Every guide on Wales.org is written or edited by me, Nicholas Barrett. This page explains exactly how I check what you read, what I don’t do, and how the site earns money, so you can decide how much weight to give each guide.
What We Check Before a Guide Goes Live
Opening times, prices, dates and access details are checked against the official source for each place before a guide is published, and again when it’s updated. For castles and heritage sites that usually means Cadw or the National Trust. For walks, beaches and national parks it means Natural Resources Wales and the park authorities. For trains and buses it means Transport for Wales. For businesses such as tour operators, restaurants and places to stay, it means the business’s own website.
Each guide shows the month its details were last checked. Prices and opening hours change, so it’s always worth confirming with the place itself before you travel.
Who Writes Wales.org
Wales.org is a one-person project. I was born in Haverfordwest and Wales has stayed part of who I am ever since. I do the writing, the research and the technology myself, and every guide is written or edited by me. You can read more on the About Wales.org page.
What We Don’t Do
I haven’t stayed at or visited every place listed on Wales.org, and the site doesn’t pretend otherwise. I’ve visited many of them in person, including Haverfordwest and Pembrokeshire, Eryri (Snowdonia), Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), Carmarthenshire, Cardiff, Swansea, the National Museum in Cardiff and a great many of the castles. Where a guide draws on my own visit, it says so.
Where I haven’t visited, the guide is built from official sources, the business’s own information and published reviews, and it never describes a place as if I had been there.
How Places Are Chosen
Places are included because they are worth a visitor’s time: they are open, they are in Wales, and they suit the kind of trip the guide is about. Businesses can’t pay to be included in an editorial guide or to change what it says about them. Where a page is part of a paid partnership, it says so clearly at the top.
Holiday Cottages
The holiday cottage searches and cottage links on Wales.org come from our partner HolidayCottages.co.uk, which inspects the properties it lists. Prices, availability and guest reviews come from their site. If you book through one of these links, Wales.org may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Wales Direct
Wales Direct lets you book a place to stay straight from its owner. Owners pay Wales.org a yearly fee and no commission on bookings. Before a listing goes live, I review it by hand and cross-check it against the owner’s own website and social media, to make sure the place is in Wales and the details match. I don’t visit every Wales Direct place, so read the details and ask the owner anything before you book. There is no booking fee from Wales.org and no hidden fees: the price shown is the owner’s own.
How Wales.org Makes Money
Wales.org is free to read. It earns money in four ways:
- Booking commission: when you book a cottage, tour or experience through a partner link, such as HolidayCottages.co.uk or Viator
- Wales Direct: the yearly fee owners pay to list their place
- Licensing: businesses and councils licensing the Interactive Map and the Branwen travel assistant
- Partnerships: paid content partnerships, always labelled
None of these change what a guide recommends. Partner links are marked as sponsored in the page code, and the full list of partners is in the privacy policy.
Branwen, Our AI Travel Assistant
Branwen answers questions using Wales.org’s guides and live information from our booking partners. Like any AI tool she can make mistakes, so double-check important details such as prices, opening times and tide times before you rely on them.
Spotted something wrong? Email hello@wales.org with “Correction” in the subject line and a link to the page. I check every report against the original source and fix genuine errors promptly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Wales.org visited every place it recommends?
No. Nicholas Barrett has visited many of the places in person, and guides say so where he has. Other details are checked against official sources and each business’s own website.
Who inspects the holiday cottages on Wales.org?
The cottages come from our partner HolidayCottages.co.uk, which inspects the properties it lists. Wales.org doesn’t inspect them itself.
Does Wales.org get paid for recommendations?
Wales.org may earn a commission when you book through partner links, at no extra cost to you. Businesses can’t pay to be included in an editorial guide, and paid partnerships are labelled.
How do I report a mistake?
Email hello@wales.org with “Correction” in the subject line and a link to the page. Every report is checked against the original source.
Pembrokeshire-born travel writer and founder of Wales.org. Born in Haverfordwest, now based in Hertfordshire — covering Welsh castles, national parks, festivals and family staycations across all 22 Welsh counties.