Chirk is a hidden treasure from Chirk Castle to St Mary's Church. Each time we visit we are amazed that such a tiny village can withstand so much traffic! The Hand has great food, the few shops are well stocked and the short walk to the canal is great!

Walking the Chirk Aqueduct & tunnel was awesome. Watching the narrowboats navigate through the canals was very entertaining as well as chatting to the locals down at the tunnel. There was a cafe (sorry I can't remember the name) next door to the Hand Hotel that had great food & a very charming staff.

Chirk Castle is a great place to visit. It is about 40 minutes walk from Chirk so is a bit of an effort if you don't have a car, but it is worth it. A visit to the church and graveyard is interesting and a morning stroll across the aquaduct into England is a must. Food at the Hand Hotel is good, and there is a good cake shop and a couple of cafes.

I was only here (sadly) one night as I was hiking Offa's Dyke. But such a great town with accessible history, culture, food and nature. So much to see and do for a small community. Recommend at least a full two-day staff or more to take in all the attractions (especially the Castle and aqueduct). Go. It's fabulous!

Chirk is situated close to an Area of Outstanding natural Beauty, and is a lovely country town right on the Welsh/English border. Saint Mary's Church (Anglican) is well worth a visit. Look out for the carved ceiling bosses dating from the 1500s and repainted some years ago. There are several stained glass windows including a modern one - all worth spending time with to unpack the symbolism. Incidentally the poet R S Thomas was curate at Chirk 1936-40 Look out for the stone which the Church indicates marked a Crusader Heart Burial and which one historian dates as about 1340, and the 'new' font dated 1662, and replacing one destroyed by parliamentarians. While you are at St Mary's, take a turn around the extensive graveyard. Look out for the Mausoleum in memory of a 5-year old girl. Only a few minutes from the church is Chirk war memorial, created by sculptor Arthur Gill. Look out too for a carved bench near Spar which commemorates the now closed coal mines. We thoroughly enjoyed Chirk Castle.The grounds are extensive (1.5 miles from the gates to the castle car-park) and the gardens worth a look too. With more time we would have taken a walk over the aqueduct but both aqueduct and viaduct are nicely viewable from the roads around Chirk. We will go back to the area for a longer stay.