There’s no shortage of things to do in Wales from your base at Ty Gwyn. The choice is yours; to do as little or as much as you wish, it’s your holiday! There are numerous places to see and visit when using Ty Gwyn as a base to explore Mid Wales. We have OS Maps covering all the surrounding areas and Walking Trail Booklets for your use whilst staying at Ty Gwyn. There is also an abundance of local suggestions and tips to be found in the Guest Information folders, including places of interest recommended by past Guests. You don’t get better than that!
Local History
Welshpool
Welshpool’s principal attraction is the 13th Century medieval Powis Castle – an impressive sandstone castle with beautiful terraced gardens overlooking the Severn Valley. Both the Castle and Museum are run by The National Trust. There’s a traditional Market held on Mondays and Saturdays throughout the year. The Shopping is good at The Old Station, a unique opportunity to shop in an elegant Listed building.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 17 Miles
Machynlleth
A small Historical Market town at the head of the beautiful Dyfi estuary. The place of the very first national Eisteddfod – Welsh cultural festival – and proud to be known as the ancient capital of Wales, home to a Owain Glyndwr’s rebel Welsh parliament in 1404
On the outskirts in the hillsides of Southern Snowdonia is one of the world’s most renowned ECO-Centres, the CAT Centre (Centre for Alternative Technology) featuring interactive displays, practical examples of sustainable living, renewable energy & organic gardening. The seven-acre display site includes exciting interactive displays that demonstrate the incredible power of wind, water and sun.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 22 Miles
Oswestry
Visit the traditional and friendly border Market Town of Oswestry. Offering a diverse mix of independent shops and weekly market for local produce. It’s not all about food – there is even the finest example of an Iron Age Hill Fort on the outskirts.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 28 Miles
Walking
Lake Vyrnwy
Visit Lake Vyrnwy, just 10 miles from Ty Gwyn. Vyrnwy is an RSPB Nature Reserve and offers a variety of attractions including Cycling, Walking, RSPB Feeding Stations and Hides, there is even a Sculpture Park here too and not forgetting the fabulous Dam! Having an 11 mile perimeter road, spectacular views in all seasons.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: ~10 Miles
Montgomery Canal Towpath
An excellent walk with much to offer the walking enthusiast. The canal, for almost half its length, is a declared Site of Special Scientific & historical Interest with many old buildings surviving from its days as a thriving commercial canal. Look out for lime kilns, lock cottages, old bridges and mileposts. At Welshpool Wharf there’s a section of the horse-drawn tramway lines used to convey materials from the yard to the wharf.
A new all-weather surface means walkers, cyclists, anglers and canoeists will now be able to use the mile-long section between Four Crosses and Carreghofa, just south of the town of Llanymynech, whatever the weather.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 25 Miles
Ann Griffiths Walk
An enchanting seven mile walk down the Vyrnwy valley, linking places associated with Welsh hymn writer Ann Griffiths who lived at Dolwar Fach in Powys. A stone-surfaced path, suitable for wheelchairs, runs for several hundred metres downstream from Pont Llogel Car Park, alongside the turbulent waters of the Vyrnwy.
The walk is named after an 18th century hymn writer who took her inspiration from the beautiful local landscapes. The walk is distinguished by its ‘open bible’ on the way marked signs, which also runs in harmony with a section of Glyndwr’s Way giving walkers several options, including two circular walks. Visitors interested only in a short stroll can walk down to the picnic spot tables beside the river
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 5 Miles
Welshpool
From Welshpool Walkers have a large range of areas to visit in the vicinity. These include Offa’s Dyke (a mile outside the town), the banks of the Montgomery Canal which now runs for 30 miles and most of which is accessible, and many public footpaths in the local countryside. Powis Castle park (a deer park). The Severn Farm Pond Nature reserve is a further place worth a visit.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 36 Miles
Visit The Coast
Barmouth
Barmouth is famous for it’s long sandy beach and a picturesque harbour encircled by the dramatic, stunning Mawddach estuary. A vintage seaside resort with an abundance of shops, cafés and restaurants as well as a shipwreck museum. Barmouth Bridge, over 145 years old, railway viaduct across the Mawddach Estuary is half a mile in length with a wooden promenade suitable for pedestrians or cyclists.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: ~31 Miles
Aberyswyth
With it’s impressive seafront hosting Victorian / Edwardian buildings mostly 4/5 stories high, Aberystyth’s wide promenade protects the buildings from the revenges of the Irish Sea, with space to sit, soak up the sun and view the surrounding hills and mountains. Aberystyth also boasts the longest Electric Cliff Railway in Britain, climbing up Constitution Hill. From here you can enjoy a cliff-top walk.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 40 Miles
Benar Beach, Dyffryn Ardudwy, Gwynedd
With 4 miles of beautiful golden beach and sand dunes, Benar Beach rests between Barmouth and Harlech. It has a boardwalk over the sand dunes (which is also wheelchair friendly – usually an insurmountable barrier) and at the end are picnic benches to sit and view the sea. Water quality is excellent.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: ~36 Miles
Local Dining
Cann Office, Llangadfan
The Cann Office is a popular stopping off place for food. Now serving food all day – a good range of reasonably priced food. There can be few hostelries in Wales with a stranger sounding name than the Cann Office. Equally, there can be few places with a warmer welcome.
