Powis Castle

This castle was built way back in the 12th century as a means to keep English invaders out and the design castle itself followed all of the normal Norman architecture rules and guidelines. It contained an inner bailey, defensive outer wall and a very strong keep. In 1196 the castle fell to the English and in the 13th century the castle went through a very slow refurbishment programme. Only the long gallery remains of these improvments.

Moving on to 1667 William who was made an Earl by the King began to transform the castle into a palace. State apartment, blue drawing room, library and state bedroom were added by William and when William fled the country his family did not return to it until 1703 in which his son set about making major improvements to the place and this is what makes the history of this place so wonderful and a reason to go on one of those family days out here.

Harlech Castle

This castle was built in the 13th century and is just one of the four castles built in wales for Edward I. It can be found on the top of a rocky outcrop and this location provided the castle with some really nice natural defences with the only weaknesses being from the east and south. The way in which this problem was solved is brilliant with a massive ditch being built to keep all kinds of attackers out and at bay.

This castle still looks wonderful and almost as good as it did back in the day and it can be found within snowdonia.

So there it is, there are still other castles to be explored but there are just a few of them written down for you to think about. Family holidays UK are made very nice in Wales and even if you do not fancy a week or so in the area you could always go on one of those family days out to the area.

This castle can be found in the beautiful area of Snowdonia and was built by Howell Coetmore in 1365. Coetmore was the commander of the longbow men at the Battle Of Poiters. The castle was originally home to the Wynn baronets who were descendants of the Kings and Princes of Gwynedd.

After the War Of The Roses the castle was rebuilt by Meredith Wynn who was a strong supporter of King Henry VII. It was again refurbished in the 1540′s and was not touched again until 1828.

In recent years the Prince of Wales opened the newly refurbished dining room from the 1640′s in 1989.

Caerphilly Castle

The castle was buitl ver close to a site in which the Romans had built a fort in on 1268. This is actually the largest castle in all of Wales spanning a massive thirty acres of land. This castle was only built to show the Anglo-Normans power and it did this as no person would go anywhere near it.

A force of men over ten thousand strong actually attacked the castle in the 14th century and this is when the castle was almost destroyed. However the castles defences remained intact.

The 15th century saw the castle kept in reasonable condition with no real refurbishments happening until the late 1700′s.

If you are into your history or are interested in either of these castles then why not take one of those UK family holidays UK to go and check them out. Some of the castles here can be very interesting to go around and although a tour may seem like a dull option it is usually the best way to do things.

The Wonderful Cardiff Castle

The castle itself as many people will know is right in the middle of a very big city and it was first used by the Romans. The Normans then came and covered the original fort with earthen ramparts and constructed their own fortification on top of it all. Over the next three or so centuries the castle was always being improved on. The 12th century saw only one realy improvement and that was a stone keep whereas between the 13th and 14th a gatehouse and the black tower were both added.

1423 saw the Earl of Warwick add another tower to the west side of the caslte and when the Herbert family moved in they improved it for many generations. However the 17th and 18th centuries saw the castle abandoned and it slowly fell into disrepair.

1766 saw the year in which Lord Mountstuart gained possession of the huge castle and started to rebuild the place and passed the work right the way down to his grandson.

1869 saw William Burges take the castle into a major refurbishmen as we was given complete freedom on what to do with the place. This is how tourists see the castle today.

If of course you fancy going to the castle yourself there are very few days in which you are not allowed to look around the place which is always good.

There are so many things that you can see in the castle from the keep to the military museum so why not think about taking one of those family days out to the place. You could of course just take a UK family holidays to Cardiff to enjoy the place at your own leisure.

Cardiff Castle

The castle itself as many people will know is right in the middle of a very big city and it was first used by the Romans. When the Normans took control they covered the original fort with earthen ramparts and made their own defences. The great thing is that over the next three centuries the castle was never stopped when it came to improvements. Many things happened during the 12th century including a stone keep and between the 13th and 14th a gatehouse and the black tower were both added. It would seem that the later centuries proved to be very hard on the castle and it was renovated in the 18th century to what people see it as today.

Chepstow Castle

This castle was in the making a year after the Battle Of Hastings and was built on a limestone ridge overlooking the river Wye. Chepstow it would seem was a quiet castle for its time, rarely seeing a battle. It was modified a lot in the 12th and 13th centuries and the importance of it declined in the 14th century. After the long battles in the 1690′s the castles defences were taken down and the castle was eventually handed to the state in 1953.

These are just two of the castles that Wales has to offer the general pubic which of course means that you can personally see the inside of both these buildings along with your family on one of those family days out. Family holidays UK are very popular indeed in Wales and both of these castles see a lot of guests every year so do not miss out and visit Wales soon.