NEWPORT (Casnewydd), fifteen miles west of Chepstow, is hardly the most prepossessing of towns, with its modern city centre strung along the banks of the foul and muddy River Usk. Overlooking these waters stand both the pathetic remains of Newport Castle , and Peter Fink's giant red sculpture Steel Wave , a nod to one of Newport's great industries. The place does have a tremendous energy, however, and can be well worth a night's stop.

The central High Street leads to Newport and Westgate squares, and the ornate, Victorian Westgate Hotel where, in 1839, soldiers sprayed a crowd of Chartist protesters with gunfire, killing at least twenty - the hotel's original pillars still show bullet marks. A hundred yards along Commercial Street, in John Frost Square, the quirky Newport clock shudders, shakes, spits smoke and comes near to apparent collapse every hour, usually drawing an appreciative crowd. In front of the clock is the town's library, tourist office and inspiring civic museum (Mon-Thurs 9.30am-5pm, Fri 9.30am-4.30pm, Sat 9.30am-4pm; free). Starting with the origins of the county of Monmouthshire, the displays examine the county's original occupations and early lifestyles, and include a section on mining, with a roll call of those killed in local pit accidents - 3,508 men between 1837 and 1927. Newport's spectacular growth from 1000 townspeople in 1801 to a grimy port town of 70,000 people by a century later is well charted, but the two most interesting sections deal with the Chartist uprising and a fine Roman mosaic.

Dominating the Newport skyline with its comical, spidery legs is the Transporter Bridge (May-Sept Mon-Sat 8am-8.50pm, Sun 1-9pm; Oct-April Mon-Sat 8am-5.50pm, Sun 1-5pm; car toll 50p, cyclists and pedestrians free), built in 1906 to enable cars and people to cross the river without disturbing the shipping channel, gliding them across the Usk on a dangling platform. A recently opened visitor centre tells its story.

Newport's tourist office is in the museum complex in John Frost Square (daily 9.30am-5pm; tel 01633/842962), a hundred yards from Kingsway bus station and five minutes' walk south of the train station . Staying in Caerleon is a more amenable option, but there are some decent B&Bs , including Craignair , 44 Corporation Rd (tel 01633/259903; under £40), and the genteel St Etienne , 162 Stow Hill (tel 01633/262341; £40-50). At the western end of Bridge Street, Caerau Road rises up sharply to the south, passing the relaxed, hospitable Kepe Lodge at no. 46a (tel 01633/262351; £40-50). There's a campsite at Tredegar House (tel 01633/815600), a couple of miles west - take bus #315 or #30 from the town centre. For food , make for the Oriel café on the top floor of the museum, the vegetarian Hunky Dory's at 17 Charles St, or Ristorante Vittorio up by the cathedral at 113 Stow Hill (tel 01633/840261). With rock music buoyant in Newport, the best place to catch the vibe is at the legendary TJ's , 14 Clarence Place, where Kurt Cobain proposed to Courtney Love.

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