The building dates back to 1310 and there is absolutely no doubt about the antiquity of the place, which once stood on a major drovers’ road leading to the English markets, now metamorphosed as the A458.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 2 Miles
The Brigands Inn, Mallwyd, Powys
A renovated 15th Century Coaching Inn set in the heart of the Cambrian Mountains on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park, is a family run business which offers good food in relaxing surroundings. Their head chef takes great pride in using the best local and seasonal produce to create a mix of contemporary and classic Welsh cuisine; the menus follow the seasons of the year offering a selection of fish, meat, game and vegetarian dishes. Dining at the Brigands Inn can be relaxed and informal in the comfortable dining rooms & bar area.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 10 Miles
Royal Oak, Pontrobert, Meifod
A small country local, hidden deep in the countryside and very much off the beaten track. There has been a pub on this site since the 17th century. The guest beer is usually sourced locally from breweries such as Six Bells.
The pub can be found via a small road just off the Meifod and Llanfair road. Situated along the glyndwr way, the pub is a haven for walkers exploring this beautiful part of Mid Wales. The Royal Oak is Dog Friendly; Family Friendly; Beer Garden; Parking; Sports TV and is Open every day 4pm-Close
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 11 Miles
Cycling
Lake Vyrnwy
Visit Lake Vyrnwy, just 10 miles from Ty Gwyn. Vyrnwy is an RSPB Nature Reserve and offers a variety of attractions including Cycling, Walking, RSPB Feeding Stations and Hides, there is even a Sculpture Park here too and not forgetting the fabulous Dam! Lake Vyrnwy with its wide lakeside road takes cyclists on a meander through open lakeside scenery and woodland too, a 12 mile road trip, look out for the natural waterfalls that tumble down the hillside and into the Lake! Cycles are available to hire, as are canoes on the Lake.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: ~10 Miles
Bike Hire: Artisans Lake Vyrnwy
Mawddach Trial
The Mawddach trail could be one of the best short cycle rides in Wales, as featured in Julia Bradbury’s Railway Walks. Dolgellau to Barmouth, a combination of spectacular mountain and coastal scenery with a totally unspoilt estuary trail, all surfaced using compacted dust, with an easy gradient along cycle paths. This trail is great for Walkers too, including dogs and children.
Distance From Ty Gwyn: ~30 miles
Mawddach Trail: Website
Machynlleth
Machynlleth offers a variety of off-road cycle trails set in stunning scenery, ranging from easy mountain biking to very challenging! Waymarked routes of varying length and difficulty take you straight from the centre of town into fantastic mountain and valley scenery. Mostly off road forest tracks with some sections in the town itself. Once the capital of Wales, Machynlleth is now the British capital of alternative technology with a thriving Bohemian community. The town has a large market on Wednesdays which includes traditional Welsh together with Spanish and French food stalls.
Explore Machynlleth: Website
Steam Trains
The Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway
A 16 mile return journey from Llanfair Caereinion to Welshpool and back again. Sit back for a nostalgic ride with tight curves, steep gradients, following the contours of the beautiful Mid Wales countryside. All trains are steam hauled by one of the unique locomotives. This narrow gauge steam train offers a welcome change from everyday life.
All are welcome; adults, children and even well behaved pets! You will find the timetable and current prices in the Guest Folders at Ty Gwyn.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 8 Miles
The Vale of Rheidol Railway
Vintage steam trains run on the Vale of Rheidol from Aberystwyth to Devils Bridge & have been in use sine 1902!
Choose from open Summer Carriages or watch from First Class Observation Saloons, as the countryside changes from fields & woodlands to rugged mountain. Alight at one of the intermediate stations and explore the many walks the Valley has to offer. Feel the powerful narrow gauge steam loco. climb 700ft (200m) in the 11¾ miles from Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge. An unforgettable journey. Complete the trip with a visit to the unique Devils Falls.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 40 Miles
The Talyllyn Railway
This historic narrow-gauge steam railway runs for seven and a quarter miles (11.8 km) through the beautiful and unchanging Fathew Valley from the Cardigan Bay Coast. Running from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn and Nant Gwernol, the line passes the delightful Dolgoch Falls and there are excellent forest walks at Nant Gwernol. A ‘hop on, hop off’ ticket can be bought for a great day out.
Distance from Ty Gwyn Cottage: 35Miles
