The town name comes from a Welsh Princess, Tydfil, sadly martyred in the Fifth Century.
We felt like Twenty-First Century Princesses when the doors opened at the bed & breakfast.
We wound up in Merthyr Tydfil (Murtha Tidfill) because of bad circumstances: the hotel we were staying at in Cardiff was the worst either of us have ever seen. We soldiered on for two nights of three booked, but that was our limit. We were due in Brecon for one night at the quaint Flag and Castle Inn and tried to get in early, but they were booked. What to do?
As with many other events on this trip, what was a negative turned into an opportunity for a positive to occur. We kept referring to these as God-moments.
We could have found a different hotel in Cardiff, but other than wanting to see nearby St. Fagan’s, we had enough of being in the “big” city (350,000 population) and were ready to move onto smaller locales.
Travel detectives…
Being the map queens we are, we took a gander at ours to see what lie between the two places. A little town popped up: Merthyr Tydfil (30,000 population) sits at a southeastern edge of Brecon Beacons Park.
With some internet sleuthing, we found a bed & breakfast that looked promising and wasn’t too far from the train station.
We popped on the morning train to Caerphilly, had glorious coffees and cakes at Grazing Ground and saw our first “Polite Notice.” After Caerphilly Castle, we hopped on the return train to Cardiff to catch a different train north. We chatted with a nice gent about the routes and he advised we didn’t have to go the whole way to Cardiff Central, but could get off at a different station and save time.
- Ah Latte
- Grazing Ground Polite Notice
It was on this train that the conductor kindly Googled the exact address of the B & B and suggested we get a taxi. Good thing because we’d have never found it walking even though it wasn’t far.
Merthyr Tydfil itself was as much a treat at the B&B.
After enjoying a leisurely lunch at Weatherspoon Freehouse, we walked to the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum & Art Gallery and got to enjoy it—from the outside—arriving about ten minutes after closing. The Castle hails from the early eighteen hundreds and was built by William Crawshay, who was an iron baron.
My Welsh friends will have to confirm the translation I found online for Cyfarthfa: “a joining of hills.” Makes good sense given that the Castle sits atop a rise and overlooks the Taff River and a vista of rolling hills. Merthyr equals Martyr and Tydfil was killed in a battle between her father’s soldiers (King Brychan) and marauding Scottish Picts. The story is that she remained calm and prayed as those around her were slaughtered and her own death struck. Naming the town for her seems a good tribute to a woman who launched the neighborhood monastery.
Being on the verge of Brecon Beacons Park, it’s no surprise to find notable trails in the area. The twenty-mile Taff Trail starts at Cardiff’s attractive waterfront, goes through Merthyr, and terminates in the town of Brecon.
The Trevithick Trail traverses from Merthyr to Abercynon, another north-south trek.
Then there’s the Celtic Trail. It covers 377 miles from east Wales to west. Whew, that’d be a hike!
Time to relax…
Our day’s non-trail walking completed, it was time to settle in at the B&B. What a treat! The Queen Bee & B was pure luxury, more than making up for the Cardiff faff. (Yes, “faff.” I’m using our new British word for a mistake.)
- Queen Bee & B – our room
- Queen Bee & B – our room
Our hostess was full of information about the local area. We were tempted but hadn’t the time to do the Brecon Mountain Railway. Because of Merthyr’s early history of making iron and running the world’s first steam locomotive, it is a likely place for them to collect cars from around the world and establish a five-mile up and back trek.
As far as we heard, we were the only Americans in this small town, but no one cared. There seemed to be a very easy acceptance of foreigners—from the friendly restaurant staff, to bus station chats with locals, to our B&B host and hostess.
Visiting Merthyr Tydfil was a fluke and turned into an experience we’d easily repeat.
