Where industry meets wilderness, and every trail carries a story.
South Wales offers some of the most varied walking in the country — from the windswept cliffs of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast to the wooded trails and open ridges of the South Wales Valleys. Here, centuries of history sit quietly beside reclaimed nature, and the landscape tells tales of coal, community, and resilience.
This is walking country where contrasts come together: coastal beauty and inland grit, ruined abbeys and sculpture parks, wild hills and city edges. Whether you're following a riverside path through a former mining town or climbing to a panoramic view above the coast, walking in South Wales is grounded, surprising, and deeply rewarding.
Follow clifftop trails between Ogmore-by-Sea and Llantwit Major, with views over wave-cut platforms, sea stacks, and fossil-rich rocks. A stunning stretch of the Wales Coast Path, dotted with Iron Age hillforts, beaches, and historic ruins.
Explore a network of trails through former coalfields now green with recovery. The Taff Trail links Cardiff to Brecon, winding through parks, riversides, and old railways — ideal for discovering both natural beauty and industrial heritage.
Once a centre of coal mining, now a haven for walkers and cyclists. Follow forested paths past old viaducts, sculpture trails, and panoramic viewpoints above the Afan Valley.
Walk through peaceful countryside rich in wildlife, abbey ruins, and woodland. The Usk Valley Walk offers easy riverside walking, while nearby Wentwood is one of Wales’s largest ancient woodlands.
South Wales is a place of stories — old and new, written in stone, sea, and soil.
To walk here is to trace the region’s reinvention, one path at a time.
Curated stays for walkers, wanderers, and slow travellers — all within easy reach of the path.
Trusted tour companies offer self-guided walking holidays in the South of Wales — with accommodation, luggage transfers, and detailed route notes included.
Choose a county to discover its trails, towns, villages and places to stay.
Start your walk on one of the region’s best-known routes.
