Exploring Wales on foot : small group walking tours for seniors

Exploring Wales on Foot - a small group tour for seniors

The Exploring Wales on Foot tour is a small group walking tour designed for mature travellers. It gives the active traveller the opportunity to explore the stunning Welsh landscapes on foot. On this 11 night tour, we travel by coach across the length of Wales with the chance to walk up to 15 kilometres each day. The paths selected will take you through some of the most spectacular scenery in the country including the Brecon Beacons where we base ourselves in Crickhowell. Our tour takes us from Betwys-y-Coed in the north to St. Davids in the south. We will travel though rolling hills, rocky mountain passes and along the magical coastline.

We will visit several Welsh national parks, castles, cities, towns, and villages:

• Manchester city, northwestern England, is the nucleus of the largest metropolitain area in the north of England. It was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, expanding rapidly from a market town to be the first industrialised city in the world due to a boom in textile manufacturing. Despite a process of deindustrialisation following the Second World War and a resulting decline in vitality and influence, it still remains a notable city today for its architecture, culture, musical exports, scientific and engineering output, sports clubs, and transport connections.
• Betwys-y-Coed is a village in the Conwy Valley on the verge of the Gwydyr Forest in North Wales. Lying in the heart of Snowdonia National Park at the intersection of four gushing river, it is North Wales’ most popular inland resort and accommodation provider. It has been attracting visitors for centuries to experience its scenic beauty and partake in numerous outdoor activities.
• Penrhyn Bay is a small town on the northern coast of Wales to the east of the Little Orme between Llandudno and Rhos-on-Sea. Penrhyn Bay beach is a quite sandy and pebbly beach mostly used by locals. It is perfect for enjoying the sea air, beautiful views, and a seaside stroll. Located on the North Wales Path, coastal walks lead to nearby Colwyn Bay or Ormes Bay.
• Llandudno Bay is a two mile curving sand, shingle and rock beach between the headlands of the Great Orme and the Little Orme, located on the North Wales Path. For most of the length of Llandudno’s North Shore is an elegant wide curving Victorian promenade with many hotels. Wales’ longest pier is also located on the North Shore and includes a bar, a cafe, amusement arcades, fairground rides, shops and kiosks.
• The Great Orme’s Head is a prominent limestone headland on the coast in North Wales, north-west of the seaside resort town Llandudno. The Head is 3km long and 2km wide, rising to 207m at the summit, and is bounded by precipitous cliffs to the north and west. Attractions include its massive Bronze Age copper mine, rich flora and fauna, stunning views from the summit, historic Orme tramway and Llandudno cable-car, and outdoor activities.
• Conwy is a walled town and community in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales situated on the west bank of the River Conwy’s estuary. Historic sites throughout the town tell of its past from the site of the 12th century Welsh Aberconwy Abbey, to a key English fortification and strategic and commercial centre. The UNESCO World Heritage listed Conwy Castle especially is a exceptional medieval masterpiece rich in history.
• Caernarfon Castle is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It was built on the shoreline at the southern end of the Menai Strait between north Wales and Anglesey in 1283 by King Edward I following the English conquest of Wales - and acted as the administrative centre of north Wales. Today the gigantic castle and its polygonal towers, eagle statues and multi-coloured masonry is recognized around the world as one of the greatest buildings of the Middle Ages.
• Aberystwyth is a small ancient market town and stunning seaside resort in Ceredigion on the west coast of Wales. Established as a castle town in the Middle Ages, the town has developed over the centuries first into a major port, then a Welsh centre of culture and education famous for its Edwardian architecture and scenic coastal railway. Today it is a popular sea-side holiday destination attracting tourists to relax within its picturesque scenery and at its numerous hotels, cafes, restaurants, bars and pubs.
• The Brecon Beacons are a mountain range running through South Wales, including the two highest peaks in the region, Pen y Fan and Corn Du. Pen y Fan (“the top peak”) has an elevation of 886 metres, and the walk up features a sandstone footpath. Corn Du is the second highest peak in South Wales at 873 metres. Both summits are quite similar—flat and anvil-shaped—and both marked by a Bronze Age cairn. The burial cairns dotting Brecon Beacons speak to the legacy of the prehistoric Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements that once thrived in this area.
• St. Davids is a historic city located within the stunning Pembrokeshire Coast National Park near the tip of St Davids Peninsula, the most westerly point in Wales. The smallest city in Great Britain, consisting of four streets that meet in the ancient marketplace Cross Square, it has more of a charming feel like that of a large village. Yet despite its small space, as the birthplace of St David, the patron saint of Wales, the city holds a vast amount of history waiting to be explored.
• Castell Coch (Welsh for ‘Red Castle’) is a 19th-century gothic revival castle built above the village of Tongwynlais in South Wales, just outside of Cardiff. The current castle is built upon the ruins of a stone fortification most likely built by Gilbert de Clare in the mid-13th century to defend his freshly annexed Welsh lands. Designed in the 19th century by the architect William Burges, the stunning fairy tale castle is a romantic reconstruction of an imaginary medieval world with conical towers over a fanciful drawbridge, and an elaborately decorated interior.
• Cardiff is the capital of Wales, surrounded by beautiful scenery at its location on the Bristol Channel at the mouth of the River Taff. From its historical humble beginnings as a Roman fort and small town throughout the middle ages, the city has developed significantly over the last 200 years playing a key role in Welsh history as an industrial center. Today modern Cardiff continues to serves as the country’s center of commerce and the prime hub of cultural, political and media institutions.

