The name may conjure up images of Disney's hippos in tutus, but it's smaller critters that feature in this glass pyramid, parked between the depressingly shabby Parc Tawe Shopping Centre and the river. Plantasia contains hundreds of species of exotic plants, plus attendant insects, reptiles, snakes, tropical fish (including piranhas), birds and tamarin monkeys. A coffee shop and range of kids' activities make it a popular rainy-day retreat.
Plantasia
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
16.07 MILES
Dramatically perched atop a steep limestone crag, high above the River Cennen, are the brooding ruins of Wales' ultimate romantic castle, visible for…
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National Botanic Garden of Wales
17.64 MILES
Concealed in the rolling Tywi valley countryside, this lavish complex opened in 2000 and is still maturing. Formerly an aristocratic estate, the garden…
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28.15 MILES
Ascending Pen-y-Fan (886m), the tallest peak in the Brecon Beacons, is one of the most popular hikes in the park (around 350,000 people make the climb…
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18.35 MILES
This idyllic, 324-hectare, beautifully landscaped estate, immediately west of Llandeilo, incorporates a deer park, pasture, woods, an Iron Age fort, the…
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16.92 MILES
The western extremity of the Gower is guarded by this mile-long promontory, which turns into an island at high tide. Worms Head takes its name from the…
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18.63 MILES
Wandering through these formal walled gardens feels a bit like walking into a Jane Austen novel. They date originally from Elizabethan times, have evolved…
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19.37 MILES
You're likely to have the impressive remains of Garn Goch to yourself. One of the largest Iron Age sites in Wales, it comprises a smaller hill fort…
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27.36 MILES
This extraordinary piece of Victorian engineering sees two cars, linked by a steel cable, descend and ascend the steeply sloping cliff face according to…
Nearby attractions
0.16 MILES
Only a small pocket of the central city around Wind St and Castle Sq escaped the WWII bombing raids and retains a remnant of Georgian and Victorian…
0.21 MILES
Housed in the former guildhall, this unassuming museum contains absorbing displays on the Swansea-born poet's life and work. It pulls no punches in…
0.28 MILES
Dylan Thomas referred to this august institution as 'the museum which should have been in a museum'. Founded in 1834, it remains charmingly low-tech, from…
0.3 MILES
The seemingly never-ending refurbishment of Swansea's main art gallery was still in progress when we last visited. By the time you read this, the elegant…
0.38 MILES
Housed in a 1901 dockside warehouse with a striking glass and slate extension, this museum's 15 hands-on galleries explore Wales' commercial maritime…
1.15 MILES
The bad boy of Welsh poetry was born in this unassuming Uplands house and it's here that he wrote two-thirds of his poetry. The house has been lovingly…
1.93 MILES
Swansea University's collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities, some 5000 artefacts donated by various British institutions and collectors, includes a…
3.1 MILES
Spanning 20 hectares, these magnificent gardens are particularly impressive in spring, when the azaleas and rhododendrons are at their most spectacular…