St Asaph has always thought of itself as a city. But the rest of the world didn’t catch on until the Queen awarded it civic honours during her Diamond Jubilee. Not bad for a place with a population of 3,400. But then St Asaph does have Britain’s smallest ancient cathedral – just 182 feet long and 68 feet wide. Nearly 500 years ago, it played a crucial role in translating the first Welsh Bible. Today it welcomes the world’s finest classical musicians to the North Wales International Music Festival.

Just a few miles from the city towards Denbigh, is a unique shopping experience at the Tweedmill where you can choose from more than 70,000 branded garments for women, men and children, furnishings, homeware, cookshop, footwear and a cafe.