Nothing ever quite compared to the buzz of the morning of a school trip.
You'd be out of bed an hour early with your bag already packed, already frantically worrying about whether or not you'll get the best seats on the bus (the back ones, of course).
If you grew up in Wales, you'd have been lucky enough to go on some pretty unique school trips that you wouldn't necessarily have been able to find elsewhere - from trips to ancient Celtic settlements to medieval Tudor castles.
Whether it was a residential trip to Borfa House or an educational day out to Plantasia or Techniquest, there are some trips that we'll simply never forget. You can read more Swansea stories here.
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1. Llangrannog (Urdd Gobaith Cymru)
The creme-de-la-creme of any Swansea school trip, a residential trip to the Urdd at Llangrannog was a trip like no other. On the itinerary at Llangrannog would be dry slope skiing, tobogganing, go-karting, horse riding, swimming, folk dancing, and more. Kids typically went around in primary school, and the big finale of the stay would be a glitter-filled disco, where even your teachers might get dressed up in their glad-rags.
Anybody who stayed at Llangrannog will be familiar with the terrifying (and problematic) rumour of the 'black nun' floating around the centre. It was common to find graffiti alluding to the ghost on the wooden bunk beds, and of course, everybody knew a story of somebody 'actually seeing' the nun roaming the corridors at night.
Former Urdd worker Tracy Zerk, 37, previously told WalesOnline in a special feature on Llangrannog: "The worst part was scrubbing graffiti about the black nun off the wooden bunks, using sandpaper and scourers. We would get children crying or panicking about hearing stories of the black nun and how she roamed the corridors. Although, the black nun never existed." Ghost stories and go-karting aside, the Urdd is an amazing company and charity that aims to give people the chance to develop their Welsh language through activities.
2. Techniquest
Techniquest in Cardiff was one of those trips that always felt miles away to Swansea kids, so the fun always started on the bus. It was definitely an educational trip, but it certainly wasn't dull. A day there would be filled with fun interactive science experiments, apparatuses and exhibitions, and you'd make sure to have a go at absolutely everything until you were worn out.
Many will remember stomping on the gigantic floor piano, and being genuinely shocked to see that cheap Tesco value toothpaste worked better than expensive Oral B during an experiment that involved cleaning shoe polish off a bathroom tile. Who would have known?
Kids often left the centre feeling convinced they'd go on to pursue a career in science, and maybe even become the next Einstein. The centre was founded in 1986, by Professor John Beetlestone and his colleagues from Cardiff University, its first site was the gas showroom opposite Cardiff Castle (now Burger King).
3. Castell Henllys
One trip that will be forever etched in memory is to Castell Henllys Iron Age Village in Pembrokeshire. A trip to the Castell Henllys was like going back in time: the day would be spent weaving baskets, grinding grain, and getting your hands mucky in some dung to plaster the walls of a Celtic round house.
As soon as you'd step off the bus, a 'tribe' of Celtic warriors would run towards you to welcome you, their faces painted with blue tribal swirls, and they'd stay with you all day. Later on in the day, you'd also get your face painted, and you'd feel like Boudica reborn.
Back in its day, Castell Henllys would have been home to a wealthy and influential family who led a community of up to 100 people. It remains an important archaeological site in Wales, and it's still a popular school trip destination today.
4. Dan y Coed
Dan y Coed was a residential stay in West Cross, but in 2019, it re-opened as a specialist school and residential service for children with complex needs associated with autism. It's now run by Orbis.
A trip to Dan y Coed was enjoyed by comprehensive school kids, and it definitely had more of a serious academic vibe than fun residential trips like Llangrannog. Some will remember the lessons on alcohol safety, which would involve wearing heavy 'beer goggles' that would show us just how awful it apparently was to be drunk. It was meant to deter us, but dare I say, we laughed so much that we couldn't wait to swig our first beer.
The dorm halls were often a place of tension between different schools - whether you were from Olchfa or Dylan Thomas or Bishop Gore - but you were guaranteed to have a laugh. At some point on the trip, you'd have trekked down the Mumbles for Joe's, and you'd have played games like word association, too. Oh, and no TV for the entire week.
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5. Plantasia
When you're a kid, Plantasia is a world unto itself, fully equipped with exotic animals, birds and replies. It's also home to huge tarantulas and snakes, piranhas (which are no longer there), crocodiles and more. Many will remember the feeling of being boiling hot in your school uniform, traipsing around the humid indoor jungle wondering how long left until lunch.
Despite the heat inside, seeing exotic plants (I remember being amazed even at a cactus) and spiders knocked spots off a day in the classroom.
Read more: Rare tiny baby Egyptian tortoise smaller than a £1 coin born in Plantasia in Swansea
6. Rhossili
When you live in a city that's home to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, it's only right that you go there on a school trip.
