Cae Bach - Fun Days Out

The Welsh Mountain Zoo is a zoological garden near Colwyn Bay in Conwy County Borough. It covers 37 acres and has been open since 1963, so it has built up a good range of animal areas over the years.

Features named in the sources include Chimpanzee World, a Lemur Walkthrough, Red Pandas and Otters on the Prytherch Himalayan Terraces, Gibbon Heights, Condor Haven and a Children's Farm. There is also a Jungle Adventureland and a wallaby enclosure. The zoo has also bred the first Bactrian camel born in Wales. With a farm and walkthrough areas alongside the bigger enclosures, it suits families and anyone who likes seeing animals up close.

Tip: Check the zoo's website before you go, as the sources note that animal exhibits such as the sea lions have changed over time.

Plas Newydd in Llangollen was the home of Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, two Irish ladies who eloped and set up house together in the late 18th century. It began as a five-roomed stone cottage and was enlarged with many Gothic features. It is now a museum.

The most unusual feature is the exterior, where reclaimed oak carvings from broken-up furniture and church fittings are set patchwork-style over much of the outside, alongside black-and-white trim and stained glass. The ladies also developed the gardens, adding a "ruined" archway, rustic bridges and a temple. Visitors included Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott and the Duke of Wellington. Those interested in the story of the house and its famous residents will find plenty to look at.

Tip: Look closely at the outside of the house as well as the rooms, since the patchwork of reclaimed oak carvings is its most unusual feature.

The Conwy Valley Railway Museum sits beside Betws-y-Coed railway station, on the site of the old goods yard. The museum building holds a collection of railway artefacts, and the attraction began with a former standard gauge railway carriage, which is a licensed buffet and restaurant car.

Outside there are two small railways. A 7¼ in gauge miniature steam railway runs for a mile around the edge of the site. Passing loops let more than one train use the circuit at once. There is also a one-third full-size electric tramcar running along half a mile of 15 in gauge track. It is one of only two electric tramways in Wales, so it is a good one for tram and railway fans to tick off.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen. Designed by Thomas Telford and William Jessop, it is a cast iron trough held 127 ft (39 m) above the river on eighteen hollow masonry piers, with 19 arched spans. It is 336 yards (307 m) long and about 12 feet wide.

The aqueduct is made for narrowboats, and a towpath runs alongside the water on one side, so you can see the structure from the canal itself. It is a Grade I listed building and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Trevor Basin sits just over the aqueduct, at the end of the canal route that was completed.

Conwy Castle was built by Edward I between 1283 and 1287 and is part of a World Heritage Site. Eight large towers and a high curtain wall still stand, and it has the best preserved set of medieval royal apartments in Wales. The ruins are split into an inner and an outer ward, with a Great Hall undercroft and chapels to explore.

The main draw is the walk around the battlements, reached by restored spiral staircases in the great towers. From the top you look out to the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia) and down over the harbour and narrow streets of Conwy. The town is still ringed by 1.3km of medieval walls, so it is worth a look round after the castle. The path up from the visitor centre is steep with several steps, and the towers involve a climb, so it suits those happy with stairs.

Tip: Climb the spiral staircases and walk the full battlement circuit if you can. Cadw highly recommends it.

Erddig is a late 17th-century country house near Wrexham, saved from dereliction in the 1970s. The Yorke family had an unusual relationship with their servants and commemorated them in portraits and poems, and the servants' quarters and estate workshops survive well. Outbuildings include the Joiners' Workshop, Smithy, Sawmill and Stables, and the house holds a fine collection of 17th-century furniture.

Outside, there is a restored 18th-century walled garden with Dutch influence, plus a large estate of meadows, lakes, woodland and waymarked walks. Families can use the Wolf's Den natural play area in Big Wood, and the Hayloft Restaurant serves hot food, cakes and afternoon tea. It suits history fans, walkers and families who want a mix of house, garden and open air.

Tip: Postcodes aren't always recognised by sat navs, so follow the brown signs on the A525 or A483. Parking is free. Dogs are welcome in the garden and on the estate on a lead, but not in the Hall, Hayloft Restaurant, shop or Wolf's Den (assistance dogs are allowed everywhere). Check the National Trust dog page before you go, as rules can change.

Dolwyddelan Castle is a thirteenth-century castle in Conwy County Borough, probably begun by Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, ruler of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, to guard an east-west route through his lands. It stands on a small knoll, with a keep on the east side and a tower on the west, joined by walls to form a roughly circular enclosure.

The keep is the oldest part and was restored and reconstructed in the nineteenth century. The castle was captured by Edward I of England in 1283 and was a ruin by the mid-nineteenth century. Nearby, on a rocky outcrop above the Afon Lledr, are the fragmentary remains of Tomen Castell, a late twelfth-century tower. It is the likely birthplace of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, though tradition says he was born in the castle itself. It suits anyone interested in Welsh medieval history.

The Grosvenor Museum is a Grade II listed Victorian building in Chester, built in red brick with sandstone dressings and Dutch gables carved with peacocks. Inside, its galleries cover the area's archaeology and natural history, with items from the Roman period, paintings and musical instruments.

Head for the collection of Roman tombstones, which gives a real feel for Chester's past. Art lovers can look for the works of Louise Rayner, and music fans can spot the museum's six recorders made by Peter Bressan. There is also a room arranged as a Victorian parlour, and a programme of temporary exhibitions changes what's on show. The museum's education service helps children learn about the history of the city, so it suits curious younger visitors as well as adults who enjoy history.