19 September 2003

Celtic coasts and castles

New touring maps reveal delights of Wales

The mountains, hills and valleys of Wales are about to become even more accessible – thanks to two new maps from Ordnance Survey.

The maps are part of the OS Travel – Tour series and together they show the entire country in a simple and easy-to-read format.

Showing motorways, primary and minor roads, Tour maps also pinpoint tourist facilities and named places of interest.

Between them, the two maps – called North and Mid Wales, and South and Mid Wales – highlight major attractions such as Portmeirion, Caernarfon Castle, the Centre for Alternative Technology near Machynlleth, the Museum of Welsh Life near Cardiff and Oakwood Leisure Park in Pembrokeshire. They also direct people to less well explored areas, making them the perfect travelling companions.

More-detailed town map insets of Aberystwyth, Brecon, Cardiff, Fishguard, Monmouth, Newport, Pembroke Dock, Swansea and Tenby on the South and Mid Wales map – and Aberystwyth, Bangor, Caernarfon, Chester, Holyhead, Llangollen, Llandrindod Wells, Llandudno, Welshpool and Wrexham on the North and Mid Wales edition – make it easy to locate facilities in more urban areas.

To help find destinations quickly, a place names index is added to each map – and roads are colour coded, with handy information about restricted motorway junctions also printed.

Anyone looking for quieter spots will find designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, historic sites, nature reserves, viewpoints and even ferry routes to small off-shore islands are among the many other features marked.

“We have published a single Tour map for the whole of Wales before but this time we’re providing two larger overlapping sheets instead,” says Eddie Bulpitt, Ordnance Survey’s Travel Brand Manager. “That means we can make them more detailed with extra information but without cluttering things and causing confusion. Because of this, the maps are great for people who do not regularly use maps.

“We’ve also added colourful shading to bring out the dramatic formation of Wales’ many hills and mountainous areas. And lists of our own selected="selected" places of interest are included too.

“Wales is fascinating. There is so much to see in both town and country – including a wealth of breathtaking attractions. These maps are designed to reflect everything the country has to offer.”

The maps are printed at 1:175,000 scale, the equivalent of 1 cm to 1.75 km (approximately 1 inch to 2¾ miles). The OS Travel Map – Tour range retails at just £4.99 per map, from high street stockists and the Ordnance Survey online map shop at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/leisure.

www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/leisure

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