At a glance
North-east Wales’s biggest town and the gateway to the Dee Valley. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct UNESCO crossing, Erddig estate, Ty Mawr and a football club known worldwide.
About Wrexham
Wrexham (Wrecsam) is the largest town in north Wales, granted city status in 2022.
The area’s headline attraction is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct at Trevor, eight miles south of Wrexham — Thomas Telford’s 1805 cast-iron trough carrying the Llangollen Canal 38 m above the River Dee. UNESCO World Heritage since 2009.
Erddig, three miles south of Wrexham, is a National Trust country house famously presented through the eyes of its servants. AFC Wrexham — the Welsh football club bought by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020 — has put the city on the global tourist map.
Top things to do
Best base towns
- Wrexham —
- Llangollen —
Getting there
From Manchester
M56 → M53 → A55 → exit at Junction 36a → A483 south to Wrexham. Total ~50 miles, ~1 hour.
From Birmingham
M6 → M54 → A5. Total ~75 miles to Wrexham, ~1 hr 30.
By train
Wrexham General is on the Borderlands Line. Avanti West Coast Chester to London with connections at Chester.
Hidden gems
- Plas Newydd, Llangollen
- Half-timbered home of the Ladies of Llangollen. Cadw.
- World’s End
- Single-track switchback road over the Eglwyseg escarpment north of Llangollen.
- Bersham Heritage Centre
- Free industrial heritage centre on the iron-furnace site of John Wilkinson.
Frequently asked questions
Wrexham is best known for Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (UNESCO, Thomas Telford 1805, 38 m above the Dee), Erddig House (NT, presented through the eyes of its servants), and AFC Wrexham — bought by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020.
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is 38 metres (126 ft) above the River Dee — the highest navigable aqueduct in Britain. Telford and Jessop completed it in 1805. The cast-iron trough is 307 m long.
Yes — the towpath is a public right of way, free, accessible dawn to dusk. Cross from Trevor Basin (free parking).
Yes — Erddig is one of the most distinctive NT properties because it is presented through the eyes of its 18th-19th century domestic staff rather than the gentry.
STOK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) is in central Wrexham, claimed to be the world’s oldest international football ground still in use — Wales played England here in 1877.