Commonwealth Games: Wales' Queen's Baton Relay route

Dylan Thomas's boathouse and the Urdd Eisteddfod will be among venues visited in Wales as part of the Queen's Baton Relay this summer.

The relay builds up to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July.

On 24 May it will touch down at Cardiff Airport before embarking on a seven-day journey through Wales.

The baton will visit towns in the south Wales valleys before heading north and finishing in Llandegla, Denbighshire.

Chris Jenkins, chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales, said: "The baton acts as an invitation to the nation to join the extended 'Team Wales' family.

"It is the ultimate symbol of the Commonwealth and its arrival in Wales sends a strong signal that the games are fast approaching.

"With the whole of Wales behind our athletes, we're a team three million strong.

"We're such a proud and passionate sporting nation and the Queen's baton provides us with the chance to engage directly with the people of Wales and share the excitement of the Commonwealth Games with them."

The baton left Buckingham Palace on 9 October and will visit every territory in the Commonwealth.

The 190,000 km (118,000 miles) relay - far longer than the Olympic Torch relay - will travel to 71 nations and territories across the world in seven months before arriving in Scotland.

Since Wales hosted the first Queen's Baton Relay in 1958, the traditional opening of the Commonwealth Games has always been celebrated.

Details of baton bearers in Wales will be revealed later in the year.

The baton will visit the south Wales valleys before going to Llandrindod Wells then the Urdd Eisteddfod in Bala, Gwynedd.

It then heads to Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire before going to Machynlleth and several places in north Wales including Anglesey, Caernarfon, Rhyl and Ruthin.

In Pembrokeshire, on day five of the Wales leg, the baton will make its way from the Bishop's Palace in St Davids and through the cathedral grounds where it will be blessed by the Bishop of St Davids.

The baton being transported by wooden canoe from Kavieng to Nusa island in Papua New Guinea

It will pass through the main square and baton bearers will include local school pupils who have inspired fellow youngsters to take part in sport.

Welsh 400m runner Jamie Baulch, who won bronze in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games in 1998 and a silver in Manchester in 2002, described the relay as a "mini Olympics".

He told Radio Wales: "People are going to get excited for it, we're going to have some great performances with the likes of Dai Greene etc competing for Wales and putting on that red vest."

Elwyn Morse, Pembrokeshire's cabinet member for culture, sport and leisure, said: "The media spotlight will be on the county during the relay.

"I am sure its presence will generate a great deal of excitement and galvanise support for Welsh athletes at the Commonwealth Games."

Huw Jones, cabinet lead member for leisure at Denbighshire council, said: "It is a true honour for Denbighshire to host a leg of the relay and we hope that the spotlight of the relay will help us showcase what the county has to offer from a leisure perspective."