Wales is often overlooked when people think of traveling in the United Kingdom. They think “England! Scotland! Cornwall!” But here’s what we know that those folks don’t: Wales is brimming with spectacular scenery, poignant history, and a unique, longstanding craft and wool tradition. It’s a gem of a destination for fiber enthusiasts. Welsh weaving has been extant since prehistoric times. In medieval days, the region produced its own particular type of hard-wearing cloth, similar to tweed, called frieze. Knitting, spinning, felting and embroidery have also had their place in the production of wearables and wares. Due to this diversity, the region’s pre-eminent fiber festival, Wonderwool Wales, showcases a memorable variety of materials, methods and makers.  

Join us as we explore this wool event plus travel through sheep-dotted hills, wild moorland, rugged coastline, glimpse hidden waterfalls and enjoy stellar hospitality! We’ll visit with those working to keep Welsh wool traditions alive alongside new, sustainable methods for keeping sheep, processing wool and handcrafting. 

To Register 

A Registration Form and a non-refundable $1000 deposit are required to join the trip. Once you submit your online registration and deposit payment is received, your spot on the tour is secure. 

See our Terms & Conditions HERE.

Have questions? Please contact us at info@rowantreetravel.com

This tour has been announced a "Go!" 

Unless otherwise stated, our regular Terms and Conditions apply to this trip and for any cancellations (click here to see our Terms and Conditions).

Tour Activity Level
We would describe this trip as a Woolly Wander.

Mobility Comfort Level = Mobility Level 2+
Few ground floor rooms, steep steps leading to and from St David’s Cathedral and Devil’s Bridge.

Review our Tour Activity and Mobility Comfort Levels here.

Travel Insurance 

Rowan Tree Travel highly recommends purchasing travel insurance. You may purchase through our preferred partner Arch RoamRight by clicking here or through your own provider.

Arranging Your Flights 

In order to gather easily for the tour, we provide an arrival and departure "window" at a major transportation hub - typically an international airport at your destination country. Flights scheduled outside the provided windows may result in additional transportation costs and missed tour activities. For this reason, we greatly appreciate your cooperation in booking travel that accommodates our specifications. Please do not purchase airfare until the tour is guaranteed by RTTF to go forward.


Please Note the Following 

Rowan Tree Travel reserves the right to alter any part of this itinerary in order to address weather conditions, unforeseen circumstances or to improve the participant experience.

CARDIFF

Welcome to Wales!  Today we will greet you at our hotel in the City Centre of Cardiff, have our introductory meeting, then take you out for dinner nearby. We’ll tuck you in early so that the following morning you will feel fresh and ready  to enjoy a presentation by Jane Bissett, she’s in charge of the Vale of Glamorgan Sock project, explaining the organization's efforts at preserving the Welsh heritage of sock making. With visions of knitting socks in our head, we’ll grab our luggage and our WIPs for a bus ride into the heart of Wales and our home base for the next three nights; Llandgoed Hall. The country grounds are beautiful to walk and explore. We’ll find cozy spots to enjoy our knitting nights.

WONDERWOOL WALES FESTIVAL

Can you feel the buzz in the air… it’s the event you’ve been waiting for: Wonderwool Wales! After a hearty Welsh breakfast, we’ll drive to the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells to take part in this premier wool festival all weekend. We have come to know a number of the specialty vendors at this festival along with the larger businesses that showcase the stellar variety of Welsh wool products. Your ticket gets you into the event both days. The festival boasts excellent food trucks to help maintain your shopping energy. Our motto for the weekend: go forth and conquer fiber!  Sunday afternoon, we’ll gather in the lounge for an interactive and fun hour to learn a few tips on the Welsh language, perhaps a song as well, while we enjoy traditional Welsh cakes.

Our home for the weekend is a classic country home complete with sprawling lawns showcasing spring at its best! We’ll enjoy evening knit sessions by the fire and possibly a show-and-tell from the plethora of fiber vendors we found at the festival.

ABERYSTWYTH

Today we will depart our country estate for our boutique hotel located near the dramatic Devil’s Bridge Waterfalls, which we’ll have time to explore before our felted brooch workshop in the afternoon. Our boutique lodging became oh so famous as the prominent location in the BBC crime drama series Hinterland. 

