Wessex Trains
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Chepstow is located on the River Wye which forms the historic border between England and the old county of Monmouthshire (Gwent). Rising spectacularly out of the river atop high cliffs is the Norman castle, parts of which date from around 1070. From the same period is the Benedictine Abbey Church of St Mary. The old town walls are largely intact, and include the West Gate which straddles the High Street. Crossing the Wye are the iron road bridge which dates from 1816, and Brunel's tubular structure (1852), though the impact of the latter has been diminished by the removal of the tubes during reconstruction in the early 1960s, and its proximity to the more-recent addition of the motorway bridge which parallels it.
The town's racecourse is in Piercefield Park in the north of Chepstow, while three miles to the south is the first Severn Bridge which opened in 1966, joined thirty years later by the second Severn Crossing, further down stream.
Newport
Straddling the River Usk, Newport surrounded by steep hills was the principal port of the old county of Monmouthshire. The central area contains the shopping centre, library and museum, and cinemas and theatres. The town was at the centre of the Chartist rebellion of 1839, and there are many reminders of the uprising. John Frost Square is dedicated to the leader of the rebellion, and is dominated by Andy Plant's massive sculptural clock called "In the Nick of Time." On the hour, the 31-ft tall, stainless steel construction emits smoke and splits asunder with alarming clanks and groans while devils and skeletons appear at various windows.
One of Newport's more famous literary figures is the tramp-poet W. H. Davies, and there is a sculpture in the Square based on one of his most famous lines: 'What is this life if full of care....'
At the top of Stow Hill is St Woolos Cathedral, while down river is one of the unique features of the town: the recently restored Transporter Bridge (pictured). One of only three in the world, cars and passengers are taken across the river in a gondola suspended by cables from a motorised overhead trolley.
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Cardiff...
...is the gateway to the coast and Valley areas of south east Wales.
A city since 1905, and the capital of Wales since 1955, Cardiff is celebrating both anniversaries this year.
The city stands at the mouth of the River Taff (part of which was diverted in the mid-nineteenth century to clear a site for the what is now Cardiff Central station). Noted for its Victorian arcades and pedestrianised shopping areas, it also offers top class facilities for sport, theatre and the cinema.
Cardiff Castle is presently undergoing an £8m refurbishment, to include a new visitor centre. The castle has Roman and Norman connections, but, apart from Roman remains at the base of the south east walls and the Norman Keep, what you see is mostly a Victorian reconstruction. Nearby, the civic centre is considered among the finest in Europe, and incorporates the museum, law courts, the former Welsh Office (now the secretariat of the Welsh Assembly), university buildings and the City Hall. With a referendum in September 1997 narrowly voting for the establishment of a Welsh Assembly to govern Wales, the City Hall was one of the venues under consideration to house the body, but the Assembly - which first sat on June 1 1999 - is presently housed in Crickhowell House in Cardiff Bay (see below). Behind City Hall is Alexandra Gardens with its imposing War Memorial commemorating two World Wars and more recent conflicts.
In the city centre, the other building of great antiquity is St John's Church, dating from the thirteenth century.
There are several malls off the pedestrianised shopping area, which also has St David's Hall - renowned for concerts by top-class orchestras and entertainers - and the Cardiff International Arena, the venue for conferences, pop concerts, ice shows, and the like. The New Theatre celebrated its centenary a few years ago, and stages plays and other productions, including those by the internationally-celebrated Welsh National Opera, until the WNO moved into its new home: the Wales Millennium Centre for the Performing Arts (see below).
Close to the city centre, on the banks of the river, the Millennium Stadium (left) is the new home of Welsh Rugby. Opened for a Wales v South Africa friendly in June 1999, it took on an international importance when it staged early rounds of the Rugby World Cup in October, and the Final on 6 November of the same year. It is now used to stage Wales' home games in the Six Nations Rugby Tournament, international football matches, concerts and other high-profile events. While Wembley Stadium is being developed it also been the venue of prestigious football matches, including the Worthington and FA Cup Finals. A very versatile building, it also stages speedway, concerts and religious conventions.
A mile to the south, the Cardiff Bay development is transforming the derelict docklands area into a leisure, residential and light-industrial complex, while the barrage which dams the mouths of the Taff and Ely rivers was brought into operation on November 4 1999 to create a 500-acre freshwater lake.
To the north of the city, is Llandaff Cathedral, which has been a place of worship for more than 1,400 years. Partly destroyed by bombs during World War II, the cathedral was rebuilt and rededicated in 1958, its nave overarched by the sculpture of Christ in Majesty by Jacob Epstein.
On the city's western boundary is the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagan's, which recreates the Welsh way of life in authentic buildings from all over Wales. Dismantled from their original locations and reassembled at St Fagan's - itself a manor house dating from the Civil War era - they provide a base for many practitioners of old crafts such as pottery and woodcarving, and also includes a blacksmith's forge.

