Photo: Trevor Rickard (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Things to do in Monmouthshire
Wondering what to do in Monmouthshire? This guide lists the area's attractions — zoos, museums, theme parks and more — with distances, so you can plan every day of your trip.
🎟️ This weekend near Monmouthshire
Events from
Skiddle
Fri 13 Nov · 19:30
Evening of Mediumship with Nikki Kitt - Chipping Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury Town Hall, Chipping Sodbury, Br · 24.4 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 20:00
Funhouse Comedy Club - Comedy Night
Corn Exchange, Ross-on-Wye · 16.0 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 12:00
Hereford Audio Tour: Historic Highlights Journey
College Of Vicars Choral, Hereford · 21.7 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 10:00
Cardiff Victorian Christmas Market
Cardiff City Centre, Cardiff · 23.3 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Aquariums
23.3 mi from Monmouthshire
Bristol Aquarium
Bristol Aquarium sits in the heart of the city on the historic Harbourside, with more than 40 naturally-themed displays of tropical sharks, rays, seahorses, turtles and other aquat...
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Museums & Galleries
4.1 mi from Monmouthshire
Usk Museum of Rural Life
Usk Rural Life Museum sits in the heart of the historic riverside town of Usk, Monmouthshire, within a 16th century malt barn and its adjoining buildings. Run entirely by volunteer...
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7.2 mi from Monmouthshire
Monmouth Castle & Regimental Museum
The Monmouth Regimental Museum is located on Castle Hill in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales. The museum is in a wing of Great Castle House, a listed building on the Monmouth Heritag... — Wikipedia
7.2 mi from Monmouthshire
Shire Hall Museum
The Monmouth Museum, previously known as The Nelson Museum and Local History Centre, was a museum in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It featured a collection of artefact... — Wikipedia
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7.2 mi from Monmouthshire
Castle House
Grade I listed building in Monmouth. Former town house built on the site of part of Monmouth Castle in Wales
8.3 mi from Monmouthshire
Tintern Old Station
Tintern Old Station is a heritage visitor centre in Monmouthshire, Wales, set in restored railway carriages that tell the story of local history, alongside an N-gauge model railway...
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8.3 mi from Monmouthshire
Tintern Old Station Car Park
Tintern Old Station Car Park sits beside the River Wye at a former railway station turned heritage centre, with refurbished carriages housing local history displays and an N-gauge...
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8.7 mi from Monmouthshire
Torfaen Museum
Torfaen Museum tells the story of the local area through the people who have lived there, from medieval Llantarnam Abbey to the mining communities of Blaenavon and the growth of Cw...
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10.2 mi from Monmouthshire
Blaenafon Community Museum
Blaenafon Community Museum is a small volunteer-run museum in Blaenavon, housed at the Workmen's Hall, telling the community's story through local heritage exhibitions. You'll find...
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10.3 mi from Monmouthshire
Clearwell Caves
Clearwell Caves is a natural cave system in the Forest of Dean that has been mined for ochre and iron ore for thousands of years, and you can explore atmospheric mine workings once...
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10.4 mi from Monmouthshire
Coleford Great Western Railway Museum
The Great Western Railway Museum in Coleford is housed in one of the last remaining permanent railway buildings in the Forest of Dean, on the site of the old railway yard. You can...
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10.4 mi from Monmouthshire
Blaenavon Iron Works
Blaenavon Ironworks, officially spelled Blaenafon Ironworks since 2024, is a former industrial site which is now a museum in Blaenavon, Wales. The ironworks was of crucial importan... — Wikipedia
10.4 mi from Monmouthshire
Coleford Great Western Railway Museum
Coleford Great Western Railway Museum is a railway museum located in Coleford, Gloucestershire, England. The museum was founded in 1988. Based in the former GWR Goods Shed along th... — Wikipedia
10.6 mi from Monmouthshire
Caerleon Roman Fortress Baths
Caerleon Roman Fortress Baths lets you step inside the remains of a Roman legionary fortress, including the immense natatio, or open-air swimming pool, that once held more than 80,...
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10.7 mi from Monmouthshire
National Roman Legion Museum
This museum sits within the remains of a Roman fortress built at Caerleon in AD 75, one of only three permanent fortresses in Roman Britain. You can explore exhibitions and artefac...
