Aberporth, United Kingdom + Add a trip

Automobiles

A car is a must for long-range exploration. From the North, take the M6, then the M54 to Mid Wales. Leaving from London, take the M1, then the M6 to the M54. Use the Smith route planner to find your way.

Planes

Cardiff (www.cwlfly.com) is the nearest international airport. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) and BMI Baby (www.bmibaby.com) both fly from regional UK hubs.

Trains

If not super-reliable, train travel in Mid Wales is scenic. Your best bet is either travelling to Carmarthen via Swansea with First Great Western from Paddington; or to Aberystwyth via Birmingham (www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk). Arriva Trains Wales (www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk) operates regional services via Shrewsbury.

Dialing

Country code for the UK: +44. Aberdovey: 01654; Aberystwyth: 01970; Cardigan: 01239.

Reads

Malcolm Pryce's comic noir series, with enticing titles like Aberystwyth Mon Amour and Last Tango in Aberystwyth, follows private eye Louie Knight as he parades his Trilby around the town's seedy underbelly. Whitbread-nominee Richard Collins' The Land as Viewed from the Sea is a dark tale of two friends on a small farm.

Do go / Don't Go

Cuisine

Taxis

For getting around locally, try minicab firm Dyfi Cabs on on +44 (0)7831 551538 or +44 (0)7773 385335. Otherwise, ask your hotel to book one for you.

Tipping

Currency

Pound sterling.

Packing

A good pair of binoculars: the bay is full of marine life, and it'd be a shame not to spot that passing pod of dolphins. Inland, red kites and kestrels glide through those big blue skies.

Arts

Aberystwyth Arts Centre (www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk) has a fully fledged range of exhibitions, concerts, cinema and theatre, counting guitar supremo John Williams among its top-flight guests. For those with an eye for the unusual, the Mid Wales Museum of Modern Art in Machynlleth (www.momawales.org.uk) shows the latest in Welsh art and sculpture alongside its permanent Tabernacle Collection. The National Library of Wales (www.llgc.org.uk) does more than the name suggests, with an events programme that has included a set by Gruff Rhys, lead singer of Super Furry Animals.

And...

Teifi Marshes nature reserve is the place to catch sight of all sorts of furry and feathered creatures, many with fantastic Harry Potter-esque names (wigeon, pochard, snipe, pipistrelle bat). There's a great route from Cardigan along the river Teifi, winding through the reserve toward Llechryd; see www.visitcardigan.com for details.

Shopping

Aberdovey's retailers are largely kept afloat by the waves of surf-wear and souvenir hunters. Visit Aberystwyth and browse-but-don't-break your way around the ceramics and homewares at Toko on Eastgate Street (+44 (0)1970 626633). Source local produce from Aberystwyth Farmers' Market (+44 (0)1970 633066) every other Saturday, where you can chat to farmers about food miles - before driving off with their goodies.

Viewpoint

Haul yourself up to the highest local eyrie, Cader Idris, for views over all of Snowdonia in one direction and the whole of Cardigan Bay in the other. On maps, the 3,000-foot peak is often spelt 'Cadair Idris'. The hike is an all-day affair along a well-marked path, so check the weather forecast. Snowdonia Adventures can provide you with a guide, should you feel the need (£45 each for four people; www.snowdonia-adventures.co.uk).

Something

Visitors to Aberdovey shouldn't just stick to the local estuary: there's four ravishing miles of pristine coastline here - which many visitors bypass. Further to the south of the bay, Tresaith beach is a sandy slice of Welsh bucket-and-spade heaven, complete with a waterfall cascading down from the clifftop.

March Wales One World Film Festival Aberystwyth showcases world cinema (www.wowfilmfestival.org). July Cardigan Bay Seafood Festival celebrates local crustaceans with samples, song and dance (www.aberaeron.info). August Cardigan River and Food Festival pays homage to the river Teifi (www.visitcardigan.com). The Machynlleth Festival brings a week of upscale musical performance; ENO soprano Sarah-Jane Davies has provided past festival highlights (www.momawales.org.uk). October Don't just talk the talk - stretch your legs at the Cardigan Festival of Walking (www.visitcardigan.com). December At Aberystwyth Christmas Food Fayre, fill your festive larder with the bounty of Cardigan (+44 (0)1970 633066).