Holiday Cottages To Rent In The UK

The city of Cardiff is not only the Welsh capital city, but also the most popular visitor destination in Great Britain outside London. The city is also the biggest of the cities in Wales, however it was only but a pretty small town until the time of the start of the 19C. It was in the early 19C that the small Welsh town of Cardiff developed into an incredibly successful seaport involved in the transportation of local coal, and also various other heavy and light industry. It was not until twenty eighth of October 1905 that King Edward VII of England granted the small town of Cardiff city status, but, weirdly, the city of Cardiff only became the capital city of Wales on the twentieth of December nineteen fifty five.

After this Cardiff quickly became home to a number of national institutions, for example the University of Wales Registry Building, the National Museum of Wales and the Welsh National War Memorial. Throughout the last couple of decades the Cardiff companies involved in Information and Technology have seen dramatic expansion as well as, although to a lesser degree various other areas of industry, especially in service industries. Tourism has also boomed and there are now surprising numbers of places providing bed and breakfast accommodation in Cardiff.

Cardiff Tourist Attractions Worth Visiting

Although Cardiff has only been a city for 100 years, interestingly there has actually been a castle there for approximately 2 thousand years. The current Cardiff Castle is, more than likely, the most popular visitor attraction in the city and can be found in the very middle of the city centre. Visitors can partake in a guided tour around the castle’s interior, and/or, take a stimulating walk about the stunningly picturesque castle gardens. You will also find a fairly new Interpretation Centre at the castle which shows the differing stages of development, of the castle,  through the ages from the Roman period right up to the present.

Cardiff also has a fair few modern attractions including the incredibly fascinating Techniquest, one of the UK’s most popular Science Discovery centres. At the centre tourists will find more than one hundred hands on exhibits, designed especially to both entertain and educate all age groups. The centre has a hi-tech Science Theatre, a Discovery Room, a laboratory and a planetarium.

There are many more tourist attractions to see in Cardiff, so, if you and your family are currently deciding upon taking a break there it is crucial that you reserve your  lodgings at the earliest moment as, unfortunately Cardiff hotels and guest houses tend to be alarmingly busy and are frequently fully booked well in advance. If your group is large you may find that serviced apartments in Cardiff turns out to be a cheaper option by comparison with bed and breakfast accommodation.

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Snowdonia is a major tourist attraction in Wales and is actually the first of the three national parks to be designated and was made a national park in 1951.

The English name of the park really comes from the highest mountain in Wales which is Mount Snowdon but in welsh is named Eryi. The terms Prince Of Wales and Lord of Snowdonia were both used in the middle ages.

The park is huge and is actually 838 square miles in area and is governed by the national park authority which is made up of the government and national representitives. A lot of the land in Snowdonia is actually private and makes up 69.9% of all of the shares. All of the other parts of the area is owned by forestry commission, national trust, CCW, national park authority and water companies.

26,000 people actually live within the park itself and 62% of these people speak Welsh. The park gets 6 million tourists a year and is split equally between day visitors and visitors that stay overnight.

The area is actually used as a training grounds for people who are thinking of climbing Mount Everest.

It isnt really hard to believe that Snowdonia is one of the wettest and coldest places in Britain and Crib Goch is actually the wettest point in the UK as it recives 4,472 millimetres a year of rainfall.

These reasoms are really just a few of many on why you should think about going to Snowdonia on your next travels. Once you get to the top the views in which you can find are simply amazing and will certainly take your breath away, although one of those UK family holidays may not be something you are interested in doing, at least take the time to have a family days out.

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This is the last part in the Wales castles. so far you have seen some of the best castles in Wales, now onto the last part of the Welsh castles. Now onto the least known castles that Wales has to offer.

Powis Castle

The castle was designed and built in the 12th century and followed all of the usual norman rules and guidelines. It contained an inner bailey, defensive outer wall and a very strong keep. In 1196 the castle fell to the English and in the 13th century the castle went through a very slow refurbishment programme. All that can be seen of these improvments is the long gallery.

1667 saw the year in which Earl William started to turn the castle into a huge palace. State apartment, blue drawing room, library and state bedroom were added by William and when William fled the country his family did not return to it until 1703 in which his son set about making major improvements to the place and this is what makes the history of this place so wonderful and a reason to go on one of those family days out here.

Harlech Castle

This castle was built in the 13th century and is just one of the four castles built in wales for Edward I. This castle cna be found on top of a rocky outcrop which means the location provided the castle with some brilliant natural deefnces with the weaknesses being from the east and south. The way in which this problem was solved is brilliant with a massive ditch being built to keep all kinds of attackers out and at bay.

This castle still looks wonderful and almost as good as it did back in the day and it can be found within snowdonia.

So there it is, there are still other castles to be explored but there are just a few of them written down for you to think about. UK family holidays are made very nice in Wales and even if you do not fancy a week or so in the area you could always go on one of those family days out to the area.

