Only a short distance away are the Brecon Beacons and the myriad outdoor activities that the National Park has to offer - horse riding, cycling, walking, wild swimming, canoeing and kayaking, fishing, bird-watching, canal boats, paragliding – and much, much more. The market town of Builth Wells and the Royal Welsh Show ground is a 15 minute drive, with all the facilities you could wish for. The beautiful west coast, with its peaceful beaches, is an hour’s drive west, and Hay-on-Wye, with its famous second-hand bookshops is within half-an-hour’s drive. The Play Barn at nearby Brecon is a must for small children on rainy days. Cardiff is just over an hour’s drive south, with its beautiful Millennium Centre for great opera or concerts, good shopping, and the redeveloped Cardiff Bay area with all its restaurants and views over the water. The Llyn Brianne reservoir and the Elan Valley (so peaceful!) are less than 30 minutes’ drive away.

Hay- on-Wye is famous for being the capital of second hand books. With numerous specialist book shops, and some huge shops such the Cinema Bookshop with 200,000 volumes, it is a real mecca for the book lover. But Hay is not just about books - there are numerous good cafes, pubs and places to eat, as well as art galleries, boutiques and antique shops. Outside Hay, there is some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK to explore. You can walk from Hay straight up into the lovely Black Mountains. On and off road cycling is spectacular, and a week could be spent exploring without going down the same lane twice. Flowing through the middle of the town is the River Wye, so think about hiring a canoe to explore the river. It's a good river for families, and the rapids are generally not too difficult. A full day's canoe trip will take you from Glasbury to Whitney, and normally takes 5 hours with a lunch stop at Hay-on-Wye.

Mid Wales is rapidly becoming a haven for organic small holdings and farm shops. Good local food sources abound, such as the famous Pigs Folly at Newbridge-on-Wye, which sells locally reared organic pork and Welsh Black beef. They offer more than sixty varieties of sausage, and the most amazing meat pies. Local venison is available from the Welsh Venison Centre near Bwlch. And, according to locals, one of the best butchers in mid Wales can be found in local Builth Wells.