Wales is a small country in Great Britain with castles, gardens, national parks, beaches, valleys, mountains, galleries, and museums. Wales tourist attractions include Cardiff Bay, Pembrokeshire Coast, Snowdonia National Park, Conwy, Brecon Beacons National Park, Caernarfon, Tresaith Beach, etc. If you are looking for the best
places to visit in Wales, you must see the museums. Wales has over ninety museums that range from history, culture, arts, aviation, railways, and textiles. Many museums tell the history of the towns and communities. Let us navigate through the must-see museums and attractions in Wales that make Wales one of the
best places to visit in UK.
National Museum Cardiff
National Museum Cardiff houses art collections and artefacts. The paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and drawings feature the work of renowned artists such as Van Gogh, Monet, Turner, and Rodet. Take a journey through space where you can see moon rocks, meteorites, woolly mammoths, and dinosaur fossils and skeletons. The natural history gallery houses birds, animals, and insects.
National Wool Museum
The National Wool Museum honours the illustrious past of the Welsh wool industry. The museum is located in the Cambrian Mills, which produced woollen blankets, shirts, and bed coverings distributed all across the world. Learn the history of cloth making and take a self-guided tour to see the process of fleece to fabric. The museum has a shop where visitors can shop for Welsh blankets, stockings, shawls, etc.
National Slate Museum
The National Slate Museum is located in the Victorian workshops on the Dinorwig slate quarry. The site looks like it did in the nineteenth century. The workshops catered to the maintenance work demanded by a quarry. Visitors to the museum can see slate-splitting demonstrations, an introductory film (To Steal a Mountain), a giant waterwheel, and an iron and brass foundry. The houses of quarrymen have been refurbished to show visitors the living conditions of quarrymen and their families.
The National Waterfront Museum
The National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, Wales, is part of the Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales). Situated in the Marine Quarter, the museum has fifteen themed galleries, each showcasing the industrial and maritime history of Wales. The National Waterfront Museum tells the story of innovation in Wales and how it has changed from a rural society to an advanced country. The museum hosts free films, crafts, and themed trails for people of all ages.
St. Fagans National Museum of History
Situated close to Cardiff in Wales, the St Fagans National Museum of History is one of the top open-air museums in Europe. Its primary objectives are to showcase and preserve Wales’ rich cultural and historical legacy. See the St. Teilo’s Church, the decor and items of iron worker’s houses, or the working museum. In the working museum, the men demonstrate fabric production, clog making, and cooking Welsh food.
The Royal Welsh Fusiliers Regimental Museum
The museum, located in Caernarfon, North Wales, offers insights into the regiment’s rich history, spanning over three centuries. The Royal Welch Fusiliers is one of the oldest and most famous infantry regiments in the British Army. The museum houses several medals, uniforms, and weapons dating back to the 1680s.
Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery
The Crashay family once resided in the Cyfarthfa Castle. Collectables such as the first voting ballot box, steam whistle, and clothes by Laura Ashley and Julien McDonald are kept in the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery. Concerts, charity events, craft fairs, fun runs, and fireworks are all held in the castle park.
Swansea Museum
1841 saw the establishment of the Swansea Museum by the Royal Institution of South Wales. It’s the oldest museum in Wales. The Marina, the Tramshed, the Landore Collections Centre, and the museum itself are the four locations where the museum is open for business. There is a library at the museum with books from the nineteenth century. The museum’s permanent galleries are The Mummy, Archaeology, Ceramics, and Oriel Hanes. Two galleries of the museum are used for temporary exhibitions.
Anglesey Transport Museum
For fans of cars, the Anglesey Transport Museum is a great destination. Agricultural machinery, military tanks, motorcycles, automobiles, vans, static engines, and jet jets from the 1920s are all on display at the museum. There’s a kiddie play area and a cafe with farm-fresh fruit from nearby Snowdonia. The private automobile owners whose cars are on display are open to interacting with the visitors.
Conwy Mussel Museum
Conwy was a pearl fishing area in Britain. Find more about the history of pearl fishing by visiting the Conwy Museum. Discover the uses of mussels and the history of the Conwy pearl. Observe the pearl-making process, starting with the collection and purification of mussels.
Caernarfon Airworld Museum
Situated on the site of a former Royal Air Force station in Llandwrog, close to Caernarfon in North Wales, lies the Caernarfon Airworld Aviation Museum. The museum has an extensive collection of aircraft. In addition to sitting in the pilot’s seat, visitors can view the aircraft from within. Aviation toys and souvenirs are available for purchase in the museum gift store.
Abergavenny Museum
Founded about 1087 by the Norman ruler Hamelin de Balun, Abergavenny Castle is a destroyed castle located in the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was attacked in the early years of the 15th century during the Glyndwr Rising, and in 1175 it was the site of a massacre of Welsh lords.
Usk Rural Life Museum
Approximately 5,000 objects have been collected over the last 50 years by local enthusiasts to preserve the heritage of rural life and work in the Welsh Borders from the Victorian era onward. The museum has a beautiful collection of artefacts that range from large farm equipment and antique tractors to little household items and hand tools. A Victorian home, a forge, carts, a cobbler, cheese-making, a stable, a hardware store, and several more items are among the specialist collections.
Welsh Museum of Fire
Located in West Wales, the Internal Fire Museum of Power is a museum dedicated to internal combustion engines. Larger stationary diesel engines used for pumping stations and generating sets make up the majority of the museum’s collection. The exhibits include the oil engines, gas turbines and diesel power engines.
National Roman Legion Museum
Caerleon, near Newport, is home to the National Roman Legion Museum in South Wales. It is devoted to presenting the history of the Roman occupation of Wales. The museum houses exhibitions and artefacts that showcase how the Romans fought, lived, worshipped, and died. It preserves objects from the Roman fortresses of Caerleon, including the ruins of the amphitheatre and the barracks.
Conclusion
It is important to note that entry to National Museums in Wales is free. Check each museum calendar for any free events, exhibitions, and workshops so that you can enjoy these activities in Wales with your family and friends. Plan a trip to Wales and explore the museums and
castles in UK.
