Find My Favourite Holiday Cottages in Hay-on-Wye

Hay-on-Wye Holiday cottages in this beautiful and historic town sit aside the River Wye at the northern end of the Brecon Beacons on the border between Wales and England. This makes Hay-on-Wye a perfect place to book self-catering holidays to explore the Wye Valley and  Welsh borders– a land of mountains, idyllic countryside and ancient stone castles.

Hay-on-Wye is perhaps best known as the ‘Town of Books. There are bookshops to be found in just about every town centre street while the Hay Book Festival held in the town every May is, by common consent, the best of its kind in the UK.

Aside from the world-famous book festival, the town hosts a regular programme of festivals and events. Those seeking a pre-Christmas break should book a holiday home for the last weekend in November to enjoy the combined Winter Food Festival and the Hay Festival Winter Weekend.

A pair of slate-roofed stone cottages in Herefordshire with large gardens overlook a country lane.
The Birches
Hay-On-Wye
Herefordshire
England
Sleeps
8
Bedrooms
4

The Birches is a Wye Valley Holiday cottage nestled beneath the Black Mountains. It is the perfect rural retreat to enjoy spectacular scenery or the Hay-On-Wye literature festival. Try hill walking, paragliding, horse riding or walking in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Pets welcome.

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The most notable landmark in Hay is the ruined castle dating from the 13th Century and knocked about a bit over the centuries. There’s a second castle in the town built in Norman times, of which some ruins remain.

Aside from the world-famous book festival, the town hosts a regular programme of festivals and events. Those seeking a pre-Christmas break should book holiday cottages in Hay-on-Wye for the last weekend in November to enjoy the combined Winter Food Festival and the Hay Festival Winter Weekend. Other notable nearby festivals include the Brecon Jazz Festival and the Presteigne Festival of classical music.

There’s plenty for visitors to do and see in Hay-on-Wye. Canoe down the river from Glasbury-on-Wye or fish on the River Wye is generally acknowledged as one of England and Wales’s finest salmon and coarse fishing rivers.

There are also some lovely walks within the town, including the short 1.5-mile Bailey Walk, which follows the bank of the Wye and offers some beautiful picnic spots. Walk, swim or stretch out on the River Bank for a leisurely afternoon in the sun.

Wander further afield, and visitors can lose themselves in the Black Mountains or Radnorshire’s green hills, making the place a mecca for self-catering walking and mountain biking holidays.

Visit the attractive 13th-century ruins of nearby Llanthony Priory, or just put on your walking boots and head for the hills – the Brecon Beacons National Park, which embraces the Black Mountains, is right on the town’s doorstep. The Offa’s Dyke footpath also passes close to Wye.

Find holiday cottages available to rent in these charming little Wye Valley towns and villages:

Chepstow

Howle

Llangovan

Lydbrook

Monmouth

Penterry

Ross-on-Wye

Symonds Yat

Welsh Newton

Whitchurch (Herefordshire)