Merthyr Tydfil

Worth seeing in and around Merthyr Tydfil

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   Glamorganshire Canal

   The Glamorganshire Canal in South Wales, UK, was begun in 1790. It ran along the valley of the River Taff from Merthyr Tydfil to the Bristol Channel at Cardiff.

   900 m · Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wales · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Mynydd Merthyr

   Mynydd Merthyr is a broad ridge of high ground between Taff Vale and the Cwm Cynon in the Valleys region of South Wales. It forms the boundary between the unitary authorities of Rhondda Cynon Taff to the west and Merthyr Tydfil to the east.

   4.2 km · mountain in south Wales, UK · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Cyfarthfa Castle

   Cyfarthfa Castle is a castellated mansion that was the home of the Crawshay family, ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The house commanded a view of the valley and the works, which ‘at night, offer a truly magnificent scene, resembling the fabled Pandemonium, but on which the eye may gaze with pleasure’.

   1.7 km · Grade I listed building in Merthyr Tydfil. Mansion in Wales, UK · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Merthyr Synagogue

   Merthyr Synagogue is a former Jewish synagogue located on Bryntirion Road in the Thomastown section of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is a Grade II listed building and is the oldest purpose-built synagogue in existence in Wales.

   500 m · grade II listed building in Merthyr Tydfil · Wikipedia
5. 05
   Siloa Welsh Independent Chapel

   Siloa Chapel was the largest of the Welsh Independent, or Congregationalist, chapels in Aberdare. It operated from 1844 to 2020.

   5.9 km · Independent chapel in Aberdare · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Calfaria Welsh Baptist Chapel

   Calfaria Baptist Chapel, Aberdare, was one of the largest baptist churches in the South Wales Valleys and the oldest in the Aberdare valley. The chapel had an ornate interior, including a boarded ceiling with a deeply undercut rose, while the balcony balustrading had a cast iron front with an intricate foliage design.

   5.8 km · Baptist chapel in Aberdare · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Bethania Presbyterian Church

   Bethania was a Calvinistic Methodist chapel in Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, which seated 550 people. Located near the centre of Aberdare, it had a somewhat concealed entrance and was approached up a long flight of steps.

   5.8 km · Calvinistic Methodist chapel in Aberdare · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Zoar Welsh Independent Chapel

   Canolfan Soar is a Grade II-listed community facility in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, that includes a theatre and other facilities. It was converted from the closed Grade II-listed, eighteenth-century, Zoar Chapel in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

   600 m · Independent chapel in Merthyr Tydfil · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Merthyr Tydfil College

   Merthyr Tydfil College is a further education college located in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. From May 2006 to April 2013, it was a constituent college of the University of Glamorgan and thereafter, a college of the University of South Wales.

   400 m · further education college · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Penydarren Park

    Penydarren Park is a sports stadium in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, that is the present home ground of Merthyr Town.

    900 m · sports stadium in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

1. 01
   Cyfarthfa Castle

   The former home of the Crawshay family, historical ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks.

2. 02
   Joseph Parry's Cottage

   This row of iron workers' cottages off Bethesda St A4102 was the humble birthplace of composer Joseph Parry (1841-1903).

3. 03
   Brecon Mountain Railway

   Pant Station, CF48 2DD, enquiries@bmr.wales.

From Wikivoyage: Merthyr Tydfil, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

Merthyr Tydfil makes an excellent base camp for those wishing to see the Brecon Beacons with easier access to transport links and services.

1. 01
   Bike Park Wales

   Bike Park Wales is the UK’s first full-scale mountain bike park.

From Wikivoyage: Merthyr Tydfil, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

The town has a variety of restaurants and takeaways mainly around the town centre or in one of the retail or leisure parks. It mainly offers the usual chains but there are a number of good restaurants offering Indian food, for example, in the evenings.

1. 01
   Stables View Restaurant

   Market St, Dowlais,.

From Wikivoyage: Merthyr Tydfil, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Merthyr Tydfil

Airports

Cardiff (CWL), 39 km · Bristol (BRS), 61 km · Birmingham (BHX), 137 km

Stations

Merthyr Tydfil railway station, 200 m · Troed-y-rhiw railway station, 4.1 km · Cwmbach railway station, 5.3 km · Pentre-bach railway station, 2.3 km · Aberdare railway station, 5.4 km

• Bristol → Merthyr Tydfil

  63 km · quickest by road, 1h 54m · £9–12
  GuideToday
• Birmingham, West Midlands → Merthyr Tydfil

  130 km · quickest by road, 2h 41m · £15–20
  GuideToday
• London → Merthyr Tydfil

  226 km · quickest by road, 4h 19m · £25–33
  GuideToday
• From anywhere

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Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Merthyr Tydfil

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Merthyr Tydfil. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Merthyr Tydfil – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.