Our Guide to Hay-on-Wye (30-40 mins drive)
With lots of bookshops, this creative little bit of the borderlands is known as the town of books, with lots of cafes too.
The weekly Market Day on Thursdays is a delight of creativity with food, crafts and vintage stalls - and there is a monthly Saturday market that runs seasonally on the first Saturday of the month, April to October. The monthly market focuses on speciality foods, artisan makers, local producers, gatherers and vintage resellers. Check details at www.haymarkets.co.uk.
Top on the list for many people is Richard Booth’s Bookshop, not only for books, but it also has a café - good for coffee and lunch - and a cinema out the back (Lion Street, HR3 5AA / www.boothbooks.co.uk). Almost next door is the Hay Deli where you can stock up on local cheeses and supplies (www.haydeli.co.uk).
The Cosy Café opposite the covered market does great coffee, tasty cakes and wholesome food / 5 High Town, HR3 5AE / 07968 783325 /
Then there is Hay Castle which is well worth a visit and tour, with exhibitions and workshops often being run, and a cafe with tables inside and outside, as well as a nice gardens to sit in with a takeaway (off Oxford Road or Castle Street, HR3 5DG / www.haycastletrust.org)
Get a lunchtime takeaway from The Salad Project (Lion Street, HR3 5AA), amazing vegan salads and curries to take away and enjoy in the castle gardens or down by the river (or there are seats upstairs).
Don’t miss the Old Electric Shop on Broad Street selling an eclectic mix of clothes, homeware and books, it is also a café serving coffee and cakes (10 Broad St, HR3 5DB / www.oldelectric.co.uk).
Stay on Broad Street and you’ll find a butchers and access on your left down to the bridge and river. Carrying along Broad Street will take you to The Globe, an arts centre with a kitchen serving lunch and dinners (check times) and films, music, talks, workshops and art exhibitions (HR3 5BG / www.globeathay.org).
Near the covered market you’ll find the Hay Antique Market (HR3 5AF / www.hayantiquemarket.co.uk) . Along Castle Street are more bookshops and gift shops, plus another butchers and greengrocers at the end.
Hay is also a good spot for wild swimming and canoeing - see Active adventuressection. The famous literary Hay Festival (www.hayfestival.com) takes place in May when 80,000 visitors descend on the town. Running concurrently is the How The Light Gets In, a philosophy and music festival (www.hay.htlgi.iai.tv).
Parking try Oxford Road Car Park (HR3 5AJ) or by the river Wyeford Car Park (HR3 5BJ)
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A little further into Wales from Hay is Glasbury where you’ll find the Wye Valley Canoes (www.wyevalleycanoes.co.uk / HR3 5NP).
Further on the other side of the Black Mountains is Talgarth, a little market town with Talgarth Mill a working mill, bakery and café serving coffee and lunches (LD3 0BW / www.talgarthmill.com), and Crickhowell where the Book-ish Bookshop and Café is a good stop off (www.book-ish.co.uk / NP8 1BD).