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Bay station is reached via a short spur from Cardiff Queen Street with a journey time of three minutes, and has a 15 minute service frequency at 12, 27, 42 and 57 minutes past the hour between 6.42am and 11.42pm Monday to Saturday.

From Cardiff Bay to Queen Street, Monday to Saturday, trains run at 4, 19, 34 and 49 minutes past the hour between 6.49am and 11.49pm.

On Sundays trains run to Cardiff Bay at 10.57am, then every 15 minutes between 11.12am and 4.27pm;  with return journeys at 4, 19, 34 and 49 minutes past the hour between 11.04am and 4.34pm.

The Cardiff Bay area has been developed as a waterfront park with leisure, residential and light-industrial complexes on reclaimed derelict dockland, and is the start of the Taff Trail which can be followed as far as Brecon, 57 miles away.
The major feature is the Barrage which can be reached by road train from its stop outside the car park in Stuart Street.
The Welsh assembly meets in Crickhowell House (pictured left) while a new debating chamber has been built alongside. Close by, the Pierhead Building is a striking terracotta edifice that was once the headquarters of the Bute Dock Company, which opened the first of the docks in 1839, and was the prime influence behind the Taff Vale Railway Company. It is now used as the Visitor Centre for the National Assembly.
Both are now put in the shade by the new Wales Millennium Centre for the Performing Arts (right, with the former Bute Dock and Railway Company headquarters in the right foreground), which opened in November 2004. It is the home of Welsh National Opera and seven other performing arts groups including the Urdd, the Welsh organisation for the youth of Wales. Outside the Millennium Centre is Roald Dahl Place - named after the children's writer who was born in Cardiff - built on the site of the basin of the Bute West Dock, now used for street theatre and open-air concerts. The steel column with water cascading down it will be recognised by fans of Torchwood - the spin-off from the successful BBC Wales television series Dr Who, both of which are filmed largely in Cardiff and the surrounding area - as supposedly the entrance to Torchwood.
A coffee bar and art gallery has been established in the Norwegian Seamen's Church where Roald Dahl was baptised as a child. A short distance away is 'The Tube' - a cigar-shaped structure which houses the Cardiff Bay visitors' centre, and was the base for the Spirit of Cardiff, a powerboat which attempted the fastest circumnavigation of the world in 2002. The target was almost 25,000 miles in 50 days, calling at 26 different countries, but a series of misadventures culminating in a heart attack suffered by one of the crew, led to the attempt being abandoned, though not before a number of records were broken,
Tied up permanently at the quay alongside The Tube is the Helwick Lightship, which was stationed off the Gower Peninsular guarding a treacherous sandbank 50 miles northwest of Cardiff, but is now used as a Christian Fellowship centre.
A little farther away, Techniquest is a unique hands-on science centre which demonstrates scientific principles and phenomena in colourful and surprising ways, while at Harry Ramsden's restaurant, it is claimed, are served the best fish and chip meals in the world.
The St David's Hotel is one of only two Five-Star rated establishment in the city. Mermaid Quay a is modern eating and shopping complex which also overlooks Plas Roald Dahl (Roald Dahl Place) an open arena where concerts are held and street artists often perform.
Boats and water taxis (pictured left) ply their trade around the bay and up-river as far as the Castle near the city centre. They will also land you on the Barrage itself, where you can see the massive sluice gates in operation.