The Pod at Gerycoed

Hikers, cyclists and climbers can hotfoot it to Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park (40 minutes’ drive) for all levels of outdoor challenges from family bike rides along the scenic Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal to more demanding yomps up Pen y Fan. If the kids are demanding even more high-octane pastimes, test their nerves on the zipwires and climbing walls at Llangorse Multi Activity Centre (50 minutes), or hire mountain bikes to try the black-graded Raven MTB Trail at Brechfa (half an hour). Photographers can hone their craft snapping close-up images of soaring raptors at The Red Kite Feeding Station (15 minutes). Alternatively take the Brecon Mountain Railway (an hour) up to Torpantau to capture spectacular mountain landscapes, or linger in the park on clear nights to photograph the stars twinkling in this International Dark Skies Reserve. Gardeners can seek planting inspo at the exquisitely restored Elizabethan Cloister Garden and sub-tropical glasshouse at Aberglasney Gardens (15 minutes). Anyone interested in local history should visit the hill forts at Y Garn Goch (15 minutes), once a thriving Iron Age settlement, or explore the forbidding castles at Dinefwr (20 minutes) and Carreg Cennen (half an hour), built in medieval times to protect the Welsh/English border.