10 tips for a Wales family vacation

Wales Packs a Wallop of Family-Sized Fun

New York, NY – March 1, 2011 - Whether descending 300 feet below ground to the bottom of the Big Pit coal mine or ascending 3,560 feet to the peak of Mt. Snowdon, Wales delivers amazing, affordable family-sized fun.

Here are 10 tips for a Wales family vacation like no other. Fasten your seatbelts, parents and kids:

1) Visit a castle, or two or three -- Wales has 641 of them - many haunted and all historic.  Having stood for centuries and survived wars, the castle walls are indestructible, making them ideal for active families.  King Edward I's Iron Ring - Caernarfon, Beaumaris, Harlech and Conwy -in North Wales is great for serious castle collectors. http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk.

2) Experience reality tourism at its best. The lessons of the industrial revolution come to life in a most thrilling way when you go underground to discover limestone, formed a mere 315 million years ago at the National Showcaves Centre for Wales in the Brecon Beacons National Park, or don a miner’s gear and travel back in time and 300 feet down a shaft at Big Pit National Coal Museum or traverse some of a 25-mile underground network at the slate mining Llechwedd Slate Caverns. http://www.showcaves.co.uk,http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/bigpit and http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/slate

3) Follow the trail of King Arthur & the Knights of the Round to Table and decide for yourself if this story is fact or fiction. Either way, the trail enchants with places such as Caerleon, reputed to be home of the Round Table (sure looks that way), Carmarthen, said to be Merlin's birth place and the Dovey Valley, where Arthur is said to have fought his last battle.  For suggestions on searching for the Holy Grail in Wales, you should check out itineraries at http://www.visitwales.com.

4) Stay in ultra-cool accommodation.  Under The Thatch's affordable, sustainable, authentic options are ideally suited for families. Just about everything has been converted to accommodation from gypsy caravans and barns to mills and cowsheds.  .  http://www.underthethatch.co.uk.   Reserve a yurt at Graig Wen - a stellar option in magnificent Snowdonia. http://www.graigwen.co.uk  .

5) Lower the family’s carbon foot print. Learn how at Wales' Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), a hands-on learning center that attempts to offer solutions to some of the most serious challenges facing the planet.  Built in an old slate quarry in the foothills of Snowdonia, way before ‘green’ was fashionable, CAT puts sustainable living to the test with self-sustaining electricity and gardens built on grounds with no natural soil.  Families can dig in and learn about organic gardening, energy conservation and the not-so-sexy subject of waste management.http://www.cat.org.uk.

6) Take on the Family Tree Top Challenge in Pembrokeshire National Park, West Wales. This high-flying family vacation includes a self-catering cottage with onsite tennis and swimming and the chance to swing in a high ropes course - tree top trails – that includes crossing rope bridges, balancing on beams and sliding down a zip wire.  http://www.activitywales.com.

7) Experience negative G-force with the family on Europe's tallest wooden roller coaster, Megafobia, at Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, West Wales.  Consistently ranked in the world's top five wooden coasters since it was built in 1996, families are assured shared air time. http://www.oakwoodthemepark.co.uk

8) Discover the Great Little Trains of Wales.  Originally designed to transport Welsh slate from the quarries to the sea, the narrow-gauge steam trains travel through some of Wales' most stunning scenery at a decidedly leisurely pace. http://www.greatlittletrainsofwales.co.uk.

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