“Why on earth would you go to Wales on holiday?” a British friend scoffed. He was even more shocked when I said it was as much for the thriving food culture as the gorgeous scenery. As this taste of Wales will show, we often overlook what’s in our own back yard!
Despite high expectations, this tiny bilingual corner of Europe still surprises and delights me at every turn with produce and food; stunning coastal and mountain scenery; warm people and great accommodation; history and architecture. Just two-hours’ drive from Heathrow, Wales is a destination worth adding to any European itinerary. And for anyone already in Britain, it’s a gem hidden in plain sight. Join this vicarious Welsh food tour for a taste of Wales’ best food, drinks and scenery.
Eat & Stay Ynyshir
One of the best dining experiences of my life began with a snack of sourdough soaked in rich onion gravy while checking-in to this restaurant with rooms just south of Snowdonia. Dinner was 20 spectacular tiny courses with excellent customised wine matches. Then I slept in a beautiful grotto room with huge picture windows, before an amazing breakfast. Book the kitchen bench and add Ynyshir to your list of best dining experiences ever!
Stay & Eat Llys Meddyg
This old stone house has beautifully restored attic rooms, rambling kitchen garden and atmospheric cellar bar. The great-value menu features house-smoked salmon and seasonal dishes like watercress soup with poached egg, wild mushrooms on sourdough, wood-fire roasted lamb cutlets and rhubarb with baked custard. It’s cosy, friendly and the perfect base for exploring beautiful Pembrokeshire (see Cheese & Gin below).
Eat & Drink Caws Teifi Cheese & Dà Mhìle Gin
Wales rolling green hills have a long history of cheesemaking. But it was an expat-Dutch cheesemaker, Patrice Savage-Onstwedder, who revitalised Welsh artisanal cheese at organic Glynhynod farm, a short drive from Llys Meddyg above. In 2012 her husband John, opened Dà Mhìle distillery, producing excellent gin alongside rum, whisky and other spirits. Today their sons manage the farm with a strong focus on organic education.
Drink Penderyn Whisky
Penderyn distillery opened in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons mountains in 2004, producing the first commercially-available Welsh whisky since the late-1880s. It quickly collected a haul of international awards and is now known for world-class single malts in an island famed for whisky. A tour and tasting at one of Penderyn’s three distilleries is a fascinating part of any Welsh food tour.
Drink Ancre Hill Estates
While I’m yet to be convinced by Welsh wines in general the ones from this family-owned vineyard, on a grand old property on the Welsh/English border, are well worth discovering. Biodynamic Ancre Hill Estates has the only Welsh vineyard with its own winery. I love their commitment to lo-fi wines, and so do others. Their Triomphe pet nat, made from red triomphe d’Alsace and chardonnay, is popular in London and Edinburgh wine bars.
Afternoon Tea Palé Hall
This boutique hotel, in a Victorian mansion on the edge of Snowdonia National Park, is full of old-world grandeur. Rooms look out over manicured lawns, there’s a la carte in the impressive formal dining room and casual bistro fare in the ornate front bar. My favourite treat is a Victorian-era afternoon tea with silver, fine China, finger sandwiches, scones and clotted cream, and other house-made treats including bara brith (see video below).
Tearoom Dylan Thomas Boathouse
I love the stroll along peaceful Taf Estuary, past the well-preserved shed where Dylan Thomas wrote, to his boathouse home. I first tasted the wonderful Welsh fruit bread, bara brith, in the cosy tearoom here and it’s still my benchmark version (see video below). Listen to the recording of Thomas reciting ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night’ in the front parlour and try to come away without moist eyes.
Scenery
Drive along Gower Peninsula on the south coast to Worm’s Head Hotel and enjoy a craft beer in the cosy front bar with beautiful sunset views of Rhossili Bay and tidal Worm’s Head Island. Cross Gospel Pass in the Black Mountains for stunning views and a visit to the ruins of 900-year-old Llanthony Priory. Take the old-fashioned narrow-gauge railway up Mount Snowdon (the highest peak in England and Wales) for breathtaking mountain scenery.
Updated 06 Dec 2024