Trips to the Gower coast varied, but if you were lucky enough to have a trip with the Gower Activity Centre, then you'd have done rock climbing, woodland orienteering, surfing and kayaking, among other activities. Trips to Rhossili were definitely not for the faint-hearted, and certainly not for those afraid of the water.
7. Borfa House
On a similar note, a residential stay in Borfa House in Port Eynon was another outdoorsy trip that made the most of the Gower peninsula. A trip to Borfa would have involved similar outdoor activities to the Rhossili trip, including surfing and rock climbing, but you'd be lucky enough to get food from the chippy and ice cream from the vendors on Port Eynon, too.
Borfa trips were one of those 'team building' sorts of trips, and you'd always come home from them absolutely exhausted.
8. The Egypt Centre
Ancient history can be a boring topic, but not in the Egypt Centre at Swansea University. The Egypt Centre was another hands-on trip that involved mummifying a stuffed life-size doll by pulling out the organs and putting them into canopic jars, ready for the afterlife (quite macabre, in retrospect). With the organs neatly put away, you'd then wrap the doll up in bandages, absolutely confident that you've given it the best afterlife possible.
With its huge displays of artefacts dating back millennia, it's hard not to get lost in the other worldly feeling of the Egypt Centre. Some of the artefacts were so old that you'd be warned not to shine lights or make too much noise, which would leave you jittery with nerves. God forbid you're the one who smashes the 3,000-year-old sarcophagus.
The trip often took a more... slow, turn, when it came to the hieroglyphic writing tasks. Many will remember labouring over your tiny little owl drawing with your rubber and sharpener, thinking, no way did this mean the letter 'm' . And well done if you took anything less than one solid hour to write your name out in hieroglyphs.
9. Margam Park
The first thing that'll come to mind when reflecting on a trip to Margam for many will be the big red shoe house in the kids play area - the one that evoked the tale of the old lady who lived in the shoe. For the younger ones, the fairy tale village in Margam Park was one of the best bits, and you'd be gutted when your teacher rounded you all back up for lunch or a break. The adventure castle was a blast, as well as the gigantic chess board (not that any of us actually knew how to play chess at that age.)
As you got a bit older, the focal point of a trip to Margam Park would be all the ghosts and ghouls that supposedly haunted the castle. Today, the park even runs an 18+ 'ghost hunting' experience where you can supposedly encounter the ghost of Robert Scott, a gamekeeper who was murdered by a poacher centuries ago.
10. St Fagans
Similar to Margam Park in some senses, St Fagans is an open-air museum of old houses and buildings that's suitable for both primary and comprehensive school kids. Many will remember going inside the old classrooms lined with stale-smelling wooden tables and a blackboard that would leave you feeling grateful for your high-tech, warm classroom that's equipped with comfortable carpet space and an interactive whiteboard.
St Fagans is also home to native breeds of livestock, and if you were lucky, you'd be able to watch a demonstration of traditional farming tasks taking place. Even the shop in St Fagans was enthralling, as it sold 'vintage' looking products that you'd have found on the shelves a century ago.
11. Dan yr Ogof
A trip to Dan yr Ogof was a step into the Jurassic world. As soon as you'd step off the bus and see that gigantic dinosaur figurine looming overheard, you'd knew you'd be in for a great day. The caves at Dan yr Ogof are impressively large, and if you knew the word stalactite or stalagmite, then you'd have no choice but to let everybody know at every chance you had. And, if you knew the difference between the two, well... the day was yours.
Panning for gold was also a favourite at Dan yr Ogof, but I can't recall anybody having much luck with it. The park now has more than 200 life-sized dinosaurs, so I imagine that today, it's a better trip than ever.
12. Llancaiach Fawr Manor
Situated in Treharris, you probably went on a school trip to Llancaiach Fawr Manor when you were learning about the Tudors in year four or so. The Tudor manor house is a Grade I listed building that was built in the 16th century, and you'd have encountered a full display of what life would have been like in the days of the Tudors.
On the trip, you'd be guided around the house by hosts wearing full medieval garb, and you'd have made a beeswax candle by hand that you were incredibly proud of. (Probably so proud that you completely forbade anybody from ever lighting it.) There was also a maze in the gardens of Llancaiach Fawr that was fun to wander around in.
Every school trip to an old building was accompanied with a ghost story or two, and Llancaiach Fawr is no exception. The manor is considered to be one of the top 10 most haunted places in the UK and is said to be haunted by the spectres of Colonel Prichard, a former lord of the manor and disillusioned ally of King Charles I; Mattie, a former maid who burned to death in an accident; a boy who fell to his death; and a man in black, a presumed murderer who patrols the perimeter of the house.
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