Rough Guides - The Rough Guide to Wales (Travel Guide with Free eBook)

Introduction to Wales

Wales, a small country on the rocky fringe of western Europe, punches well above its weight when it comes to looks, attractions and visitor appeal. Barack Obama praised its extraordinary beauty, wonderful people and great hospitality, while National Geographic magazine named Pembrokeshire the worlds second-best coastal destination, and its coastal path second among the worlds top ten long-distance paths. This is a country that remains utterly authentic, and while its happy to keep up with the best new trends you can witness an ever more sophisticated hotel scene and a raft of gourmet restaurants displaying real culinary creativity Wales always stays true to itself.

Its not all about the landscapes , either: the solid little market towns and ancient castles reward repeated visits as much as the stirring mountains, gorgeous valleys and rugged coastline. The culture , too, is compelling, whether Welsh- or English-language, Celtic or industrial, ancient or coolly contemporary. Even its low-key profile serves it well: while the tourist pound has reduced parts of Ireland and Scotland to Celtic pastiche, Wales remains gritty enough to be authentic, and diverse enough to remain endlessly fascinating.

Recent years have seen a huge and dizzying upsurge in Welsh self-confidence , a commodity no longer so dependent on comparison with its big and powerful neighbour England. Popular culture especially music and film has contributed to this, as did the creation of the National Assembly in 1999, the first all-Wales tier of government for six hundred years. After centuries of subjugation, the national spirit is undergoing a remarkable renaissance. The ancient symbol of the country, y ddraig goch or the red dragon , seen fluttering on flags everywhere you go, is waking up from what seems like a very long slumber.

As soon as you cross the border from England, the differences in appearance, attitude and culture between the two countries are obvious. Wales shares many physical and emotional similarities with the other Celtic lands Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany in France, and Asturias and Galicia in northwest Spain. A rocky and mountainous landscape in hues of predominantly grey and green, a thinly scattered, largely rural population, a culture rooted deeply in folklore and legend, and the survival of a distinct, ancient language are all hallmarks of Wales and its sister countries. To visitors, it is the Welsh language , the strongest survivor of the Celtic tongues, that most obviously marks out the country, with tongue-twisting village names and bilingual signposts making a strong cultural statement. Everyone in Wales speaks English, but a 2016 government survey found that twenty percent of the population were also fluent in Welsh, that number rising to 25 percent for 16- to 25-year-olds. TV and radio stations broadcast in Welsh, the language is taught in schools and restaurant menus are increasingly bilingual. As a visitor, any attempts to speak at least a fragment of the rich, earthy tones of one of Europes oldest living languages will be warmly received.

FACT FILE

• With an area of 8000 square miles (20,800 square km), Wales is less than a sixth the size of England and a little larger than the American state of New Jersey.
• While Wales is part of the United Kingdom, it also has its own devolved Welsh Government which is responsible for certain local affairs.
• The population of Wales totals just over three million, sixty percent of whom live in the southeastern corner of the country. One quarter of the population was born outside the country, the vast majority being migrants from England. Cardiff, the capital city, has a population of 358,000.
• As well as having the second-longest place name in the world, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch was used in the cult 1968 sci-fi movie Barbarella starring Jane Fonda its the password to enter a secret resistance headquarters.
• Lawn tennis has its roots in Wales. Apparently, one Major Walter Clopton Wingfield was playing with a new-fangled India rubber ball in the gardens of Nantclwyd Hall near Ruthin in 1873. It bounced on grass, the major had a lightbulb moment and in 1874 patented the rules of a game he called sphairistrike, ancient Greek for the art of playing ball.