As its name suggests, the main urban areas in this Welsh county borough are the industrial hubs of Neath and Port Talbot.

With a cityscape dominated by Europe’s largest steelworks, Port Talbot is a town which might not make for a natural tourist destination, but is essential to the local economy. Blast furnaces dominate the skyline. Something about the town must generate its own special stardust, though – actors Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen all came from here.

Neath, meanwhile, is a busy market and industrial town, with most visitors going to Trade Centre Wales, a huge car supermarket close to the town. If you’re not car shopping, highlights of the town include the 12th-century Benedictine Neath Abbey and a Norman castle.

Northeast of Neath, the village of Aberdulais in the Vale of Neath grew up around the Aberdulais Falls – a series of beautiful waterfalls and now the site of a hydroelectric station. It has a great industrial heritage, being the home of two ironworks, a copper smelting plant, a corn watermill and a tinplate factory.