ABERYSTWYTH

The morning will be a guilt-free knitting experience until we leave to walk around the corner from our hotel, and hop on a one-hour steam train ride on the Vale of Rheidol Steam Railway through a Welsh picturesque valley. We arrive at the city centre with time to explore Aberystwyth. So many options for our afternoon: walk along the seaside promenade and grab some fish and chips for lunch.  Or you can choose to visit the Ceredigion Museum, browse the shops, or head to the end of the promenade to ride the Funicular to the top of the cliff for spectacular views.  There is a little cafe up top as well. We'll gather for our bus ride back up the valley to our hotel.

PEMBROKESHIRE COAST

We will continue to explore the special fiber places of Wales today: we’ll meet shepherdess Sue Ullrich at Pure Welsh Wool and her mixed flock of wonderful wool breeds before traveling on to hear the story of how the “Welsh Wool Shop” came to be in Newcastle Emlyn. We then arrive at our home for the next 3 nights on the expansive and picturesque Pembrokeshire Coast. Our accommodation has quiet views of both Cardigan Bay and the River Teifi; a short walk brings us to a gem of a beach, Poppit Sands. We can enjoy outdoor knitting sessions along the waterfront if the weather allows. 

PEMBROKESHIRE COAST

In the morning, bring your coffee or tea for a presentation by Helen Hickman of Nellie & Eve, sharing her journey towards offering beautiful, sustainable, hand-dyed yarns. We will continue our treasure hunt for all things Welsh-wool with a visit to Garthenor Organic mill to learn about their mission for sustainable wool.The hard-working family behind Garthenor have been instrumental in organic wool standards to produce spectacular organic yarns. Afterwards, let's enjoy pizza in a tipi, simply because we can.

PEMBROKESHIRE COAST

St Davids is the smallest city in Britain with a population of 1,600 - you may ask why it is considered a city at all!  After all, you can walk around the center in 10 minutes!  But the key to city-hood in the UK is having a Cathedral, and St Davids Cathedral has been a place of pilgrimage for 800 years. Today we will be joined by local Blue Badge Guide, Marion Davies, who will take us through St Davids and its iconic cathedral, pointing out bits of local history and leading us to the best galleries and cafes which populate this little gem.  

If the weather permits, we’ll enjoy a stretch of stunning beach at Whitesands Bay before making our way to a woolen mill producing beautiful contemporary and traditional woven fabrics. Shopping is allowed!

CARDIFF

On our bus ride back to Cardiff we will stretch our legs at the Kidwelly Castle and explore this early 12th century castle.  When we arrive in Cardiff we will check into our hotel, finalize our packing for departure the next day, and then meet for our final dinner together.

HOMEWARD BOUND

You will journey from Cardiff City Centre where you can catch a dragon taxi ride to the Cardiff airport or a train ride to Heathrow.

A fond Hwyl Fawr goodbye to all.   

Colleen is an experienced fiber wrangler, currently knitting multiple projects, spinning up some hand-blended fibers on her Lendrum DT and has discovered it is difficult, but not impossible, to knit while watching a South Korean show on Netflix (with subtitles). She is endlessly curious about two things: makers’ stories of the lineage and evolution of their craft… and where to find truly awesome pie. She loves to drive a convertible, swim in natural waters and hula hoops. Colleen lives in Santa Fe, NM and can't get enough of the grande vistas including that endless azul sky. 

Liz lives with her family on a smallholding in the Cambrian mountains in Wales.  A keen knitter since childhood, she remembers watching her mother spin yarn from the family sheep, and she now keeps her own small flock of Shetland sheep to indulge her passion for all things woolly. Liz is also a keen hill walker, and loves to escape to her beloved mountains, seeking inspiration amongst the colours and textures of the wild upland landscape of mid-Wales. A linguist and Latin America specialist by training, Liz previously spent many years studying and travelling in southern Chile, where she was bewitched by the alchemy that rural women could perform with some roughly-spun wool and a few leaves in a dye pot over a wood fire. It was here that Liz learnt to weave, and now settled back home in Wales, she teaches weaving, whilst also running wildwoven, a woolly fair trade business, providing opportunities for rural women in Chile to supply highly-textured, hand spun yarns to discerning weavers and fibre artists.