Port Meirion

The Italian village rising out of Cardigan Bay isn't a nature reserve in the traditional sense - it's Portmeirion, Clough Williams-Ellis's mad, brilliant 1920s fantasy that somehow works. Pastel-painted buildings, a clock tower, a town hall and a Italianate piazza all squeezed onto a wooded peninsula near Talsarnau. You wander through it like you've stumbled into an alternative reality.

What makes it work is the setting. The woodland wraps around everything, Mediterranean architecture crashing against Welsh hills and estuary views. Kids love the sheer strangeness of it - the surreal backdrop meant it stood in for The Prisoner's Village in the 1960s telly series, and that cult following still brings people back. Adults either find it clever and charming or daft and overpriced depending on their mood.

You'll need a good two to three hours minimum to properly explore the gardens, buildings and waterfront. The main village is free to wander, though there's admission to the actual gardens and attractions. Autumn's probably best - fewer crowds, golden light through the trees, that particular melancholy the Welsh coast does well.

It's genuinely different from the caravan parks clustered around Talsarnau and the Meirionnydd area. If you're staying at Haven Greenacres or any of the nearby sites, this is worth the short drive. Not a conventional day out, but the kind of place that stays with you - bonkers in the best possible way.