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Southern Wales has a wonderful selection of artisan makers - wine, beer, cheese, jams, cakes and chutneys to list just a few. We also have makers who welcome visitors for tours and tastings.
Here are a few suggestions of how you can combine the new and established makers into a unique tour for your clients.
Day 1 – Mead, Wine and Tea
Visit Wye Valley Meadery, the makers of unique, modern versions of traditional Mead. They offer talks and tastings as well as opportunities to buy. Visit could be to their tap room of maybe Caldicot Castle where they keep some of their bees or at their tap room in Caldicot - around £10 per person. They may also introduce you to other members of Wye Valley Producers.
Travel towards Newport - and then north to White Castle Vineyard - tour of vineyard and tasting - £17 per person. They offer other options - including a cheese platter.
Travel to Abergavenny - home of the Abergavenny Food Festival - could visit the Angel Hotel for afternoon tea - holder of The British Tea Guild Council’s Top City and Country Afternoon Tea Award and The Award of Excellence - £40 per person (maybe open to a taster version for the group).
Maybe speakers after dinner - e.g. Abergavenny Food Festival Chief Executive, or Cheese tasting with Blaenafon Cheddar (£60 fee).
Hotel - maybe The Parkway Hotel and Spa - Cwmbran.
Day 2 - Chocolate and Gin
Visit The Welsh Mining Experience and Chocolate House - chocolate tasting - £20 per person - they are not normally open on Mondays but it would be arranged.
Travel to Cowbridge and visit the Physic Garden (a tour can be arranged - £20 for group), a free attraction in the beautiful market town of Cowbridge (coaches can drop off at the Town Hall and park at the Leisure Centre). Lunch could be in the town or just outside at Forage Farm Shop - great lunch stop and lots of Welsh food to buy to take home
End the tour with a visit to Hensol Castle Distillery - the Gin Tour and tasting costs £25 per person.
Alternatively, you could travel north to Hirwaun and visit Penderyn Distillery for a whisky tour and maybe stop for lunch at Zip World Tower, where the pithead has been converted into Cegin Glo, a wonderful cafe with great views.
Other ideas
Southern Wales has a host of great Food Festivals:
- Cowbridge Food and Drink Festival - each April.
- Cardiff Food and Drink Festival - each July.
- Caerphilly Big Cheese - for 2022 is the Caerphilly Little Cheese on 3/4 September 2022.
- Abergavenny Food Festival - each September.
- Newport Food Festival - each October.
We also have lots of markets - from the indoor Cardiff Market and the newly renovated Newport Market with international food hall, to traditional markets like Pontypridd and Abergavenny.
Some other producers that you can visit include Tiny Rebel, near Newport, The Spirit of Wales Distillery (gin, rum and vodka tours and tastings), White Hare Distillery in Usk and Silver Circle Distillery in the Wye Valley.
And we have a number of vineyards to visit - Parva Farm Vineyard in the Wye Valley, Sugar Loaf Vineyard in Abergavenny and Llanerch Hotel and Vineyard.
There are plenty of lunch and refreshment stops either at the suggested places to visit or en route - contact Southern Wales Tourism for assistance in finding the right location for your group.