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 Chepstow
Chepstow is an attractive market town situated where the river Wye meets the Severn Estuary and where Gloucestershire in England meets Gwent in Wales.
The Wye cuts through the opposing cliff faces of the Welsh and English border and over looking it is the once mighty Chepstow Castle. Built in 1068 by the Normans to keep the Welsh under heel, the castle is the town's main attraction and is the oldest stone wall castle in Britain.
In the 13th Century the town was further fortified with the building of the Port Wall or Customs Wall, which still runs across the town from the Castle to the rivers edge. The main gateway is centred on the town's High Street and in the middle ages would have been the only entrance into Chepstow and into Wales.
 Chepstow Castle
Throughout the middle ages Chepstow prospered as a border town with it came trade from England and along the River Wye. It fast became a busy market town, indeed the name its self translates to marketplace in Old English.
Chepstow is still a bustling town today and many visitors stop off between England and Wales for a few hours to amble around the castle and the town walls. Most visitors from Britain come to Chepstow's famous racecourse just north of the town, home to the Welsh national, this is Wales' main horse racing course.
Other attractions to Chepstow include the Museum. Set in an 18th Century town house opposite the castle, Chepstow Museum focuses largely on the town's maritime importance as a port, a trading post and as a shipyard. It also houses 18th and 19th Century paintings of the Wye Valley when it first became a haven for romanticists seeking natural beauty.
River cruises up the Wye and riverside walks both start in Chepstow, while July is the town's peak time especially on even-numbered years when the Chepstow Festival takes place with medieval shows and street performers to entertain onlookers.
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