Wales is small enough to cross in an afternoon and varied enough to fill a month. These are the reasons to go.
The mountains of Eryri. Snowdonia has the highest peaks south of the Scottish Highlands, and Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) is the busiest mountain in Britain. You can walk it from Llanberis, take the rack railway, or climb one of the quieter peaks around it. Betws-y-Coed is the forest gateway, and Capel Curig the climbers' crossroads.
Edward I's castles. Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris, built to hold down the north after the conquest of 1283, are together a World Heritage Site. Caernarfon is the grandest, Conwy still has its complete town walls, and Harlech sits on a crag above the sea. In the south, Caerphilly is one of the largest castles in Britain.
The Pembrokeshire coast. The national park is Britain's only coastal one: cliffs, coves and surf beaches along a 186-mile coast path. St Davids, Britain's smallest city, is the base for the boats to Ramsey Island and for coasteering, which was invented here. In early summer the puffins come back to Skomer. Tenby is the classic walled seaside town.
Gower and the south coast. Gower, just west of Swansea, was Britain's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Rhossili Bay is one of the great beaches of Britain, and there are small coves all along the south side.
The Brecon Beacons. The Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) are long grassy ridges rising to Pen y Fan. To the south are the waterfalls and caves of Waterfall Country, and to the east the Black Mountains above Hay-on-Wye, the town of books.
Cardiff. The capital, Cardiff, has a castle in its centre, Victorian shopping arcades, the redeveloped Bay and a rugby stadium in the middle of town. On a match day the whole city turns out.
Welsh, spoken. Welsh is a living language, the everyday tongue across much of the north and west. Hearing it in a shop in Caernarfon or a pub on the Llŷn is part of the trip.