Caerleon. Between them, there are about four buses an hour. Enjoy 2for1 entry to Caerleon’s Roman baths when you show your train tickets.
- Admire the Transporter Bridge. Newport’s marvel of engineering is being renovated, but should reopen with a new visitor centre in 2024.
- There’s plenty more to explore, including the cathedral, which has beautiful Norman arches and a memorial to Chartists, killed in the uprising of 1839.
- Where can I stay? Newport has lots of options. One of the city’s newest hotels is the Mercure in Newport’s tallest building, the 1960s Chartist Tower. It’s seven minutes’ walk from the train station and right next to Friars Walk, where regular buses arrive from Caerleon. The hotel décor pays tribute to the Transporter Bridge using metalwork, carpet designs and construction photos.
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2. Cardiff
As soon as you step outside Cardiff Central railway station, you will see the gleaming glass cliff and smart stone columns of the BBC’s newest, most up-to-the-minute broadcasting centre, BBC Cymru Wales. Entertaining 90-minute tours of the TV and radio studios began in July 2022.
- King Charles III, who was then still Prince of Wales, officially launched the tours and they have since won the Visit Wales gold award. Tours currently run every Thursday and Friday and at weekends. Visitors get a behind-the-scenes view of the broadcasting process, complete with remote-control cameras and state-of-the-art sound equipment. See inside an anechoic chamber where outdoor scenes for radio drama are recorded or sit in a newsreader’s chair.
- Look out for celebrities working in the building. Wynne Evans (aka the “Go Compare man”) has been known to pop out of his studio and say hello to tour groups – he’s quite recognisable even without the moustache! This building may be cutting edge, but broadcasting has a long history in Wales.
- The National Museum is easy to reach by bus or by train to Cathays station or it’s about twenty minutes’ walk from Central Station. If you’re heading there on foot, pop into Cardiff market to see Welsh cakes being expertly handmade and baked on the spot. You can find lots more suggestions for things to see and do in our Car-free guide to Cardiff.
- And for trips to Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Castle, Llandaff Cathedral or to St Fagans National Museum of History, see our guide to exploring Cardiff by bus. The cathedral’s graveyard is one of many local sites to appear as a location in an episode of Doctor Who (the one with Van Gogh, which also featured the National Museum!) Follow Good Journey’s directions.
- One beautiful and very central place to stay in Cardiff is Parador 44, which opened recently above the well-loved Spanish restaurant, Asador 44, five minutes stroll from Cardiff Central Station. There is an elegant lounge and roof terrace for visitors and lots of Mediterranean touches to the décor and menu.
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3. Swansea
From the train window around Cardiff, the spring woods are starred with celandines and white anemones around the winding River Ely with geese on its banks. Beyond that, there are rugged hills. Some trains stop at stations in between Cardiff and Swansea for buses to beautiful valleys (see 5 below). For now, let’s press on to Swansea, which the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas famously called an “ugly, lovely town”. With its miles of sandy beach, great pubs and restaurants, excellent museums and links to Dylan Thomas, Swansea is a delight. Stroll down the hill from the station to find hanging baskets and pavement cafes on pedestrianised Wind Street near the picturesque ruined castle and Swansea’s massive indoor market.
- Swansea Museum has all kinds of interesting treasures inside like a wassailing bowl for mulled wine, a wooden devil carved by an embittered architect or a still-sharp ancient spearhead found in Swansea Bay. Lots of finds, including a Viking pin, have been unearthed by local detectorists from the sands nearby.
- The beach itself is a few steps further, around the harbour. There are views across the bay to Mumbles, a quirky seaside village with lots of shops, galleries and cafés, a lighthouse on a grassy island and a Victorian pier. You can stroll along the sands, with a great a view of what Dylan Thomas called the “long and splendid curving shore”, and keep going (or hop on bus 2 or bus 3A) to find wilder sections of the beautiful Wales Coast Path. For more ideas about visiting Mumbles and the Gower peninsula beyond, see our guide to exploring Swansea by bus.
- Morgan’s Hotel, near the harbour, is an elegant place to stay. It’s a handsome Edwardian building that was once the offices of the Port Authority. The interior nods to Swansea’s maritime history with stained-glass boats, wave-form lamps or an anchor on the staircase.
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4. Wales Coast Path
The railway provides great access to the Wales Coast Path, which celebrated its tenth birthday in 2022. It is one of very few paths in the world to follow an entire national coastline. Here are some great walks that you can access from the railway, sometimes with the help of a bus.
- The Newport Coast Path is an interesting stretch of the long-distance route with lighthouses, industrial heritage and wetlands, teeming with waterbirds, to explore. There are marshy meadows, with orchids and butterflies, and views across the Severn estuary to Somerset.
