Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Finally, it's a good idea to photocopy all of your important documents (including your travel insurance policy) before
you leave home. Leave one copy with someone at home and keep another with you, separate from the originals. If
something does go wrong, you'll be glad you did.
Internet Access
If you're travelling in Wales with a laptop, or a handheld wireless device such as an iPhone, getting online is easy. Many
upmarket hotels, and plenty of midrange B&Bs and even hostels, now offer in-room internet access via an ethernet con-
nection or wi-fi. Increasingly, it's free to guests (sometimes password protected).
If the hotel insists on making a charge, there is an ever-increasing number of wi-fi hot spots around Wales where you
can access the internet with a wi-fi-enabled laptop for free.
If you don't have a laptop, the best places to check email and surf the internet are public libraries - almost every town
and village in Wales has at least a couple of computer terminals devoted to the internet, and they are mostly free to use.
Internet cafes are also common in cities and larger towns, and generally charge £2 to £5 per hour. Always check the
minimum charge, though, before you settle in - it's sometimes not worth the 10 minutes it takes to check your emails.
Many of the larger tourist offices across the country have internet access as well.
Legal Matters
If you are a victim of petty crime, head to the nearest police station to file a crime report. You will need this for your in-
surance claim. It's a good idea to take some identification with you, such as a passport.
Police have the power to detain anyone suspected of having committed an offence punishable by imprisonment (in-
cluding drug offences) for up to six hours. They can search you, take photographs and fingerprints, and question you.
You are legally required to provide your correct name and address - not doing so, or giving false details, is an offence -
but you are not obliged to answer any other questions.
After six hours, the police must either formally charge you or let you go. If you are detained and/or arrested, you have
the right to inform a lawyer and one other person, though you have no right to actually see the lawyer or make a tele-
phone call. If you don't know a lawyer, the police will inform the duty solicitor for you.
Possession of a small amount of cannabis is an offence punishable by a fine, but possession of a larger amount of can-
nabis, or any amount of harder drugs, is much more serious, with a sentence of up to 14 years in prison. Police have the
right to search anyone they suspect of possessing drugs.
You're allowed to have a maximum blood alcohol level of 35mg/100mL when driving. Traffic offences (illegal park-
ing, speeding etc) often incur a fine, which you're usually given 30 to 60 days to pay. Speeding incurs a £60 fine and
two penalty points if you hold a UK driving licence.
Maps
Two useful countrywide maps, updated annually by
Visit Wales
( 08708-300306;
www.visitwales.co.uk
;
9am-5pm Mon-Fri) , are available at nearly every tourist office. The
Wales Tourist Map
presents all major roads and
major sights, national parks, towns with tourist offices (and a list of those open in winter), several town plans and sug-
