Cowbridge Farm Camping

Run by the National Trust, Dyffryn Gardens (20 minutes’ drive) includes formal lawns, an arboretum and themed areas such as the fragrant Rose Garden, plus a glasshouse full of exotic orchids. Although the elegant Victorian mansion is not open to the public, it acts as a splendid background to these 55 acres of greenery. The system of sand dunes at Merthyr Mawr Nature Reserve (20 minutes) is home to the so-called Big Dipper, the highest dune in Wales. You can walk or ride a horse (you’ll need a permit for the latter) around this landscape, with its rare plants, fungi and vibrant wildflowers, including orchids. On the outskirts of Cardiff, ​​St. Fagans National Museum of History (25 minutes) illustrates Welsh life through the ages with dozens of reconstructed original buildings, from an Iron Age roundhouse to an 18th-century woollen mill and a Victorian school. There are also farmyard animals and workshops where you can observe craftsmen at work.