King Arthur
Why Welsh Tourism Is About Individuals, Not Numbers
In a survey carried out for ‘Visit Britain’, it was recently discovered that the Welsh Castles came out top of the list of priorities for 10,000 visitors from 20 countries. It seems that in the international community, the Castles are associated with quintessential ‘Britishness’, maybe even the legend of King Arthur. This association is mostly to do with the myth rather than the actual man, and impressive as they are, the Welsh castles have more to do with English Medieval occupation than King Arthur. However, this isn’t to say that the international community of Arthurphiles aren’t completely right to head to Wales. There are many Arthurian sites, such as Carmarthen, birthplace of Merlin.
There are many reasons and many places to visit in Wales, but up until recently these have been exclusively harking to the past. And whilst there is evidentially a wealth of reasons to explore Wales’ past, its future is active, and very forward looking. Once stereotypically lethargic, Wales is region with a worldwide reputation for outdoor pursuit and outstanding natural beauty. You can take up most of the conventional wind, wave and hill based outdoor sports in Wales: wind surfing, sailing, kayaking, mountain biking and so forth. But the heart of the Welsh extreme sports scene is in its less conventional pursuits. One such example, that has quickly become an export to parts of the world that enjoy a similarly spectacular (and jagged) coastline, is Coasteering. The idea is simple: travelling along the water-level coast, you must get from one beach to another, over rocks, cliffs, waters. Whatever is in your way.
You may find yourself somewhere in between the slow pace of historical tourism and extreme sports, of course. Cardiff is fast becoming a great place to head to if you’re after something between the extremes? Cardiff is an increasingly culturally significant town, with an increasing number of TV shows being filmed there. But if you’re into your cult TV, you won’t have any trouble pinpoint which gardens to visit: the northern town of Portmeirion was the place where the obscure and brilliant TV series “the Prisoner” was filmed.
King Arthur