- Clouds and Cyfartha Castle
- Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery
- Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery
- Merthyr Tydfil Center
- Mini Castle in Merthyr Tydfil
- Merthyr Tydfil
**
Next, Leaving Wales (sigh) Bristol Cathedral – Stunning Architecture and Resounding Music
Isn’t it funny Rose, that some of what could be the worst moments, turn into pleasant surprises and adventures? You all have such a great attitude about it though, I’m sure that helps. I’ve seen my share of dreadful hotels in Europe, I can just imagine.
Yes, it is, Susan. We’ve seen our share of odd hotel rooms, but never a horrid one. This was a shock. But ah the next night…
It’s so nice when we can change a not so good experience into a great one. I live when that happens. Thanks for sharing.
Sure does, Sabrina, because that way you can look forward to anything!
Travel has it’s own stack of good and bad experiences, god i’m so jealous would love if i could travel this often too. Lovely snaps.
I count my ability and opportunities to travel as among the most God-gifts I’ve been given. It has been through various circumstances that my traveling outside the USA started in 1995 and has not yet stopped. Hope it never does. Here’s hoping as your life continues to unfold that you get to travel more, Sushmita!
Rose, I would LOVE to travel with you. I love your positive attitude of turning a negative into a positive and not dwelling on the negative. I like to think that way as well, and have found that many situations that may start in a questionable way, often turn into glorious travel moments if we just look for the light. Keep on trucking girlfriend, and hopefully, our paths will soon cross.
Tee hee, Doreen! You saying you’d like to travel together is sure a great compliment and fun idea! It is very true that in every day life, but especially when traveling and out of our usual circumstances, we have to be willing to kick back when something bad happens, assess, regroup and enjoy the new thing with relish!
Would love our paths to cross.
What a wonderful village. I would like to see that castle, and hear about the history of the area. Thanks for sharing this information and pictures with us, you brought this town to us in your post.
William, out of our castles so far, I think somehow you would like the history of this place the most. Maybe they have a fair you should attend! 🙂
Sorry you had a bad experience at the first hotel. I guess you would not have stumbled onto the Queen B and B (love the name by the way!)
Glad this did not take away from your experience.
We had a lot of that on this trip–where there was a bad moment followed by a totally awesome experience. I think we started to look forward to a bad thing just to see what great thing God was bringing our way next!
Love the pics of The Queen Bee & B and what a fun name too. It’s always fun to stay in such places, but every now and again a place turns out to be a real disappointment. That you left the other place with a night to space says a lot. I’ve toughed out a few bad places, but then again, it was only for one night.
Jeri, camping (!) would have been 90% better than that hotel. But the joy of dropping into bed at the luxurious B&B made it all worthwhile!
How fun that you stumbled into such a great experience. Too bad that it took a bad experience to get you there. I do think that you really get to know an area when you stay among the locals as opposed to in the tourist hubs. When I was performing in Scotland, we stayed in a town called Old Mildrum while performing in Aberdeen. Imagine a bunch of loud 20-something actors walking into a small Scottish convenience store. The store keepers just looked at each other somewhat shocked and as quietly as possible said, “My goodness. Americans!” That memory makes… Read more »
Love the sound of “Old Mildrum” Erica. Mill-drum or Mild-rum? I’m choosing the second. We Americans tend to leave an impression. Hopefully it is always such a fun one!
I admire your willingness to stray from a planned path and how true that often opportunities arise when we least expect them. Lovely photos!
The Cardiff hotel was so dreadful, Jacquie, that we knew anything would end up being better. Okay, we believed anything else would be better! It was such a treat to find Merthyr Tydfil and the Queen Bee & B (you would love that place!).
I was glad to have visited Merthyr even tho it hadn’t been on our list! Funny how things turn out sometimes! That B&B was the absolute most awesome place…total heaven!
Jackie, I keep thinking how heavenly it was to arrive in Merthyr and then that B&B after the terrible hotel in Cardiff. God was watching out for these travelers!
Who could pass up a visit to a town named Merthyr Tydfill? Sorry to hear it was ‘t more interesting but glad you enjoyed the B&B.
It was sure a great little town, Ken. Can’t wait to get back and see more of it. Sigh, and stay at that lovely B&B again.