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10.7 mi from Monmouthshire
Arthur Machen's House
This is the birthplace house of Arthur Machen, the fantasy and horror writer born in Caerleon in 1863, and the building is marked with a blue plaque. Machen is best known for The G...
11 mi from Monmouthshire
Big Pit: National Coal Museum
Big Pit is a real former coal mine turned museum, set in a World Heritage industrial landscape near Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales. You can explore the Mining Galleries with a multi-med...
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12.2 mi from Monmouthshire
Abertillery & District Museum
Abertillery & District Museum is a volunteer-run museum on Market Street in Abertillery, part of the Museums & Galleries you'll find in Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent, Wales. It's run...
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Theme Parks
13.9 mi from Monmouthshire
Go Ape Forest of Dean Mallards Pike
Go Ape Mallards Pike sits within one of England's largest ancient forests, offering the Forest of Dean's toughest Go Ape with two Tarzan Swings and zips up to 180 metres through th...
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Water Parks
17.7 mi from Monmouthshire
The Wave
The Wave is an inland surfing destination near Bath, Somerset, built around a lake that produces consistent, guaranteed waves using Wavegarden Cove technology, with heights ranging...
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Zoos & Wildlife
18.2 mi from Monmouthshire
Bristol Zoo Project
Bristol Zoo Project, formerly known as the Wild Place Project, is a wildlife conservation park in South Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. It is run by Bristol Zoological Society (BZ... — Wikipedia
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19 mi from Monmouthshire
Slimbridge Wetland Centre
Slimbridge Wetland Centre is a wildlife reserve and visitor attraction where you can explore adventure play areas, take a canoe safari, join expert-led talks and tours, and visit S...
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20.9 mi from Monmouthshire
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm is a family-friendly zoo near Bristol, home to over 100 species of animal and the largest elephant facility in the UK. Alongside the animal enclosures, you'll f...
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25.8 mi from Monmouthshire
North Somerset Bird of Prey Centre
The North Somerset Bird of Prey Centre in Congresbury is a small sanctuary caring for over 60 resident birds of prey, alongside reptiles, ferrets, meerkats, foxes, a binturong, sku...
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Where to stay near Monmouthshire
Places to stay within easy reach of these days out.
More around Monmouthshire
Itineraries
- A weekend in Wales: an accessible itinerary · 2 days
- A weekend in Wales with the kids · 2 days
- A weekend in Wales · 2 days
Haunted Britain
Monmouthshire is castle country, and that shapes most days out here. You can build a whole weekend around stone walls and river valleys, drop into a museum when the weather turns, and still be back at a pub table by early evening. Here's how the pieces fit together.
Heritage: the castles come first
If you only do one thing, make it a castle. Raglan Castle and Caldicot Castle are the two obvious anchors for a day, both substantial enough to fill a couple of hours without rushing. Tretower Castle and Pembridge Castle are quieter propositions and suit anyone who prefers their history without a crowd.
Then there's the second tier, which is where Monmouthshire gets interesting. Llangibby Castle, Pencoed Castle, Clytha Castle and Moynes Court are all on the map, but access varies enormously — some are ruins in private ownership, some are only viewable from a path or road, and some open rarely. Check the position before you set out rather than driving to a locked gate. The same goes for Kentchurch Court, a stately home that keeps its own calendar.
Speech House Hotel sits in the stately home category too, and doubles as somewhere you can actually sit down, which makes it a useful midpoint on a longer loop.
Rainy days
Shire Hall Museum is the obvious indoor option within Monmouthshire itself, and a sensible one — it's a proper roof-over-your-head stop when the Wye valley weather closes in. Tintern Old Station Car Park is also listed under museums and galleries, so it's worth seeing what's on there before you commit.
Push a little further and the choice widens considerably:
- Dean Heritage Museum and the Discovery Centre, Museum of Gloucester, both in Gloucestershire
- Arcade Archive, also in Gloucestershire, which tends to hold older children longer than you'd expect
- Black & White House Museum over in Herefordshire
- Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Our Chartist Heritage and Llys Llywelyn (Medieval Court), all listed under Cardiff
Those last few pair neatly with a castle morning if you fancy a change of pace after lunch.
