SWEEPING views of the Snowdonia Range, Nordic travel and a tour of a UNESCO World Heritage Site are in store for keen walkers in Llangollen next month.

The Llangollen Walking Festival will return for the seventh year with a series of interesting treks and tours.

Walkers will gather in Llangollen town centre as they prepare to embark on nine routes around the town and across the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB.

This includes a 'dark sky' evening walk, a lecture evening by the man who trekked for two years from North Wales to Kyrgyzstan, and a history talk and walk by a Llangollen Museum guide who will share facts about the town, its landscape and people.

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Historic Dinas Bran Castle high above Llangollen.

There will also be a Nordic walking taster session, teaching the proper technique for the sport which uses poles similar to those used for skiing, exercising the upper body while placing slightly less weight on the legs.

Meanwhile for walkers wanting to explore more of Llangollen's heritage, there will be an eight-mile 'castle, cliffs and big views' trek to Castell Dinas Bran, the ruined medieval castle, and the limestone cliffs of the Dee Valley; as well as a tour of the 127ft high Pontcysyllte Aqueduct built by Thomas Telford at the turn of the 19th century.

Mike Smart, lead organiser, said: "The seventh annual Llangollen Walking Festival offers something for everyone at all levels of walking.

"Llangollen is set in a wonderfully historic, mythical and scenic landscape.

"There are shorter historic walks we local guides as well as wilderness walks on the high grouse moors, which are nationally important Special Areas of Conservation."

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A dramatic section of the Offa's Dyke Path.

For experienced walkers, there will be challenging treks led by qualified walking group leaders, including the 12-mile Five Ugly Sisters Walk over the Llantysilio Ridge and a 15-mile 'wilderness walk' from Llangollen town centre to Corwen Railway, returning by steam train.

The festival will conclude with the most difficult walk of the weekend, the 19-mile Offa's Dyke Path Challenge from Moel Famau through Llandegla Forest, World's End and onto Eglwiseg.

The festival takes place during May 3-5.

The necessary equipment must be taken on the relevant walks.

For further information about walking routes and times visit the Llangollen Walking Festival website or Facebook page.