Local Knowledge special: more guides to the Best of Britain from the people who know

BRYN TERFEL

The bass-baritone lives with his family in Bontnewydd, near Caernarfon, close to the site of his annual Faenol music festival (brynfest.com )

“There is an extraordinary island two miles off the tip of the Llyn peninsula called Ynys Enlli, or Bardsey Island. It’s tiny but truly magical, a place of contemplation. They say that 20,000 saints are buried there, which I’m sure is true because, my goodness, I’ve never known such spirituality.

Chic places to stay in Wales

The author of the Lonely Planet guide to Wales reveals his pick of the best new places to stay around the country

Related Internet Links

• Read more in our Wales section

Local knowledge: Pembrokeshire

A pop star, a fisherwoman, an author, a TV presenter and a fiddler tell us where to go in southwest Wales

• Pembrokeshire rock and roll

• Braving the cliffs of West Wales

• Are you to the majestic Welsh manor born?

Related Links

• Chic places to stay in Wales

“Fewer than a dozen people live on Ynys Enlli, alongside 30,000 shearwaters, but you can rent Victorian farmhouses with outhouses at the end of the garden. I’ve got to learn Wagner’s Meistersinger: how I’d love to hide myself away in one of those farmhouses to do it.”

Details: day trips to Ynys Enlli from Porth Meudwy and Pwllheli cost £28 (£14 for under-14s); self-catering cottages start at £185 per week; 0845 811 2233, www.enlli.org .

BRYN WILLIAMS

A winner in the BBC’s Great British Menu series, Bryn hails from Denbigh and is the head chef at Odette’s, in Primrose Hill, north London

“I discovered cooking as a kid, working in Alwyn Thomas’s bakery in Denbigh and making the bara brith for our annual picnic on top of Moel Famau for my grandma’s birthday. I could see that hill from my bedroom window, and it’s a cracking walk. I still climb it when I’m back home.

“On the way down, you pass Brookhouse Mill, a 17th-century water mill. It’s a lovely setting for a post-hike pint and a meal.

“My top tip for food, though, is the Rhug Estate, on the A5 — I call it the best transport cafe in Britain. It’s actually a farm shop, all organic and straight from the estate’s butcher. You can take home prime cuts of meat or just stop for a hot snack. It’s near Corwen, bang on the main route into Snowdonia from Llangollen, and the welsh-black beefburgers must be the best in Britain.”

Details: the Rhug Estate offers daily farm tours (01490 413000, rhug.co.uk ). The goat’s-cheese starter at Brookhouse Mill (01745 813377, brookhousemill.co.uk ) costs £4.95.

Times recommends

• Tuesday: the latest airport and flights news
• Wild Girls hit the Klosters slopes
• Red Sea: the complete guide