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Carrying on with the list of the best castles in Wales is the next selection of Castles that you should visit if you are on one of those family days out.

Gwydir Castle

This castle is one of the best looking ones in Wales and it can be found in the lovely area of Snowdonia, it was built in 1365. Coetmore was the commander of the longbow men at the Battle Of Poiters. The castle was originally home to the Wynn baronets who were descendants of the Kings and Princes of Gwynedd.

Meredith Wynn was a strong supporter of King henry VII and after the War Of The Roses he started to rebuild the castle. It was again refurbished in the 1540’s and was not touched again until 1828.

It had taken a while to complete but in 1989 the newly refurbished dining room from the 1640s was reopened.

Caerphilly Castle

This castle is located very close to an earlier Roman fort site that was started on in 1268. This castle actually covers a huge thirty acres of land making it the largest castle in Wales. This castle was only built to show the Anglo-Normans power and it did this as no person would go anywhere near it.

A force of men over ten thousand strong actually attacked the castle in the 14th century and this is when the castle was almost destroyed. After all of this the castles defences still remained intact.

The 15th century saw the castle kept in reasonable condition with no real refurbishments happening until the late 1700’s.

If you are into your history or are interested in either of these castles then why not take one of those UK family holidays to go and check them out. One of the best ways you can experience these castles is through a tour, although many people think they are boring there are many tour guides that go the extra mile.

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Here are just some of the best castles that Wales has to offer. Many of these are only visited by a few people and some of them have hundreds of visitors a year. Why not take a look at one of these brilliant castles!

The Awsome Cardiff Castle

The Romans were the first to use the castle and it can be found right in the middle of a very busy city. When the Normans took control they covered the original fort with earthen ramparts and made their own defences. during the course of the next few centuries the castle was always getting the odd improvements. Many things happened during the 12th century including a stone keep and between the 13th and 14th a gatehouse and the black tower were both added. It would seem that the later centuries proved to be very hard on the castle and it was renovated in the 18th century to what people see it as today.

Chepstow Castle

This castle was in the making a year after the Battle Of Hastings and was built on a limestone ridge overlooking the river Wye. it would seem that chepstow was a very quiet castle for its time as it very rarely saw a battle. It was modified a lot in the 12th and 13th centuries and the importance of it declined in the 14th century. After the long battles in the 1690's the castles defences were taken down and the castle was eventually handed to the state in 1953.

These are just two of the castles that Wales has to offer the general pubic which of course means that you can personally see the inside of both these buildings along with your family on one of those family days out. UK family holidays are very popular indeed in Wales and both of these castles see a lot of guests every year so do not miss out and visit Wales soon.

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This of course is just one of the many castles in Wales. This one has to be the most popular one out there as many hundreds of people visit it every single year.

The really cool cardiff Castle

This castle lies slap bang in the middle of a busy city and was first used by the Romans. The Normas stepped in to take control and they covered the original fort with ramparts and their own defences. Over the next three or so centuries the castle was always being improved on. During the 12th century a stone keep was added and within the 13th and 14th a gatehouse a tower (known as the Black Tower) were also added to the gigantic building.

1423 saw the Earl of Warwick add another tower to the west side of the caslte and when the Herbert family moved in they improved it for many generations. Within the 17th and 18th centuries the castle was left and it fell into disrepair.

It was not lost alltogether as 1766 saw the year in which Lord Mountstuart took possession of the castle and slowly started to buld the place up again.

Finally in 1869 William Burges started to re-model the castle and he was given complete artistic freedom on the place. this is how people can see the castle today.

If of course you fancy going to the castle yourself there are very few days in which you are not allowed to look around the place which is always good.

There are so many things that you can see in the castle from the keep to the military museum so why not think about taking one of those family days out to the place. You could of course just take a family holidays UK to Cardiff to enjoy the place at your own leisure.

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This is the second part two of the most successful celebrity’s that have come from Wales. You can either love or loathe these celebrities it seems they are all here to stay, all of them have alot of money, some deserved and some not.

The Old Timer- Tom Jones

Thomas Jones Woodward was born on the 7th June 1940 and is often known as Tom Jones. For his services to music Tom Jones was actually knighted in 2006 by the Queen and he has sold over 100 million records. Anyone who doesn’t recognise the name Tom Jones will surely remember the song from the film Thunderball with the same title. It was this Bond movie that Tom Jones sang the tune forThis as most people know is the Bond Movie that Tom Jones was involved in. His most famous two songs have to be “Mama Told Me Not To Come” and “It’s Not Unusual”.

The Wonderful Kathering Jenkins

Katherine Jenkins was born 29th June 1980 and is an award winning classic crossover mezzo-soprano. It would seem that she was born in Neath, Wales and is very well known for her classical voice. She first came to the attention of the public eye in 2003 when she supported Aled Jones on his tour. The Rugby World Cup in 2003 is when she made her Sydney Opera House debut and in 2004 she first appeared in the USA. She has the title of the fastest selling mezzo-soprano artist of all time and is a fluent welsh speaker.

