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Perhaps the most obvious activity is the country's popular network of walks. The most challenging are around the rocky Snowdonia or the moody Brecon Beacons national parks.The country has seven long-distance walks, the most famous being the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and Offa's Dyke Path. Slightly less busy are the 274-mile (441km) Cambrian Way and the 120-mile (193km) Glyndwr's Way. Pony trekking opportunities are found throughout the country, in particular around the Pembrokeshire Coast and Brecon Beacon national parks. Cyclers will experience quiet roads and the odd strenuous hill by cycling through the Cambrian and Black mountains or the Brecon Beacons; the Pembrokeshire coast has flatter terrain.
the south-west coast has a number of passable surfing spots, including Porthcawl, Oxwich Bay, Rhossili, Manorbier, Freshwater West and Whitesands. Canoeing and white-water rafting are good in Snowdonia, and Llangollen on the River Dee has a reputation as a canoeing centre. Canal cruising along the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is a breeze, partly because there are only six locks along its 33-mile (53km) length. Spelunkers can head for the Brecon Beacons, where there are several limestone cave systems.
The eisteddfod is a thoroughly Welsh institution that tends to leave the non-Welsh mystified. The word means a gathering of bards, and traditionally the eisteddfod was a contest involving poetry and music. The first was held in 1176, but their popularity dropped off after the 17th century when they raised the ire of the dour nonconformist Protestants. In the 1860s the National Eisteddfod Society was established to revive the old traditions, and there are now three major eisteddfodau as well as several local contests. The Welsh male voice choir is another Welsh institution, associated with the coal mining communities of the south . These choirs have their routes in Methodism, and their repertoires are particularly strong on hymns. Although many of the communites which spawned them have turned up their toes, the choirs are hanging in (although some have had to open their doors to women and visitors).
This is a nation of nonconformists, so it's not surprising that Protestant nonconformist sects took off in a big way here. Christianity has been in Wales since the 5th century, and during the Reformation Wales became part of the Anglican church. In the 18th century the new industrial working classes proved fertile recruiting ground for various sects, particularly the Baptists, Methodists and Congregationalists. By 1851 80% of the population was nonconformist and in 1920 the Anglican church pulled out of the country. The nonconformists are traditionally rather puritanical, and until recently pubs stayed shut on Sundays. These days, however, only 220,000 Welsh people identify as nonconformists.
The one thing that marks Wales out so distinctly from the rest of Britain is the survival of Welsh as a living language. Despite its weird and seemingly unpronounceable double ls and consecutive consonants, Welsh is an Indo-European language, from a Celtic offshoot. Its closest linguistic cousins are Cornish and Breton. During the Roman occupation, many people became Latin-Welsh bilingual, and Latin's influence on the Welsh language is still apparent. The language was fully developed by the 6th century, and is one of the oldest in Europe. The Industrial Revolution brought an influx of English-speakers into the country, and between 1800 and 1900 the percentage of Welsh speakers dropped from 80% to 50%. These days only 20% of the population, mostly in the northwest and west, speak Welsh. Activists are working to bring the language back to life - it is now legal to speak Welsh in court, several bilingual publications are produced and Welsh S4C (Channel 4 Wales) televises daily Welsh programs. A Welsh Language Board was set up in 1988 and in 1994 the Welsh Language Act - giving Welsh equal validity and making it illegal to discriminate against Welsh-speakers - was introduced.