Churches to Visit in Wales
Wales was Christian before England was. Its saints were monks and hermits of the fifth and sixth centuries, and the places they chose — at the end of a peninsula, in a river valley, on a ford — are still where the great churches stand. These first three guides cover the shrine of the patron saint, the cathedral of the capital and the most famous ruin in the country.
Two of the three are in the south-east, close to the English border and to each other: Tintern Abbey in the Wye Valley and Llandaff Cathedral on the edge of Cardiff. St Davids is the opposite: at the far western tip of Pembrokeshire, in the smallest city in Britain, and worth a night on its own.
Where to start
St Davids Cathedral
The shrine of St David, in a hollow by the sea, with the ruined Bishop’s Palace beside it. Free.
Llandaff Cathedral
A medieval cathedral bombed in 1941 and rebuilt around Epstein’s great aluminium Christ. Free.
Tintern Abbey
The first Cistercian abbey in Wales, roofless and almost complete, in a bend of the Wye.
Practical notes for the whole country
| Opening hours | The two cathedrals are open every day, with shorter hours on Sundays because of services. Tintern, run by Cadw, has seasonal hours: later closing from March to October, 10am–4pm in winter |
|---|---|
| Admission | St Davids and Llandaff cathedrals are free, with donations welcome. Tintern Abbey is £9.40 for adults until March 2027; Cadw members go free |
| Getting around | Tintern and Llandaff are within an hour of each other in the south-east. St Davids is a long way west: about two and a half hours by car from Cardiff, or by train to Haverfordwest and bus |
| Language | Signs and services are bilingual in Welsh and English; everyone you meet will speak English |
All three
- St Davids Cathedral St David’s shrine, a sloping nave and a carved oak ceiling.
- Llandaff Cathedral Epstein’s Majestas and the Pre-Raphaelites.
- Tintern Abbey The ruin that Turner painted and Wordsworth wrote about.
Coming next
This first Welsh chapter covers three places. Next on the list are St Asaph, the smallest ancient cathedral in Britain, the abbeys of Valle Crucis and Strata Florida, Brecon Cathedral, and the medieval wall paintings of St Teilo’s, rebuilt at St Fagans. They will be added the same way as the rest of this guide: properly, a few at a time.