Big Days Out

South Wales offers a great chance to hop back through time. Begin at Tintern Abbey, one of Wales’s finest monastic ruins and its first Cistercian foundation. Move on to Chepstow Castle, whose Great Tower keep was commissioned by William the Conqueror, making it Britain’s oldest surviving post-Roman stone castle.

Chepstow means marketplace in Old English, so there’s your excuse to head down to the high street. It’s a relaxed, arty environment – think Chester or York – complete with niche shopping and handsome Georgian buildings. Intriguing stone sculptures were added in the mid-2000s.

Take a trip to Tintern to see unique shops then cross the river and walk up to Devil’s Pulpit for wonderful views of the Wye Valley. Or walk Offa’s Dyke, past market towns and Iron Age hillforts. At Dewstow Gardens and Hidden Grottoes, you’ll discover lost gardens once buried under tonnes of soil… plus excellent carrot cake in the café.

Try a night out in curious Chepstow, in quirky bars such as the Queen’s Head Micropub and the Lime Tree Café Bar. “And now, racing from Chepstow,” is something you’d hear the continuity announcer say on TV. But go for real and enjoy Caribbean nights, gin and jazz evenings, family racedays and camel derbies.