Discover the Story of Wales
Map
Itineraries
Cymraeg
Cardiff Castle is one of Wales’s leading heritage attractions and a site of international significance. Located at the heart of the capital, within beautiful parklands, the castle has nearly 2,000 years of history just waiting to be explored. View the Roman walls, climb the Norman Keep and take a tour of the 19th-century castle apartments to discover a Gothic Revival fantasy, created by the art-architect William Burges for the ultra-rich Third Marquess of Bute.
Situated just north of Cardiff, Castell Coch (red castle) looks like a fairytale castle, with conical towers surrounded by woodlands. Although it dates from the 13th century, the castle you see today is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle created by art-architect William Burges and is full of sumptuous and highly decorated interiors.
The view of Raglan Castle crowning a ridge amid glorious countryside is a stunning and unmistakable view. It was the grandest castle ever built by Welshmen and is a Welsh fortress-palace transformed into regal residence. The moated Great Tower of 1435 still dominates in this castle that was designed to impress as much as to intimidate.
Immerse yourself in the atmosphere of Caldicot Castle’s impressive structure, surrounded by an idyllic 55-acre country park. Founded by the Normans, developed in royal hands as a stronghold in the Middle Ages and restored as a Victorian family home, the castle has a romantic and colourful history.
Beautifully preserved Chepstow Castle stretches out along a limestone cliff above the River Wye like a history lesson in stone tracing 600 years of history. There is no better place in Britain to see how castles gradually evolved to cope with ever more destructive weaponry – and the grandiose ambitions of their owners.
Officially the biggest castle in Wales – second only to Windsor – Caerphilly Castle’s massive walls, towers and gatehouses combined with sprawling water defences cover a total of 30 acres. The south-east tower sits at a precarious angle, an effect oddly enhanced by Civil War gunpowder. Now Wales’s very own Leaning Tower – even wonkier than that of Pisa – it is probably the castle’s best-loved feature.
Dinefwr Park National Nature Reserve near Llandeilo is an 800-acre estate with a mansion in the centre. The highest point is occupied by the ruined Dinefwr Castle, ancient castle of the Deheubarth kingdom. It is a grade I listed Historic Park and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Cardigan Castle is a castle overlooking the River Teifi in Cardigan, Ceredigion. The castle dates from the late 11th century and after falling into disrepair was restored in the early 2000s and opened to the public in 2015. It is owned by Ceredigion County Council and includes a heritage centre and open-air concert facilities.
Cilgerran is one of the most spectacularly sited castles in Wales. Its two great round towers loom high above the deep gorge of the River Teifi and the fast-flowing stream of the Plysog.
Oystermouth Castle is a Norman castle sitting majestically on the hill in Mumbles with stunning views overlooking Swansea Bay. Discover 14th-century graffiti art, staircases leading from vaults to previous banqueting halls and a 30 foot-high glass bridge.
Officially the most romantic ruin in Wales – Carreg Cennen is perched on a great limestone crag nearly 300ft/90m above the River Cennen. Its dramatic silhouette dominates the skyline for miles around and commands stunning views over the Carmarthenshire countryside. Explore the natural cave and vaulted passage cut into the cliff-face.
Pembroke Castle has a long and fascinating history. Views from the top are tremendous and the castle’s natural defensive position on a rocky promontory overlooking Milford Haven is immediately apparent. Pembroke is noteworthy as the only castle in Britain to be built over a natural cavern, a large cave known as the Wogan. Historically, Pembroke is important also for the fact that Harri Tudur, who became Henry VII and inaugurated the Tudor line of monarchs, was born there in 1457, reputedly in the tower now known as the Henry VII Tower.
Towering splendidly above the wide sweep of Oxwich Bay, this isn’t really a castle at all but a magnificent Tudor manor house, built by an ambitious father and son whose mock-military flourishes are all about social climbing rather than defence. Outside the courtyard are the remains of an immense dovecote with 300 nests. This was partly to provide the castle with year-round fresh meat – and partly just to show off.
Behind the formidable neo-Norman architecture, Victorian grandeur and fine interiors, present-day Penrhyn Castle’s foundations were built on a dark history. The Penrhyn family – who were owners of the nearby Penrhyn Slate Quarry – also made their fortune from the sugar plantations in Jamaica. Featuring fantastical beasts, faces and patterns, the furnishings drew on the skills of local craftsmen, with furniture created in oak, ebony, marble and even slate from Penrhyn Quarry.
For sheer scale and architectural drama Caernarfon Castle is one of the greatest buildings of the Middle Ages. The fortress-palace is grouped with Edward I’s other castles at Conwy, Beaumaris and Harlech as a World Heritage Site.
This is probably the most spectacular setting for any of Edward I’s castles in North Wales.(All four are designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.) Its classic ‘walls within walls’ design makes for daunting natural defences. Even when completely cut off by the rebellion of Madog ap Llywelyn, the castle held out, thanks to the ‘Way from the Sea’. This path of 108 steps rising steeply up the rockface allowed the besieged defenders to be fed and watered by ship. Harlech is easier to conquer today with an incredible ‘floating’ footbridge allowing you to enter.
Criccieth Castle is a spectacular coastal castle built, and destroyed, by powerful Welsh princes, and is truly a castle to capture the imagination. Crowning its own rocky headland between two beaches, it commands astonishing views over the town and across the wide sweep of Cardigan Bay.
This fortress of near-perfect symmetry is an unfinished masterpiece and is famous as the greatest castle never built. It was the last of the royal strongholds created by Edward I in Wales and is perhaps his masterpiece. No fewer than four concentric rings of formidable defences included a water-filled moat with its very own dock. The outer walls alone bristled with 300 arrow loops.
Dolbadarn is a Welsh castle and solitary guardian of Snowdonia’s Llanberis Pass, occupying a lofty, lonely spot overlooking the waters of Llyn Padarn. It was once a vital link in the defences of the ancient kingdom of Gwynedd. Most likely constructed by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) in the late 12th or early 13th century, today the site is dominated by the sturdy round tower and offers wonderful views of the more modern slate quarries of Llanberis.
Powis Castle is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country mansion near Welshpool. The castle is known for its extensive, attractive formal gardens, terraces, parkland, deer park and landscaped estate. It also contains the Clive Museum which houses more than 1,000 items from India and East Asia amassed by Clive of India and his son.
When first constructed Chirk was a military fortress, carefully chosen to maximise its defensive capabilities. Constructed on a rocky escarpment at the head of the Ceiriog valley, the watch towers allowed lookouts to keep a strategic eye on the Welsh hills and valley. Today the property is also noted for its gardens, with clipped yew hedges, herbaceous borders, rock gardens and terraces, all surrounded by 18th-century parkland.