Family days out
Castles do a lot of the heavy lifting with children — Caldicot Castle and Raglan Castle both give them room to move. For something different, the Welsh Hawking Centre near Cardiff and Brean Down Bird Garden towards Weston-super-Mare are the animal options on this list. Oakham Treasures, also near Weston-super-Mare, and the Discovery Centre at the Museum of Gloucester work well for mixed-age groups where one child wants to look and another wants to touch.
Outdoors
The outdoor appeal here is less about ticketed attractions and more about using the castles as waypoints. Clytha Castle and Llangibby Castle sit in open countryside and reward a walk rather than a car park dash. Tintern Old Station Car Park is a practical place to begin a riverside stretch of leg. Caldicot Castle has grounds worth allowing extra time for, so don't book anything tight afterwards.
Grouping it into a sensible day
Three combinations that don't involve doubling back:
- Castles and a pub lunch: Raglan Castle in the morning, lunch at the Three Salmons Hotel or The Black Bear, Clytha Castle or Pencoed Castle in the afternoon.
- Weather-proof day: Shire Hall Museum, lunch at the Black Griffin, then Tintern Old Station Car Park and a short walk if the sky clears.
- Family day with a drive: Caldicot Castle first thing, then either the Welsh Hawking Centre or Llys Llywelyn (Medieval Court) for the afternoon.
Where to eat
Monmouthshire is pub territory, and five locals hold top five-star food hygiene ratings: The Black Bear, the Three Salmons Hotel, The Sloop Inn, the Black Griffin and the Maenllwyd Inn. All are pubs or inns, so expect the usual pattern — busiest Sunday lunchtime, quieter midweek, and worth ringing ahead if you're more than four people or arriving late in the afternoon.
Turning it into a short break
Two nights is the sweet spot. Day one for the big castles, day two for museums and a walk, with a long lunch somewhere like the Maenllwyd Inn or The Sloop Inn in the middle. BritStays lists 145 places to stay across Monmouthshire, which gives you room to choose by location rather than taking whatever's left — base yourself near the castles you most want to see and the driving sorts itself out.
Before you go
Confirm opening arrangements for every castle on your list, especially the privately held ones. Carry cash for smaller car parks. Book pub tables for Sunday. And build in slack: the gaps between these places are part of the day, not an inconvenience to be minimised.
Frequently asked questions
Which castles are the best starting point in Monmouthshire?
Raglan Castle and Caldicot Castle are the two easiest to build a day around. Tretower Castle and Pembridge Castle are quieter alternatives. Llangibby Castle, Pencoed Castle, Clytha Castle and Moynes Court vary in how accessible they are, so check the arrangements before travelling.
What is there to do in Monmouthshire if it rains?
Shire Hall Museum is the main indoor museum within Monmouthshire, and Tintern Old Station Car Park is also listed under museums and galleries. Further afield you could try Dean Heritage Museum or the Discovery Centre at the Museum of Gloucester in Gloucestershire, Black and White House Museum in Herefordshire, or Newport Museum and Art Gallery near Cardiff.
Where can we eat with a top food hygiene rating?
Five pubs and inns in the region hold five-star food hygiene ratings: The Black Bear, Three Salmons Hotel, The Sloop Inn, Black Griffin and Maenllwyd Inn. Booking is sensible for Sunday lunch or larger groups.
What works well for a family day out?
Caldicot Castle and Raglan Castle give children space to roam. For animals, there is the Welsh Hawking Centre near Cardiff and Brean Down Bird Garden near Weston-super-Mare. Oakham Treasures near Weston-super-Mare and the Discovery Centre at the Museum of Gloucester suit mixed-age groups, and Llys Llywelyn (Medieval Court) and Arcade Archive are further indoor options.
Are there stately homes to visit as well as castles?
Yes. Kentchurch Court is listed as a stately home, though it keeps its own opening calendar, so check before setting off. Speech House Hotel also falls into the stately home category and has the advantage of being somewhere you can sit down during a longer loop.
How many nights should we book for a short break?
Two nights covers it comfortably: one day for the larger castles such as Raglan Castle and Caldicot Castle, and a second for museums like Shire Hall Museum plus a walk. BritStays lists 145 places to stay in Monmouthshire, so you can pick somewhere close to the attractions you most want to see.
More ways to explore
Not booked yet? See the best places to stay in Monmouthshire.