Wales: Brecon Beacon/Bannau Brycheiniog prelim plans June/July '24
Jan 22nd, 2024, 07:46 AM
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Wales: Brecon Beacon/Bannau Brycheiniog prelim plans June/July '24
Hello Fodorites!
I am looking for some advice as I start some preliminary plans for two weeks in Wales in/around Brecon Beacon/Bannau Brycheiniog National Park the last week of June & first week of July 2024.
Our plan is to arrive LHR (overnight from EWR) on Saturday June 22 and depart on Saturday July 6, giving us 13 days without travel days. The main adventure for this trip is to do a 4-day narrowboat trip on the Mon & Brec Canal, which Hikrguy saw in a video last winter and was instantly enthralled. Our narrowboat is booked, 24-28 June. We have nothing else set yet. Our plan is to make Abergavenny our home base for the entire trip, we hate driving around and staying in many hotels. Also, I am gluten-free and vegetarian, and looks like there are quite a few places in Abergavenny where I could eat.
Right when we arrive, we'll take the train from LHR into London and then out to Cardiff and then up to Abergavenny on Saturday June 22. Sunday we will get over the jet lag, go for a walk, and then Monday we will go to the Waitrose in Abergavenny and pick up some supplies, and take a taxi out to where we will pick up the narrowboat -- just outside the village of Gilwern. Then 4 days enjoying a slower pace!
When we drop off the narrowboat on Friday June 28, we'll take a taxi back to Abergavenny. That's as far as I've gotten in the planning. We'll need to rent a car for the next few days. On our list is visiting Hay-on-Wye and spending a day in the bookstores! A tthe end of the trip, we're thinking to head to Cardiff on Thursday July 4 morning and spend the day and overnight there, and then on Friday July 5 go to London, have the day and overnight, and then to LHR on Saturday. The one thing I can't figure out is if there is a car rental place in Abergavenny or if we should expect to take the train back down to Cardiff, pick up a car and head back out again.
So my preliminary questions are: What would be some good starting points for day walks in BBNP, if we would be coming from Abergavenny? Post-pandemic my hiking stamina, now that I'm in my late 50s, has definitely changed and I'm very aware of my abilities and energy level. Has anyone every stayed in -- or visited -- Abergavenny? Any recommendations? Weather in BBNP at that time of year? We spent a week in Scotland in early July in 2019 and some days were quite nasty weather. And has anyone every done a narrowboat trip on the Mon & Brec?
thank you!
-- hikrchick
I am looking for some advice as I start some preliminary plans for two weeks in Wales in/around Brecon Beacon/Bannau Brycheiniog National Park the last week of June & first week of July 2024.
Our plan is to arrive LHR (overnight from EWR) on Saturday June 22 and depart on Saturday July 6, giving us 13 days without travel days. The main adventure for this trip is to do a 4-day narrowboat trip on the Mon & Brec Canal, which Hikrguy saw in a video last winter and was instantly enthralled. Our narrowboat is booked, 24-28 June. We have nothing else set yet. Our plan is to make Abergavenny our home base for the entire trip, we hate driving around and staying in many hotels. Also, I am gluten-free and vegetarian, and looks like there are quite a few places in Abergavenny where I could eat.
Right when we arrive, we'll take the train from LHR into London and then out to Cardiff and then up to Abergavenny on Saturday June 22. Sunday we will get over the jet lag, go for a walk, and then Monday we will go to the Waitrose in Abergavenny and pick up some supplies, and take a taxi out to where we will pick up the narrowboat -- just outside the village of Gilwern. Then 4 days enjoying a slower pace!
When we drop off the narrowboat on Friday June 28, we'll take a taxi back to Abergavenny. That's as far as I've gotten in the planning. We'll need to rent a car for the next few days. On our list is visiting Hay-on-Wye and spending a day in the bookstores! A tthe end of the trip, we're thinking to head to Cardiff on Thursday July 4 morning and spend the day and overnight there, and then on Friday July 5 go to London, have the day and overnight, and then to LHR on Saturday. The one thing I can't figure out is if there is a car rental place in Abergavenny or if we should expect to take the train back down to Cardiff, pick up a car and head back out again.
So my preliminary questions are: What would be some good starting points for day walks in BBNP, if we would be coming from Abergavenny? Post-pandemic my hiking stamina, now that I'm in my late 50s, has definitely changed and I'm very aware of my abilities and energy level. Has anyone every stayed in -- or visited -- Abergavenny? Any recommendations? Weather in BBNP at that time of year? We spent a week in Scotland in early July in 2019 and some days were quite nasty weather. And has anyone every done a narrowboat trip on the Mon & Brec?
thank you!
-- hikrchick
Jan 22nd, 2024, 09:06 AM
#2
weather in a time of Climate Change and in Wales? Let us say changeable.
BBNP is a new one and a little confusing. I'd stick with Brecon Beacon especially since the region is mainly English speaking, this is not a political issue it just saves local communication, unless you really are going to start calling your home base "Y Fenni".
BBNP is a new one and a little confusing. I'd stick with Brecon Beacon especially since the region is mainly English speaking, this is not a political issue it just saves local communication, unless you really are going to start calling your home base "Y Fenni".
Jan 22nd, 2024, 09:08 AM
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hikerchick, I can't help you with either Abergavenny or narrow boats, but we stayed in Hay-on-Wye for four nights last May, using it as a base for two full days of walking on Offa's Dyke Path.
First of all, about the town: a pretty place, and I would think it would be very busy during the time you will visit. We visited several bookstores (it is, after all, "The World's First Book Town"), all fascinating. Staff at our inn told us, however, that many bookstores have closed over the last several years, but there are still plenty enough to keep you occupied.
