3 Best Sights in Wales

One of the true highlights of North Wales is Portmeirion, a tiny fantasy-Italianate village on a private peninsula surrounded by hills; it's said to be loosely modeled after Portofino in Italy. Designed in the 1920s by architect Clough Williams-Ellis (1883–1978), the village has a hotel and restaurant among its multicolored buildings, and gift shops sell a distinctive local pottery. On the edge of town is a peaceful woodland trail punctuated here and there by such flourishes as a red iron bridge and a miniature pagoda. Williams-Ellis called it his "light-opera approach to architecture," and the result is magical, though distinctly un-Welsh. Portmeirion is about 2 miles east of Porthmadog.

According to Dylan Thomas, this attractive estuary town 39 miles west of Swansea was the "strangest town in Wales"; nonetheless, he spent the last four years of his adult life here and is buried in the graveyard at St. Martin's Church. Visitors should first head to the Boathouse, where Thomas lived with his family from 1949 to 1953 and where he wrote Do Not Go Gentle and Under Milk Wood. Then head for a drink at Brown's, his local pub. Be sure to also check out the ruined castle, browse the secondhand bookshops, and enjoy a coastal walk. Laugharne buzzes in spring when the arts festival, Laugharne Weekend, takes place.

North of Porthmadog is Tremadog, a handsome village that was the birthplace of T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935), better known as Lawrence of Arabia. The area is popular with climbers due to its challenging crags.