Brecon Beacons National Park

Ascending Pen-y-Fan (886m), the tallest peak in the Brecon Beacons, is one of the most popular hikes in the park (around 350,000 people make the climb annually, giving it the nickname 'the motorway'). The...

Halfway up a thickly forested hillside in the Vale of Eywas, this tiny 11th-century church is like a time capsule of Welsh faith and culture, buried too deeply in these hills ever to change. Astonishing as it is...

Dramatically perched atop a steep limestone crag, high above the River Cennen, are the brooding ruins of Wales' ultimate romantic castle, visible for miles in every direction. Originally a Welsh castle, the...

You're likely to have the impressive remains of Garn Goch to yourself. One of the largest Iron Age sites in Wales, it comprises a smaller hill fort covering 1.5 hectares, and a much larger one of 11.2 hectares....

Halfway along the impossibly beautiful Vale of Ewyas lie the atmospheric ruins of this Augustinian priory, set among pasture and wooded hills by the River Honddu. Perhaps the second most important abbey in Wales...

A series of dramatic waterfalls lies between the villages of Pontneddfechan and Ystradfellte, where the Rivers Mellte, Hepste and Pyrddin pass through steep forested gorges. The finest is Sgwd-yr-Eira (Waterfall...

Originally the home of the Vaughan family, Tretower gives you two historic buildings for the price of one: the sturdy circular Norman keep, now roofless and commanding only a sheep-nibbled bailey, and a...

Of the glacially sculpted hills that surround Abergavenny, Skirrid (486m) is the most dramatic looking and has a history to match. A cleft in the rock near the top was once believed to have split open at the...

Though Wales has a long history of spirit distillation, this boutique distillery released its first malt whisky only in 2004, marking the resurgence of Welsh whisky-making after an absence of more than 100 years...

Restored with the assistance of the BBC's Village SOS television show, Talgarth's 17th-century watermill is back in business for the first time since 1946, grinding wheat into flour, which is used by the...

Distinctive flat-topped Crug Hywel (Hywel's Rock; 451m), better known as Table Mountain, rises to the north of Crickhowell and gave the town its name. You can do a steep but satisfying hike to the impressive...

Looking like it's slid straight off a chess board, Bronllys' circular tower was built in 1230 on the site of an earlier Norman motte-and-bailey castle. You can climb up inside, wander around its three floors and...

A multitude of majestic birds of prey swoop in daily for their afternoon meal of manky meat scraps at this remote feeding centre. You're likely to see upwards of 50 red kites, alongside buzzards and ravens, all...

The limestone plateau of the southern Fforest Fawr is riddled with some of the largest and most complex cave systems in Britain. Most can only be visited by experienced cavers, but this set of three caves is well...

Perched on a hill above the River Honddu, Brecon Cathedral was founded in 1093 as part of a Benedictine monastery, though little remains of the original Norman church except the vividly carved font. Most of the...

Based at Brecon's military barracks (built 1805), this museum commemorates the history of the Royal Welsh – a newish British Army infantry regiment comprising the South Wales Borderers and other historic Welsh...

The finest feature (and the highest point) of the Black Mountain is the sweeping escarpment of Fan Brycheiniog (802m), reached via a fairly strenuous 11.5-mile loop from Glyntawe on the A4067.

Standing in considerable decrepitude in the town centre, Hay's battered castle is closed to the public but there are various interesting shops to explore in its grounds, including an honesty book stall (50p per...

Brecon is the northern terminus of this canal, built between 1799 and 1812 for the movement of coal, iron ore, limestone and agricultural goods. The 33 miles from Brecon to Pontypool is back in business,...

The cone-shaped pinnacle of Sugar Loaf (596m) is a 4½-mile round trip from the Mynydd Llanwenarth viewpoint car park. Take the middle track that follows a stone wall, skirts a wood and climbs steeply uphill,...