Highlights of this small group walking tour in Wales

The tour, Exploring Wales on Foot, encompasses a range of natural and cultural wonders to see and explore. Throughout the experience, we will be listening to stories of local history and culture from local guides with the chance to explore some of the hidden gems of Wales. We walk to see the limestone and dolomite cliffs at Great Orme's Head and visit the walled town of Conwy (where you can see 'The Smallest House in Great Britain'). Along the way, we'll see numerous castles, including Castell Dolbadarn and Castell Coch. There is also the opportunity to enter Carreg Cennen castle, magnificently perched on a limestone outcrop. During this small group walking tour our guides share lessons about the history, landscapes and people of Wales. Our departure point is in Manchester and from there we travel to the small town of Penrhyn Bay of the northern coast of Wales. Towards the end of the tour there is the opportunity to explore Cardiff with a guided day tour before finishing up in London. Here you are welcome to end your tour by exploring the sites of the city, such as Big Ben and St. Paul's Cathedral.

This is a holiday program suited to a senior couple or solo travellers who enjoy a good walk, and only one of the many walking tours Odyssey offers each year. The total number of participants in this tour will be 12 or fewer with the addition of an Odyssey program leader. This trip is paired with Odyssey's Walking Tour of Ireland & the Lake district. You can also learn more about Britain and Wales and see all other departures on the country profile page.

For more details on this tour, click the ‘Top 5’ or ‘Itinerary’ buttons above! If you’re keen to experience this tour, please call or send an email. Or, to book, simply fill in the form on the right hand side of this page.

Articles helping to prepare senior travellers for a walking tour

To help you prepare for any walking program these articles by Odyssey or carefully selected external sources are intended to help you prepare for your holiday:

• Selecting walking shoes for women
• footwear and walking shoes
• what to pack when travelling
• maintaining muscle fitness in senior and mature age travellers
• selecting socks for walking
• preparing for a walking holiday
• Hiking advice for women
• Aluminium water bottles safe for water?
• Bringing too much luggage and overpacking the day pack.
• Tips for preventing dehydration when walking

Articles about Wales

The following list of articles published by odyssey Traveller for mature aged and senior travellers to maximise their knowledge and enjoyment of Wales when visiting;

• Roman roads in Britain
• Understanding British Churches
• Medieval British life
• Icons of British villages
• Studying Gargoyles and grotesques
• New discoveries about Britain's stone circles
• Britain's neolithic past
• Lumps and bumps, how to read the British landscape
• Guide to Wales
• Great Britain; A profile
• National trust; Britain's best walks with Julia Bradbury
• National Parks of Britain
• Ten books about Walking in Britain from the Guardian
• Wales in the last civil war ; refuge of the Monarchy
• Harlech; West Wales

You can also browse all the articles published on Wales by Odyssey Traveller.