Swansea, Wales

Swansea, Wales, as seen from its marina
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SwanseaMarina.jpg
Author: Simon Morrison


Swansea is the second biggest city in Wales after Cardiff. Located on the South West Wales coast, it has a population of 228,100.

The history of Swansea goes back to the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age, based on archaeological discoveries made at the Gower Peninsula. The modern city dates back to a Viking settlement. Swansea was first mentioned in the 12th century, when it appeared as Sweynesse.

By the 18th century, Swansea was a thriving trading port, based on wine, wool, and later coal. Later it became a major site for copper smelting. By 1801, Swansea was bigger than Cardiff - it was the second biggest town in Wales after Merthyr Tydfil. Through the 20th century, the heavy industries that had brought development to Swansea were in decline, and with it, went the town's economy. This has forced it to diversify to other sources of income, among them tourism. Swansea was granted city status in 1969, on the occasion of Prince Charles investiture as the Prince of Wales.

Harbour Trust Building, Swansea
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swansea_harbourtrust.JPG
Author: jrw

Visiting Swansea

The nearest commercial airport to Swansea is the one in Cardiff. From there, you still have to take a train to reach Swansea. Alternatively, you can take a train direct from London Paddington Station to Swansea Station. You can also reach Swansea by car on the M4 motorway.

Clyne Gardens Lodge, Swansea
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clyne_Gardens_Lodge.JPG
Author: Wiccasha

Places of Interest in Swansea

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.