And there is a castle:
If you are tempted to hike (and I see you have remarked on having less stamina, so it may no longer appeal), there is a wonderful day-hike you can do from the ruins of Llanthony Priory, south of Hay-on-Wye, back up to Hay itself. Most of the walk is along Hatterall Ridge, notable for spectacular views and wild ponies. This pair had a little dust-up right in front of us as we sat eating our sandwiches:
The walk is about 19 km, so manageable, but I must caution that the climb from Llanthony Priory up onto Hatterall Ridge is steep. We were 73 and 69 years old when we did it last year, and we survived. The path itself is generally quite visible and occasionally signposted. The challenges are in the unnamed and unmarked paths that diverge or cross Offa's Dyke Path, which is what you would be wanting to follow. The OL 13 Ordnance Survey Explorer map would be a needed; it's the 1:25,000 topo sheet for that part of the Brecon Beacons.
If you end up being interested in the walk, I can recommend a local taxi that would drive you from Hay to the trail head at Llanthony Priory.
Oh, one other thing: we were advised to make dinner reservations well in advance of our visit, and every place we ate in Hay-on-Wye was very busy, and this was in May.
The trip report, if you'd like to see more about it: Better Lost Than Duffers: Walking Offa's Dyke Path and the Cumbria Way
First of all, about the town: a pretty place, and I would think it would be very busy during the time you will visit. We visited several bookstores (it is, after all, "The World's First Book Town"), all fascinating. Staff at our inn told us, however, that many bookstores have closed over the last several years, but there are still plenty enough to keep you occupied.
And there is a castle:
If you are tempted to hike (and I see you have remarked on having less stamina, so it may no longer appeal), there is a wonderful day-hike you can do from the ruins of Llanthony Priory, south of Hay-on-Wye, back up to Hay itself. Most of the walk is along Hatterall Ridge, notable for spectacular views and wild ponies. This pair had a little dust-up right in front of us as we sat eating our sandwiches:
The walk is about 19 km, so manageable, but I must caution that the climb from Llanthony Priory up onto Hatterall Ridge is steep. We were 73 and 69 years old when we did it last year, and we survived. The path itself is generally quite visible and occasionally signposted. The challenges are in the unnamed and unmarked paths that diverge or cross Offa's Dyke Path, which is what you would be wanting to follow. The OL 13 Ordnance Survey Explorer map would be a needed; it's the 1:25,000 topo sheet for that part of the Brecon Beacons.
If you end up being interested in the walk, I can recommend a local taxi that would drive you from Hay to the trail head at Llanthony Priory.
Oh, one other thing: we were advised to make dinner reservations well in advance of our visit, and every place we ate in Hay-on-Wye was very busy, and this was in May.
The trip report, if you'd like to see more about it: Better Lost Than Duffers: Walking Offa's Dyke Path and the Cumbria Way
Last edited by AnselmAdorne; Jan 22nd, 2024 at 09:11 AM.
Jan 22nd, 2024, 09:28 AM
#4
Just a quick comment - no, you can't get a rental car in Abergavenny so Cardiff is your best option.
The weather will be what it is. Nothing to do with climate change -- that has ALWAYS been the case. Could be glorious, could be crap, or more likely some of both - often on the same day
Narrow boating is great -- you'll have a wonderful time
The weather will be what it is. Nothing to do with climate change -- that has ALWAYS been the case. Could be glorious, could be crap, or more likely some of both - often on the same day
Narrow boating is great -- you'll have a wonderful time
Jan 22nd, 2024, 10:23 AM
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weather in a time of Climate Change and in Wales? Let us say changeable.
BBNP is a new one and a little confusing. I'd stick with Brecon Beacon especially since the region is mainly English speaking, this is not a political issue it just saves local communication, unless you really are going to start calling your home base "Y Fenni".
BBNP is a new one and a little confusing. I'd stick with Brecon Beacon especially since the region is mainly English speaking, this is not a political issue it just saves local communication, unless you really are going to start calling your home base "Y Fenni".
Jan 22nd, 2024, 10:26 AM
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Just a quick comment - no, you can't get a rental car in Abergavenny so Cardiff is your best option.
The weather will be what it is. Nothing to do with climate change -- that has ALWAYS been the case. Could be glorious, could be crap, or more likely some of both - often on the same day
Narrow boating is great -- you'll have a wonderful time
The weather will be what it is. Nothing to do with climate change -- that has ALWAYS been the case. Could be glorious, could be crap, or more likely some of both - often on the same day
Narrow boating is great -- you'll have a wonderful time
There is one more thing I'm having trouble researching -- is there a laundromat in Abergavenny? This would make life so much easier, we could do carry-on and then a wash after the boat trip. Would you know?
Jan 22nd, 2024, 10:47 AM
#7
" There is one more thing I'm having trouble researching -- is there a laundromat in Abergavenny? This would make life so much easier, we could do carry-on and then a wash after the boat trip. Would you know? "
Yep -- at least a couple. One is at the Waitrose supermarket, and another is next to the train station. There are probably some self serve launderettes as well. Anyone in town will be able to tell you . . .
Yep -- at least a couple. One is at the Waitrose supermarket, and another is next to the train station. There are probably some self serve launderettes as well. Anyone in town will be able to tell you . . .
Jan 22nd, 2024, 10:54 AM
#8
On our last visit to Wales we drove through Abergavenny nearly every day (we stayed in the smaller town of Crickhowell). I would recommend a visits to Tintern Abbey and Chepstow Castle. In fact, you can walk between them -- it's about five miles if I remember correctly, though the climb out of Tintern's valley is steep. Chepstow was the subject of Life in a Medieval Castle which I would recommend reading before your visit.
