Travel advice & practical information for travelogue:

Wye Valley Walk, Wales

Useful addresses

New York

Consulate General of United Kingdom
845 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Tel.: 212-745 0200
Fax: 212-745 3062
Web site: Consulate General of United Kingdom in New York

Paris

Consulate General of United Kingdom
18bis, Rue d'Anjou
75008 Paris
Tel.: 01-4451 3100
Fax: 01-4451 3127
E-mail: E-mail: consulare-mailpavis.consulare-mailpavis2@fco.gov.uk

General information

Wales is a nice little country with three million inhabitants. Actually, it's a princedom with Prince Charles as its sovereign. It's surface is 20,000 km. Many people think of miners when they think about Wales, but that's all in the past. Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Dylan Thomas, Anthony Hopkins and Richard Burton are famous Welshmen and women.

I spent five vacations in Ireland since 1980 and love the Celtic atmosphere, Stoe Age remains and both lovely and rough landscapes with lots of water. But since I took a longer trip to Wales in 2001, this part of the British Isles has become at least as dear to me as Ireland.

I have seen Irish cities, but too many towns as well, expand quickly; highways are constructed and the appealingly low pace of life seems to be catching up with the rest of the Western world.

What I was looking for in Ireland, I now find in Wales, cheaper and easier to get to. I walked in the Black Mountains, the Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia. Often I hardly met any other hikers.

There are exceptions: climbing Mt. Snowdon is a hobby for legions of hikers and there even is a steam train to the top (1085 m, the highest peak of Wales) for people who can't or won't walk.

Swansea, Newport and the capital Cardiff on the south coast are the largest cities. The rest of Wales consists of huge unspoiled areas, hamlets, villages and towns, like Hay-on-Wye, the starting point of the hike. The town is in Powys, a county which covers on third of Wales' surface, but houses only 4 per cent of its population.

Electricity

The current is 240V, 50 HzAC, like everywhere in the United Kingdom. Bring adaptors for your appliances.

Money

If you know in advance which places you're going to visit, you can find out online if and where there are ATM's where you can use your MasterCard and Cirrus or Visa to withdraw money.

Plan your trip to United Kingdom online

Through online reservation systems like À la Carte Vacations you can book airline tickets, hotels, rental cars and holiday houses. You can build a fly-drive itinerary with maximum flexibility, book a flight plus a hotel hotel for a night or weekend. Without the limitations of package deals from travel organisations and most times for a much better price.