Where To Go In Powys
POWYS, the largest county in Wales, rolls from the English border to the wild heart of the Cambrian Mountains, tying together the historic shires of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Brecknockshire.
At its southern gateway, Brecon stands where the Usk and Honddu meet, a handsome market town with a cathedral, canal basin and red-brick barracks heritage, framed by the high ridges of Bannau Brycheiniog.
East along the Wye sits Hay-on-Wye, a small town with a global reputation: its warren of bookshops and the famous spring literary festival give the borderland a bohemian hum year-round.
Further down the Usk, Crickhowell charms with independent shops and a many-arched bridge, while Talgarth folds into the Black Mountains, its restored watermill and riverside walks revealing the quieter pulse of this landscape.
In Radnorshire, spa history bubbles up in Llandrindod Wells, whose Victorian villas, lake and Rock Park speak to a gilded age of ‘taking the waters’. Nearby Builth Wells hums with rural life, especially when the Royal Welsh Showgrounds at Llanelwedd fill with livestock, produce and pageantry each July.
Upstream, Rhayader is the lively ‘gateway to the Elan’, where cafés and bike shops set you on course for the dramatic dams, dark skies and open moorland of the Elan Valley.
To the east, pretty Presteigne and hilltop Knighton sit astride the border; the latter is home to the Offa’s Dyke Centre and a fine stretch of the ancient earthwork.
Montgomeryshire arcs north and west into gentler, pastoral country. Newtown spreads along the Severn with riverside paths and the story of Pryce Jones, the mail-order pioneer who shipped Welsh flannel to the world.
Close by, Llanidloes lays claim to the Severn’s first town, its timber-framed market hall and snug pubs anchoring a vibrant arts scene and excellent access to mid-Wales trails.
Welshpool is another river town, known for the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway and, just above it, the terraced splendour of Powis Castle’s gardens. South of town, black-and-white Berriew idles beside the Afon Rhiw with a canal towpath on its doorstep, while Montgomery itself – small, elegant and steeped in history – looks out from ruined castle walls across patchwork fields to the Shropshire Plain.
Head west and the hills gather. Machynlleth, often called the ancient capital of Wales, centres on a broad main street and Wednesday market, with galleries, eco-ideas and outdoor adventures woven into daily life.
The Dyfi Valley beyond is a biosphere reserve, and the lanes here pull you toward quiet hamlets, meadows and rivers where red kites wheel overhead. To the north-east, Llanfyllin and Llanfair Caereinion keep strong market-town traditions, gateways to rolling dairying country and heritage rail.
Southern Powys adds a different note again. Ystradgynlais in the upper Swansea Valley has industrial roots and easy reach to waterfall walks and cave-pocked limestone edges on the park’s south-western fringe.
Scattered through the Usk and Wye valleys are villages made for lingering: Talybont-on-Usk with its canal locks and mountain reservoirs, Glasbury where canoes push off down the Wye, Sennybridge serving vast training ranges and sheep-grazed hills, and Trefeglwys, Meifod and Kerry dotting fertile side-valleys with chapels, mills and community halls at their heart.
What binds these places is space – big skies, big views and a culture that prizes festivals, markets and the steady rhythm of farming. Whether you come for bookish bustle in Hay-on-Wye, moorland solitude above Rhayader, or riverside rambles from Llanidloes to Welshpool, Powys offers the rare luxury of time and room to roam, with friendly towns and villages ready to swap stories at day’s end.
BANNAU BRYCHEINIOG (BRECON BEACONS)