Our easy-to-use website contains details and locations of places to visit around this area. Please select from:

	Places to Stay: Bed and Breakfast Hotels and Guest Houses Pubs with Accommodation Self Catering
	Places to Eat and Drink: Cafes, Coffee & Tea Shops Pubs serving Food Restaurants and Bistros
	Places of Interest: Places to Visit
	Gardens Centres: Garden Centres/Nurseries
	Specialist Shops: Antiques & Restoration Arts and Crafts Fashions Gifts Home and Garden Jewellery Food and Drink Shops

Aberystwyth

The principal resort on the west coast of Wales, Aberystwyth is also a lively university town and home to the National Library of Wales. It has two beaches and a broad Promenade overlooked by tall Victorian and Edwardian houses. Two rivers flow into the sea here – the Ystwyth and the Rheidol – the latter being the steepest in Britain. The presence of university students ensures that hostelries are in good supply, with some 50 licensed premises in all.

The oldest building in the town is the ruined Aberystwyth Castle, which Edward I began building in 1277.  At the same time he granted a charter that made the settlement around the new fortification a free borough with a ditch and wall, a guild of merchants, a market and two fairs. The castle withstood a siege in 1282, but in 1404 it fell to Owain Glyndwr during fighting that destroyed the surrounding town. Glyndwr made the castle his base for four years and it became an important seat of government until it was recaptured in 1408 by Prince Henry (who went on to become Henry V). In 1637, Thomas Bushell was given permission to set up a mint within the castle. During the Civil War the silver coins minted here for Charles I were used to pay the Royalist soldiers, as Cromwell had taken control of the mints in London. However, the castle finally fell to the Parliamentarians in 1646 and Cromwell had the building rendered militarily useless some three years later. Locals re-cycled much of the stone for houses but the ruins, standing on the rocky headland, remain an impressive sight. Also on Castle Point can be found the town’s War Memorial, a splendid monument that was commissioned the year after World War I ended. It is the work of the Italian sculptor Mario Rutelli.

In the years following the turmoil of the Civil War, and before the arrival of the railways, Aberystwyth remained essentially a fishing town, but with a growing shipbuilding industry. Although much of this industry has now ceased, Aberystwyth Harbour and Marina is still a bustling place that can accommodate over 100 vessels. At the town quay, all manner of fish and seafood are landed.

The arrival of the railways in the 1860s saw the town expand rapidly as first the Victorians and then the Edwardians made their way here to enjoy the sea air and the beauty of the great sweep of Cardigan Bay. The town’s 700 foot long Pier was constructed in 1864, and the Pavilion at the end was added in 1896 to provide a capacious venue for light entertainment. From the northern end of the Promenade, the longest electric Cliff Railway in Britain, opened in 1896, carries passengers up the slope of Constitution Hill at a sedate four miles an hour. At the summit is the Aberystwyth Camera Obscura, housed in an octagonal tower. A faithful reconstruction of a popular Victorian amusement, the huge 14-inch lens - the biggest in the world – gives visitors an even better view from this excellent vantage point. It was originally built in 1880 within Aberystwyth Castle, and rebuilt on Constitution Hill in 1896, the year the Cliff Railway opened. However, by the 1920s it had gone. The present camera was built in 1985. From the camera obscura there’s a lovely clifftop walk to Clarach Bay where you can catch a bus back to Aberystwyth.

While the town today certainly seems to cater to holidaymakers’ every need, Aberystwyth is also a seat of learning. The very first college of the University of Wales was established at Aberystwyth, as was the very first Welsh medium primary school. The Old College was originally built to JP Seddon’s design in the 1870s as a hotel designed to accommodate the influx of Victorian visitors. However, the venture failed, and in 1872 the high Gothic building was sold, becoming the first university in Wales and now home to the departments of Welsh, Education and Theatre, Film and Television. The great crowds of holidaymakers may have gone, but the town still has more than 7000 students living in it during term-time. Located on campus, the Aberystwyth Arts Centre is the largest and most successful in Wales. The complex includes a concert hall, theatre, cinema, galleries, dance school, workshop areas, bookshop, bars and a café.

The town is also the home of the National Library of Wales, one of only six copyright libraries in Great Britain, and the keeper of the majority of materials that relate to the Welsh people and their culture. Founded in 1909, the foundation stone of the building was laid by George V in 1911. In 1916, the librarians and books moved in, and in 1937, it was officially opened by George VI, though work on the building didn’t officially finish until 1955. The library holds many early Welsh and Celtic manuscripts, among which is the Black Book of Carmarthen, a 12th-century manuscript that is the oldest written in Welsh. Within the complex, the Drwm cinema and auditorium presents a wide range of screenings and performances.

Housed in a beautifully restored Edwardian music hall, right in the centre of the town on Terrace Road, is the Ceredigion Museum, opened in 1982 and once described as “probably the most beautiful museum interior in Britain”. It tells the history of Cardiganshire through an interesting collection of materials: the history of seafaring, agriculture, and silver and lead mining are all well chronicled. Within the Victorian Parish Church of St Michael, the Welsh Christian Heritage Centre has exhibitions and a film about the history of Christianity in Wales.

One of the ‘Great Little Trains of Wales’, the Vale of Rheidol Railway runs from the British Rail station and offers an 11¾ mile narrow gauge steam train journey through spectacular scenery to Devil’s Bridge. The one-hour trip climbs to 600ft with many sharp curves and steep gradients. At Devil’s Bridge there’s a café, toilets and picnic area.