Bangor, United Kingdom

BANGOR, across the bridge from Anglesey, is not big, but as the largest town in Gwynedd and home to Bangor University, it passes in these parts for cosmopolitan. Bangor is a hotbed of passionate Welsh nationalism, hardly surprising in such a staunchly Welsh-speaking area, and it's a dramatic contrast from the largely English-speaking north coast resorts.

Bangor's thirteenth- to fifteenth-century cathedral, on Deiniol Road (daily 11am–5pm; free), boasts the longest continuous use of any cathedral in Britain, easily predating the town. Pop in if only to see the sixteenth-century wooden Mostyn Christ, depicted bound and seated on a rock.

Just over the road, the Bangor Museum and Art Gallery, Ffordd Gwynedd (Tues– Fri 12.30–4.30pm, Sat 10.30am–4.30pm; free), offers snippets of local history enlivened by a traditional costume section and an archeology room, containing the most complete Roman sword found in Wales. The art gallery concentrates on predominantly Welsh contemporary works. For a good look down the Menai Strait to Telford's graceful bridge (the world's first large iron suspension bridge, completed in 1826), walk along Garth Road to Bangor's rejuvenated and pristine Victorian Pier (25p), which reaches halfway across to Anglesey.