Passionate about South Wales - the best pubs, restaurants, hotels and places to visit

It’s a few years since we last visited Illtud’s 216 restaurant in Llantwit Major but we popped along on the spur of the moment for my birthday last week. Even though it’s been 3 years the restaurant hasn’t appeared to change much. Although fairly non-descript on the outside the inside has a medieval feel to [...]

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The Gower is one of South Wales’ big tourist attractions. It’s a peninsular just west of Swansea and was the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  It’s a real mix of rugged coastline, glorious beaches, great views and castles. I was lucky enough to fly [...]

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Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to the opening night of the new Oscars of Cardiff restaurant in Romilly Crescent in Pontcanna in Cardiff.  They’ve taken over the premises previously occupied by Le Gallois. I’ve been to the original Oscars in Cowbridge several times and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The food there is [...]

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Last week we stayed in the excellent Patricks With Rooms in Mumbles.  Mumbles is one of our favourite seaside destinations in South Wales. Patricks is an excellent hotel with a great restaurant. It’s located right on the main promenade only yards from the sea. The hotel has 16 individual bedrooms, the renowned restaurant and a [...]

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We visited the Brecon Beacons National Park Visitor Centre today just south of Brecon.  The centre gives you some background information on the National Park and best of all, as you can see, gives you a great view of Pen y Fan. Pen y Fan is the highest peak in South Wales (886 metres / 2,907 ft [...]

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A walk across the Cardiff Bay Barrage is a great way to spend a few hours in Cardiff. If you’re in a car then access the barrage from the Penarth end where there’s a large carpark.  If you’re on foot then either walk from the Cardiff Bay visitor centre near the Norwegian Church, or catch [...]

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We visited the new Cardiff International Whitewater Centre in Cardiff Bay yesterday.  This is part of the Sports village that is being developed on the west side of the Bay.  Nearby is the Cardiff Arena Ice Rink and the Cardiff International swimming pool. The pumped river is about 250m long.  It looks lots of fun, [...]

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