This was the last great medieval castle to be built in Wales, designed more as a swaggering declaration of wealth and power than a defensive fortress. A magnificent, sprawling complex built of dusky pink and grey sandstone, its centrepiece is the lavish Great Tower, a hexagonal keep ringed by a moat, badly damaged during the civil wars of the 1640s.
Buses from Newport (route 60; 39 minutes), Monmouth (60/83, 19 minutes) and Abergavenny (83, 26 minutes) stop in Raglan, a five-minute walk to the castle.
