Places to go - Llangollen

Llangollen

There is a lot of Welsh history in and around Llangollen. Set below the hills in the Dee Valley, this former centre of the slate industry, shows few signs of the industrialisation that slate quarrying brought.
Today thousands of visitors from around the globe descend on Llangollen in July each year when it hosts the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

You can stroll quietly along the River Dee or the Canal, or the more energetic can walk in the surrounding hills.
If your interest is canoeing, Steam trains, Canal boats you will find all this at Llangollen plus many antique and bookshops.
Drive up to the Horseshoe Pass, for its fine views or stop at Valle Crucis Abbey, a Cistercian Abbey founded in 1202.
On the outskirts of the town, is the gothic Plas Newydd with its stained glass windows and elaborately carved oak panels  - owned by two extrovert ladies in 1778, who entertained amongst others, the Duke of Wellington and William Wordsworth.

Llangollen aqueduct

To the north east of the town are the remains of Castell Dinas Bran (Crow Castle), perched high on an isolated hill above Llangollen; it can be reached by a steep climb, from where the views of the town and the Dee Valley are superb.
Or visit St Collen’s Church with its carved oak ceiling and after which the town is named.
Another striking feature, 3 miles east of the town is the Pont Cysyllte Aqueduct, a dramatic bridge, built by Thomas Telford between 1793 and 1806 to carry the Shropshire Union Canal over the Dee.

Two-hour trips on the motorised canal boat Thomas Telford carry you through the beautiful Vale of Llangollen and across the Aqueduct. The country's biggest navigable aqueduct towers a massive 126ft (38m) above the River Dee supported by 18 stone piers. The canal runs through an iron trough 1007 feet (306.9 metres) long, 11 feet 10 inches (3.6 metres) wide and 5 feet 3 inches (1.6 metres) deep. Water is fed from the River Dee at the Horseshoe Falls near Llangollen