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HOME AT FIRST

Photo ©
HOME AT FIRST

         HOME AT FIRST’s Mid-Wales cottages are in the midst of superb scenery to the north and the south of the Black Mountains, near the English border towns of Hay-on-Wye (to the north) and Abergavenny (to the south). The nearby Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons National Park are scenic Welsh wilderness playgrounds ideal for exploration on foot, on horseback or by car.

HOME AT FIRST COTTAGE, MID-WALES
Photo © HOME AT FIRST

LOCATE MID-WALES ON HOME AT FIRST'S MAP OF ENGLAND & WALES.

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• NORTH of the Black Mountains HOME AT FIRST’s cottages are in or close to Hay-on-Wye, a unique town astride the English border known for its wonderful collection of second-hand bookshops. Besides more than two dozen bookshops, Hay offers several restaurants and pubs, and other stores. At the end of May Hay hosts the remarkably successful Hay Festival, which brings up to 80,000 visitors to discuss art, politics, literature, and other cerebral subjects. At all times of year Hay-on-Wye offers great short and long distance walking, golf, horseback riding, and adventure sports including white water rafting and mountain biking. Hay's location makes

SECOND-HAND BOOK SHOPS LINE THE
STREETS OF HAY-ON-WYE, MID-WALES,
ON THE BORDER WITH ENGLAND.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST

it within  easy day-trip reach of all of Mid-Wales
(including the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons National Park), much of South Wales, portions of North Wales, as well as divers parts of Western England, including the Northern Cotswolds, Shakespeare Country, Ironbridge in Shropshire, even Oxford.

HIKING IN THE BLACK MOUNTAINS
NEAR ABERGAVENNY.
Photo courtesy Wales Tourist Board.

• SOUTH of the Black Mountains HOME AT FIRST's cottages are in or near Abergavenny, a large Welsh town on the edge of the Black Mountains village with excellent services, including many restaurants, shops, and a passenger rail station. Abergavenny's location provides great access to all most of South Wales (including the Blaenavon World Heritage site and Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff, and the great Caerphilly Castle) all of Mid-Wales (especially the Usk Valley, the Black Mountains, and Brecon Beacons National Park), as well as parts of Western England including the Cotswolds, Bath, Bristol, Oxford, and Berkeley Castle. Activities in this region are as endless as the mountains seem to  

be: horse trekking, golf, castle exploration,

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         Search for King Arthur and the Druids here and you’ll find them. Our Mid-Wales locations offer great access to Shakespeare country and the Cotswolds, easy day trips away from pretty Wales on the English side of the border. Another secret — the Welsh may be the friendliest people in Britain.

HENRY VIII RUINED TINTERN ABBEY.
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH FOUND
INSPIRATION AMONG ITS RUINS.
YOU WILL, TOO.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST

         Welsh cakes, Cardiff, tiny steam railways, Norman castles, great mountains,

valleys full of fairies and witches, prehistoric monuments, the

home of Dylan Thomas, open-air markets full of Welsh crafts, coal tipples from the industrial age, coastal resorts well-known and anonymous, ancient Celtic traditions, golf at classic seaside links and challenging parkland courses, and the mysteries of Merlin and Arthur all draw you to Wales. On the English side of the border Bath, Stratford-on-Avon, the Cotswolds, and Ironbridge, Shropshire, all are within reach as day trips.

A WELL-MAINTAINED TOWPATH TRACES THE MONMOUTH
& BRECON CANAL, AND ENCOUNTERS A PUB EVERY FEW MILES.
WALKING WALES RANGES FROM THE TRANQUIL & LEVEL
TO THE CHALLENGING & PRECIPITOUS.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST

         Mid-Wales and the adjacent English border counties have a long and often contentious history which, for many Welsh, continues to this day. King Offa of Mercia constructed a wall along the border to keep the Welsh out of his kingdom. The Normans built castles to keep the Welsh out of their towns. Eventually, the monarchy honored the Welsh by naming their crown heirs Princes of Wales.

Photo courtesy Lynne S.

 

HONESTY BOOKSHOP, HAY-ON-WYE. THIS SMALL
BORDER TOWN HAS GAINED WORLD-WIDE FAME
FOR ITS  MANY USED BOOK SHOPS WHERE YOU
MAY STILL FIND HIDDEN TREASURE.
 

 

3 CLIFFS BAY BEACH ON THE
GOWER PENINSULA ALONG
THE SOUTH WALES COAST.-
 

         Should we bring the kids along? Are you kidding?! There are national parks for hiking, and steam train rides better than in any amusement park. Want history to come alive for your kids? Why not take them where so much history has been made? Wales has more castles of all kinds per square mile than anyplace in the British Isles. Worried about being away from McDonald's and TV? Don't be. Kids of all ages can get their burgers, fries and CNN all over Wales. Your kids like the water? Wales has three coasts lined with sandy beaches, plus some of Britain's largest mountain lakes and cleanest, wildest rivers. Ride a kayak or go white water rafting. Rather go biking? Wales has many of Britain's top mountain biking trails and marked, quiet, scenic road routes.

Photo courtesy www.britainonview.com

SEE OUR FAMILY TRAVEL PAGE FOR FULL INFORMATION!     KIDS STAY FREE WITH HOME AT FIRST!