- The Cardiff Bay Trail is rich in art and history. It circles the lake on Cardiff’s coastline and crosses the Pont y Werin, a 140-metre bridge, to the elegant seaside town of Penarth with its Victorian pier and Art Deco Pavilion.
- Swansea is the gateway to the beautiful Gower peninsula. Visit Wales suggests these varied walks along the coastal route nearby.
- If the weather isn’t great for walking, you can see a lot from the train window and stop off in towns and cities to visit some rainy-day attractions or hop between great pubs and cafes. See 6 below for some suggestions in Carmarthen.
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5. Port Talbot and Neath
With their factories and docks, these stations between Cardiff and Swansea may look uncompromisingly industrial from the train, but the area is a jumping off points for some unbeatable wild walks. Heather-cloaked hills rise above the railway and twisted tree trunks, wreathed in ivy, line the track. Hidden in the hills, the relics of Victorian mines and mills have become beautiful nature reserves. Billing the area as the Dramatic Heart of Wales, where the “urban east meets the rural west”, a new website explores five local valleys, each with their own distinctive character, including waterfalls and ancient woodlands, carpeted with bluebells and other forest flowers.
- In the Dulais Valley, a couple of miles north of Neath, the Aberdulais Watefall can be spectacularly torrential after rain. On drier days, there are bats and waterbirds to spot among the trees and rocks.
- Bus T6 from outside Neath railway station runs hourly and stops very close to the Aberdulais falls. If you’ve just missed one, walk three minutes down Alfred Street to the bus station, where regular bus X8 leaves.
- If wild sea water is more your thing, head for Surf School Wales in nearby Aberavon. Bus 87 from Neath or Port Talbot stations stops at Romney Road, about ten minutes’ stroll from the beach.
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6. Colourful Carmarthen
Between Swansea and Carmarthen, the railway runs beside the beautiful Towy estuary with views across the water to Llansteffan Castle. There are oystercatchers on the sandy shore outside the window and cows grazing on the saltmarshes. GWR runs more trains along this line in the summer, but you can change at Swansea onto the regular Transport for Wales trains to get to Carmarthen all year round. It’s also worth stopping off at towns like Llanelli and Burry Port to access wetlands, rugby heritage or the Pembrey Country Park with walks through the dunes, bikes for hire and lots more. You can read more in our car-free guide to Carmarthen. For now, let’s keep going to the town itself, which has a great reputation as a foodie destination. Here are some of the many fabulous places to eat, drink and shop in Carmarthen.
- Start with a walk over the river from the railway station (look out for the dragon on the roundabout) and up Blue Street to Guildhall Square. After looking round the ruined castle, have a gourmet breakfast wrap or coffee and cake (almond and white chocolate torta perhaps?) at Karm’en Kafe.
- Stroll along King Street, past the Lyric theatre, independent shops and galleries. Taylor’s has all kinds of locally-distilled gin, hand-crafted chocolates and gift-able produce like the world-beating condiments from Dylan’s restaurant chain in North Wales (the best brown sauce!)
- Oriel Bevan Jones is run by the Arts Care charity and showcases some lovely crafts while supporting a great cause. Look out for elegant chopstick-holding noodle bowls, created by potter Joe Finch.
- Almost opposite, is the colourful Cwrw pub, which means “beer” in Welsh. It’s packed with local crafts ales to sample and sofas to relax on while you drink. The pub has regular live music, a book swap, and a record store upstairs.
- Loop round, through narrow lanes, onto Red Street to visit the indoor market, selling everything from books to boiled sweets and Welsh cakes to balls of wool. Nearby are two more great eateries: The Warren on Mansel Street has begun to attract a bit of a cult following with its tasty locally-sourced food and, round the corner on Lammas Street, Waverley health food shop has a vegetarian restaurant at the back with dishes like spiced bean burgers, quiches, lasagne and legendary homity pie, served with a plateful of salads on a when-it’s-gone-it’s-gone basis every lunchtime.
- From the bus station on Blue Street or from the nearby railway station, you can take bus 279 on Tuesday to Thursday or Saturday mornings, soon after 11am, to the National Botanic garden of Wales (50% off entry when you show your train ticket). From early February, a mile of snowdrops stretches through this beautiful garden. In April and May, the Mediterranean collection blooms in the Great Glasshouse and the woods are full of pale anemones and then bluebells.
- As if all that weren’t enough, there are also lots more walks along the Wales Coast Path from stations nearby. Wherever you go by train in sensational South Wales, enjoy exploring!
