Discover an epic culinary experience in Wales
Have a taste of the country's flavours of delicious local produce, plenty of craft beer, wines and spirits, plus award-winning gastropubs and foodie trails
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Your support makes all the difference.Whether it's a romantic break or a family holiday, you'll find everything you need for an amazing getaway in Wales.
Here's what's not to be missed:
Gourmet trails
Wales is ripe for a foodie road trip, with two dedicated trails that let you taste the best the country has to offer. Taste Trail Ceredigion starts in the seaside town of Aberystwyth and ends close to Boncath, with more than 20 producers and eateries along the way, specialising in everything from cheese and honey to locally made sausages. The route takes in the Welsh coastline, so don’t miss the chance to taste some bounty of the sea at stops such as New Quay Fish Shop (owned by a local former fisherman) and The Beach Hut at Llangrannog.
The Clwydian Range Food Trail, meanwhile, takes you through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and to the towns of Ruthin and Denbigh. Check out The Little Welsh Cheese Company, which produces cheddar and gouda in the cellar of a Flintshire B&B, or the Dangerous Food Company in St Asaph, which has gained cult status for its chilli jam.
Festivals
Wales’s calendar is packed with festivals throughout the year, and autumn is no exception. Among the gourmet highlights is North Wales’s biggest food festival, the Gwledd Conwy Feast, which returns to the Unesco-listed fortified town at the end of the month (27-29 October). There will be street food stalls, an ale tent and skill demos, plus a music marquee with live bands.
Eating out
Welsh food is abundant, diverse and above all delicious. The hardest decision you’ll have to make is where to eat. Bodnant Welsh Food Centre in the Conwy Valley offers a good introduction, with a cookery school, restaurant, tea room and farm shop all showing off the best of the country’s offerings.
Try Welsh laver-bread, which recently earned the same EU protected status as the Cornish pasty and Parma ham. Made with minced seaweed (some-times mixed with oatmeal and fried), it’s a key component of any full Welsh breakfast. For a modern take, check out the Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company, whose products are stocked in delis and shops all over Wales.
Fancy cosying up in a great pub? You’ll find them wherever you turn, from The Hardwick in Abergavenny to The Bunch of Grapes in Pontypridd, both of which were listed in this year’s Top 50 Gastropubs guide. There’s also Felin Fach Griffin, just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park, where much of the produce comes from the pub’s kitchen garden and there’s a log fire to keep you warm.
Local tipples
There are many excellent craft breweries, including some that offer a tasting tour. Tomos Watkin in Swansea, has a three-hour experience ending at the open bar.
Welsh wine is little known, but a number of vineyards open their doors to visitors, including Ancre Hill Estates, just outside Monmouth, which produces award-winning sparkling wine, as well as pinot noir and others.
Lesser-known still are the country’s spirits. Over the past decade, several small distilleries have sprung up, including Penderyn Distillery, in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons. Making single malt whisky since 2004, it has since expanded into vodka and gin. Tours of the distillery are available, or you can pick up a bottle of Penderyn’s Brecon gin alongside more than 200 others at Ginhaus Deli in Carmarthenshire.
Make sure you try Da Mhile’s seaweed gin and Dyfi Gin. Named the best new gin of 2017, it’s produced in Britain’s smallest distillary. Iechyd da!
Suggested itinerary: Thirtysomethings
Friday: Check into Llys Meddyg, a restaurant with rooms housed within an old Georgian coaching inn, in north Pembrokeshire.
Saturday: Set off for New Quay for a boat ride around Cardigan Bay in search of bottlenose dolphins, seals and porpoises, then have lunch at Bara Menyn in Cardigan, a bakery and cafe that serves its delicious fresh bread alongside light tarts and soups. Spend the afternoon exploring Pembrokeshire Coast National Park — including Porthclais Harbour — on foot or bike before dinner back at Llys Meddyg. The restaurant has its own smokery, so you’ll find home-smoked fish on the menu as well as Welsh lamb.
Sunday: Make your way back to London, stopping off en route for a wander around the bookshops of Hay-on-Wye. One of them, Richard Booth’s, has a café serving all-day breakfast, light bites and cakes.
All content was commissioned and approved by Visit Wales