The Very Annoying Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church was born 21st February 1986 in Cardiff, Wales and his since gone on to become very rich and successful. She has managed to sell way over 10,500,000 albums across the world and has been rumoured to be worth £20 million. There does seem to be a lot of people out there that find her annoying and will not listen to her music. The singer has since gone on to have two children and also is the host of a popular chat show entitled the charlotte church show.

Just some of the best celebrities that have come out of the great country that is Wales.
Wales is actually a really nice spot to take one of those Family holidays UK or perhaps even one of those awesome family days out.

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There have actually been so many Welsh celebrities that have come out over the past twenty years or so. There many that havent of course. Here is just a small list on some of the best ones that have proved to be very successful.

The Brilliant Christian Bale

It is pretty hard to believe that this hollywood actor was born in Wales. Although he really didn’t spend too much time in the country as he left when he was two he was born there which is why he certainly has to be on this list. His father was a commercial pilot and talent manager and his mother a circus clown. After leaving Wales in 1976 he spent many years in England, Portugal and the USA. His top films include American Psycho, Batman Begins and Batman: The Dark Knight and of course Equilibrium.

Aimee Duffy (Duffy)

Aimee Duffy was actually born in 1984 and is a very successful singer/songwriter. Duffy has only recently produced one album and it came in at number one in the charts of the UK upon release. She actually grew up speaking welsh as her mother tongue which is actually rather rare for Welsh people to do nowadays. She actually dropped her first name Aimee and simply called herself Duffy for both personal and professional reasons.

Catherine-Zeta-Jones

This is obviously another welsh actor and she was born in the town of Swansea in 1969. She actually left school at an early age to pursue acting. The films that she is most known for include The Mask of Zorro, Chicago and The Legend of Zorro.

So there is just the first half of the list of people that were born in Wales and went on to become very rich and famous people.

Part two goes on to talk about Tom Jones, Katherine Jenkins and the controversial Charlotte Church.

Wales is actually a really nice spot to take one of those Family holidays UK or perhaps even one of those awesome family days out.

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If your town is struggling with the ways in which they are at the moment then perhaps a good old fashioned cheese festival is what is in order. It works really well for Cardiff right??

This is due to the fact that Britain’s biggest cheese festival is held in Cardiff every year. This year on the 26^th and 27^th of september one of the largest cheese festivals has just over 400 types of cheeses to try along with wines and ciders. Not only do you get the normal cow and goat cheese but also sheep as well as the unusual Buffalo cheese too.

So everyone loves at least one form of cheese (unless of course you are lactose intolerant) which begs a question, how exactly is cheese made?

No surprises that it is actually produced by the coagulation of the milk protein known as casein. How are the cheeses all made so they taste unique?? The animal is obviously important but so is the diet of the animal. As well as this, wood smoke, spices and herbs can be used as flavouring agents.

In some cheeses acids like lemon juice are used in the curdling process. Cheeses have been used for many years for so many different things. It has proven useful against famines and is very good travel food as it tends to last for a long time as well as providing plenty of protein, fat and of course calcium. Cheese can last a lot longer than milk which is partly why it is so much more useful. Cheaper to ship also.

The cheese festival should actually be in within the grounds of Cardiff castle next year too so if you are interested why not take one of those nice family days out there and join in! Family holidays UK is another way to experience Wales or any part of the United Kingdom if you are not into cheese.

Technorati Tags: Cardiff, Cheese, wales

Now that you’ve had one of your family days out this year at the recent cheese festival in Cardiff, what famous cartoon characters would you expect to see there if of course they were real people?

Wallace- Wallace And Gromit

Everybody knows this British guy.This toon inventor has big ears to match his huge love for cheese. Wensleydale is of course his cheese of choice.Of course the first time we laid eyes on the pair was way back in 1989 in the film A Grand Day Out in which the pair actually travel to the moon as they realise they have run out of cheese. Gromit, being the smarter of the two would have found it easier to go to the shops but of course he cannot talk at all being a dog.

The brilliant laughing cow

Is really here simply because it has become a world wide sensation and is actually the oldest on the list as the original drawing for the product was drawn by the creator of the product in 1924 and was the first cheese product to actually be branded in France.

Jerry from Tom and Jerry

This one is going to be the most famous here and the love for cheese comes from the fact he is a mouse. Everybody on the planet must be aware of what this cartoon is about. The hatred that a cat and mouse have for eachother is shown with the never ending battle Tom and Jerry have. Back in the days these cartoons used to contain comic violence but with the way the world is now have since been toned down in recent years.

So if you fancy yourself a bit of cheese why not go to a cheese festival and try a variety of different forms of cheese. Family holidays UK can be worked around all kinds of festivals from cheese to music.

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