The 18th-century home of the Ladies of Llangollen (Irish aristocrat Lady Eleanor Butler and her companion, Sarah Ponsonby), Plas Newydd is an atmospheric step back in time. The celebrated couple transformed the house from a simple cottage into an elaborate hybrid of Gothic and Tudor styles, complete with stained-glass windows, carved-oak panels and romantic, picturesque formal gardens. Informative self-guided audio tours of the house are available for £1.50, and the tranquil gardens are free to explore.
Over the course of the 50 years they lived here, the ladies' relationship, initially scandalous, became accepted as an eccentricity. Visits from luminaries such as the duke of Wellington, Josiah Wedgwood and William Wordsworth ultimately set the seal on their respectability.