Wales Stone Circle Road Trip: 10 Remarkable Sites

Route overview

Wales stone circle road trip at a glance

• Route type: Linear, multi-day heritage road trip
• Start: Penmaenmawr, Conwy
• Finish: Waun Mawn, Pembrokeshire
• Distance: Around 370 miles / 595 km before local detours
• Recommended time: Five days
• Ancient highlights: Druid’s Circle at Cefn Coch, Bryn Cader Faner, Moel Tŷ Uchaf, Mitchell’s Fold, Four Stones, Harold’s Stones, Gors Fawr and Waun Mawn
• Modern cultural sites: Porthmadog Eisteddfod circle and Cardiff’s Bute Park Gorsedd stones

A sensible five-day plan

• Day one: Druid’s Circle at Cefn Coch and the Porthmadog Eisteddfod circle
• Day two: Bryn Cader Faner and Moel Tŷ Uchaf
• Day three: Mitchell’s Fold, Four Stones and onward towards Monmouthshire
• Day four: Harold’s Stones, Cardiff’s Gorsedd circle and the drive west
• Day five: Gors Fawr and Waun Mawn

Distances on the road can be deceptive. The remote monuments take time to reach on foot, minor roads are slow and a short spell of poor weather can completely change an upland visit. Treat the map as a planning tool rather than turn-by-turn navigation and always follow current signs, access information and path closures.

Follow the route

1. Druid’s Circle at Cefn Coch, Penmaenmawr

Begin high above Penmaenmawr, where a remarkable prehistoric landscape spreads across the slopes of Cefn Coch. The monument commonly known as Druid’s Circle is an embanked Bronze Age circle roughly 35 metres across. Ten upright stones survive, with evidence of cremation deposits found during excavation.

The name is misleading: the circle was built long before the historical Druids. Reaching it is a hill walk rather than a roadside stop. The route from the Sychnant Pass area involves exposed, sometimes steep mountain paths, so carry a proper map, wear boots and avoid poor visibility. Allow most of the day if you want to explore the surrounding prehistoric remains rather than touch the main circle and rush back.

2. Porthmadog Eisteddfod Stone Circle

Drop to Porthmadog for a complete change of scene. This is a modern Gorsedd circle connected with the National Eisteddfod rather than a prehistoric monument. These circles create a ceremonial space for Welsh language, poetry, music and public culture, continuing a modern bardic tradition in stone.

The mapped circle is on the roundabout, so treat this as a cultural landmark to view from a safe public position. Do not step into live traffic or attempt to turn the island into a walking attraction. Porthmadog is the practical place to stop for food, fuel and an overnight stay before the route becomes much wilder.

3. Bryn Cader Faner, near Talsarnau

Bryn Cader Faner is one of the most distinctive prehistoric sites in Wales. It is a Bronze Age cairn circle rather than a conventional ring of standing stones. A low burial mound is surrounded by slender stones that lean outwards, creating the famous crown-of-thorns or sunburst appearance.

Its isolation is part of the experience, but it also makes this one of the route’s serious outings. The site lies on open upland east of Talsarnau and requires confident navigation over rough, potentially wet ground. Do not rely on mobile signal. Download your route, carry an Ordnance Survey map and turn back if cloud or weather makes the return uncertain.

4. Moel Tŷ Uchaf, near Llandrillo

Moel Tŷ Uchaf stands in the Berwyn landscape above the Dee Valley. The low Bronze Age circle contains more than forty surviving kerb stones and sits within a much wider ritual landscape. Its setting is the real reward: open hillside, long views and a strong sense of being far from the road.

Again, this is a walk, not a quick photo stop. Expect rough paths, livestock, changing weather and little shelter. Keep to public access, close gates and leave every stone exactly as you find it. If day two is running late, choose either Bryn Cader Faner or Moel Tŷ Uchaf and give it proper time rather than forcing both in bad light.

5. Mitchell’s Fold, Shropshire border detour

The route briefly crosses into England for Mitchell’s Fold on Stapeley Hill. This scheduled late Neolithic or Bronze Age circle is one of the best-preserved in the border country. Fifteen stones remain in a rough circle measuring about 30 by 27 metres, with the open Shropshire hills stretching around it.

Make the border detour clear in the article rather than describing the monument as being in Montgomery. Access is across exposed rural ground, and conditions can be muddy or windy. Use the recognised approach, park considerately and never drive onto tracks or verges simply because an online map appears to show a route.

6. Four Stones, Old Radnor

Four Stones replaces the unsupported Llananno entry in the old guide. It is a genuine Bronze Age four-poster circle: four substantial uprights arranged in a compact rectangle, with traces of two nearby burial mounds adding to the archaeological setting.

This is a small monument in working countryside, not a visitor attraction with a reception desk. Check the current public approach, respect farms and homes, keep dogs under close control and do not assume that a nearby gateway is a parking bay. Its quiet scale makes a useful contrast with the larger upland circles.

7. Harold’s Stones, Trellech

Harold’s Stones is not a circle. It is an extraordinary alignment of three tall puddingstone monoliths, probably erected in the later Neolithic or early Bronze Age. Their exact purpose is unknown, and later legends attached Harold, battles and thrown stones to a monument that was already ancient.

Trellech makes this one of the more manageable stops and gives you a chance to pause after the long central section of the journey. Use the designated access and remember that the surrounding land is not automatically public. The village also has other historic features, so this stop can become a slower local wander rather than a photograph and immediate departure.

8. Gorsedd Stone Circle, Bute Park, Cardiff

The existing map pin is in Cardiff, not Llanrwst. Bute Park’s Gorsedd circle was installed in 1978 to mark Cardiff hosting the National Eisteddfod. It is modern, deliberately ceremonial and part of the continuing public life of Welsh language and culture.

Its central park setting makes it the easiest stop on this route to combine with cafés, toilets, public transport and other attractions. Walk through Bute Park, see the circle in context and use Cardiff as a rest point before the final drive towards Pembrokeshire. Do not present these stones as an ancient circle; their importance comes from a different period and purpose.

9. Gors Fawr Stone Circle, Preseli Hills

Gors Fawr returns the route to deep prehistory. Sixteen low stones form a near-perfect circle about 22 metres across, with a separate pair of standing stones nearby. Several stones are made from spotted dolerite, the rock closely associated with the Preseli landscape and the wider Stonehenge story.

The circle sits on open common beneath the Preseli Hills. Expect livestock, wet ground and limited facilities. Walk carefully around the monument rather than over it, avoid moving or stacking stones and give grazing animals plenty of space. In clear weather the broad setting is as important as the circle itself.

10. Waun Mawn, Preseli Hills

Finish at Waun Mawn, where only a small number of standing stones now remain. Archaeologists have argued that traces beneath the ground mark a former large circle and that some of its stones may have been moved to early Stonehenge. Other specialists dispute whether the evidence supports that conclusion.

That disagreement is part of what makes the final stop so compelling. You are not arriving at a proven birthplace of Stonehenge; you are standing in a landscape at the centre of an active archaeological debate. The site is subtle, remote and easy to misunderstand, so read about the competing interpretations before visiting and bring proper navigation for the moorland approach.