Photo of Big Pit National Coal Museum, a visitor attraction near Blaenavon, Torfaen, south east Wales.

Big Pit National Coal Museum© M J Roscoe / Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0

Places to explore in TorfaenWales · South East Wales

Torfaen follows a single valley north from the new town of Cwmbran up the Afon Lwyd to Pontypool and Blaenavon. This was iron and coal country, and its industrial past is written so clearly on the land that Blaenavon and its surroundings are now a World Heritage Site. The preserved workings of Big Pit take visitors underground, while the furnaces of Blaenavon Ironworks show where the Industrial Revolution took shape. Above the towns the moorland climbs to the long ridge of Mynydd Maen, and the wooded slopes of Pontypool Park rise to the Folly Tower on the hill.

The best of Torfaenworth the trip

Photo of Big Pit National Coal Museum, a visitor attraction near Blaenavon, Torfaen, south east Wales.

Big Pit National Coal Museum

Attraction near Blaenavon

Former colliery at Blaenavon in the World Heritage industrial landscape, with an underground tour led by ex-miners; free entry.

Photo of Blaenavon Ironworks, a visitor attraction in Torfaen, south east Wales.

Blaenavon Ironworks

Attraction near Blaenavon

Preserved 18th-century ironworks with blast furnaces and workers' cottages, part of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site.

Photo of Blaenavon, a village in Torfaen, south east Wales.

Blaenavon

Industrial-heritage town in a UNESCO World Heritage landscape, home to Big Pit and the Blaenavon Ironworks.

Torfaen

Photo of Pontypool Folly Tower, a folly near Llanover, Torfaen, south east Wales.

Pontypool Folly Tower

Folly near Llanover

Rebuilt 18th-century tower on Pen-y-Wain hill above Pontypool with sweeping valley views.

Photo of Pontypool Park, a landmark near Llanover, Torfaen, south east Wales.

Pontypool Park

Landmark near Llanover

Historic parkland known locally as the People's Park, rising to the Folly Tower and Shell Grotto.

Photo along the Cambrian Way, a 298-mile long-distance path running from Cardiff to Conwy, Wales.

Cambrian Way

Long-distance path

The mountain connoisseur's route over the roof of Wales — Cardiff to Conwy by way of the Bannau, the Cambrian wilderness and Eryri.

479 km · spans 9 counties

Other sights in Torfaen 4

Trails in Torfaen 1

Cambrian Way479 km

Villages & towns in Torfaen 1

Blaenavon

Farms, vineyards & producers in Torfaen 1

Blaenafon Cheddar Company

Hills & peaks in Torfaen 1

Mynydd Maen473 m

Waterways in Torfaen 1

Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal