This year I am planning to make the best of my spare time and travel as much as possible. And I have decided to explore Great Britain. That is why I found myself at the beginning of February, somewhere in Wales, in a town by the sea. To escape the routine, I decided to take the bus and go to… Swansea.
The town is only three and a half hours drive from London. The first thing you notice in the heart of the town, in the small Castle Square, are the ruins of Swansea Castle. Once you decide to take a photo, to have a souvenir of that place, you realize that behind it, tall and modern is a BT building. The new and the old blending together – one amazing scenery.
Next just strolling on the streets, you can get to the bus station where you can find a tourist information point. There you can get the town’s map for 30 pence and some information about the touristic sites.
Swansea has two free entry museums: National Waterfront Museum and Swansea Museum.
The first one we start exploring it from the upper floor. We discovered facts about the industrial maritime history of Wales , explored the virtual Swansea in 1851 and discovered Wales’s strong sense of place , language and identity . The ground floor presents the story of how transport networks were built, owned and managed and also proves that Wales was a world force in the production of metals throughout the Industrial Revolution. I must also mention a temporary exhibition – entitled ,, Love Swansea – Message in a bottle‘’ held by the College of Art , from the University of Wales. I think photos speak louder than words in this case.
If you are tired of museums and wanna see something different, than Plantasia is the place to go.
Located in Park Tawe retail park at walking distance from the center of Swansea ,with an entry fee of only 3.95£, it reveals many exotic creatures like fish, spiders, snakes, insects. Next you explore the tropical plants, in a wet humid atmosphere: huge trees, beautiful exotic plants and a small waterfall in the middle. If you go up, leaving this behind, you get to met Rainbow, the Green Winged Macaw. Also there you can find the tamarin monkeys. The must see there is the birds house, which is actually a room, that you cross from one end to another and see the birds flying free. Pretty noisy experience but the birds are friendly, colorfull and you can get amazing photos.
Even if you go in February like I did, I would also recommend a walk by the Swansea Bay. And if you don’t wanna gaze at the sea enduring the cold wind, you can go to the Swansea Marina, where you can admire boats of differnet size and shapes .
After a full day, the place to stop and eat is Jimmy’s, all you can eat buffet. They have a variety of foods, freshly prepared and full of flavor. I strongly recommend the king size garlic prawns and the fish. The best starters were the simple bites of mozzarella, tomatoes and pesto. Not 
to mention the dessert. You got freshly made waffles and pancake to fill with whatever your heart desires. On top of all: apple crumble with custard – it tasted divine! The staff is helpful and the price is good ( 14,99 £ per person/ all inclusive).
Farwell thoughts: Swansea is a picturesque place, with welcoming people, proud of their language and traditions. So let’s do this again in summer. So I can soak by the sea and get a nice tan 🙂 .
This post is also available in: Romanian
English
Română
RSS