Clwyd

Some of the most spectacular scenery in Wales lies along the Vale of Llangollen, where the Rivers Dee and Clwyd thread their way through steep wooded valleys and lush water meadows, overlooked by mountain ranges with peaks more than 2000 ft in height. Northward, the tortuous Horseshoe Pass winds between the mountains of Llantysilio and Eglwyseg toward the fertile Clwyd Valley. As the Dee runs eastward, it loops around the ancient market town and industrial capital of North Wales, Wrexham, where St Giles' steeple is one of the traditional 'Seven Wonders of Wales' - no fewer than five of the seven are to be found in Clwyd. The foaming River Dee at Llangollen tests the bravest of canoeists, and further up-river anglers can fish salmon and trout.

The county's wooded hillsides provide for hill climbers and walkers, while the attractive twisting lanes around Glyn Ceiriog are a motorist's delight.