There are dozens of places in the world called Newport - two of them in Wales, confusingly - but only one of them has hosted the Ryder Cup, held a NATO summit, and produced a group of absurdist rappers. Newport is a cathedral and university city and unitary authority area in south east Wales. It is located on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, approximately 20 km northeast of Cardiff.

You can walk from one end of Newport's compact city centre to the other in little more than 10 minutes - or a lot longer if you stop at the cathedral, museum and art gallery, and traditional covered market. There's also lots of interesting public art, including a statue that commemorates Newport's 'Supertramp' poet, WH Davies, the man who wrote the immortal lines, "What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare."

Newport is strongly associated with Chartism, the 19th-century working class movement for political reform, and more recently has left a couple of marks (or at least, vivid stains) on popular culture: the absurdist rap collective Goldie Lookin' Chain sprang from Newport's anarchic subculture, while Kurt Cobain apparently proposed to Courtney Love in the legendary TJ's rock venue.

Newport is an excellent choice as a base for exploring not only South Wales but also the English Counties on the other side of the Bristol Channel, with destinations like Bristol, Bath and the Cotswolds.