When we made our plans to visit Wales, I knew that this needed to include the Brecon Beacons. We chose to stay just south of the area in Merthyr Tydfil and it proved to be a great base for exploring. We spent time in four different areas in the Beacons, all close to the southern border and we would love to go back and see more as it was a real highlight of our trip.
The Brecon Mountain Railway
I came across the Brecon Mountain Railway when googling the area and found it was actually due to reopen on the day after we arrived in Wales. I thought it would be a great way to get a feel of the area and the novelty of an old fashioned steam train would be fun for the children. The website suggested that we could get off and spend time at the two stops and even included walks that could be done in the areas, but the reality was that you had limited time at each one (ten minutes at the first stop) and then had to be back on the train. I don't know if this was just due to covid or not, but it changed our plans as we had hoped to explore on foot as well.
The children loved the train though and the scenery was stunning. We passed a beautiful lake and our second stop was at a little cafe with a playground (unfortunately the whole train wanted coffee so the entire stop time was spent queuing to get a drink. The children loved the playground though and there was plenty of seating for the more organised travellers who had packed their own drinks.
The mountain train offered us a great introduction to the area and made us even more keen to discover more of the Brecon Beacons.
Garwnant Visitor Centre
After our trip on the mountain train ended earlier than we expected, we drove twenty minutes to the Garwnant visitor centre which I had been recommended many times. The only entry cost was parking and the site had a lovely cafe with hot and cold food, an information centre and plenty of toilets as well as a brilliant playground. We decided to start with the carved animal trail as it was only one kilometre and it looked an easy route, but the children were soon keen to go off the beaten track and walking through the woodlands. We spent hours exploring, taking in the flowing water, the lakes, the hills and nature and it was such a beautiful location. We did find many of the animal sculptures and it would be a lovely trail for children, but there is so much more to the area and we preferred exploring in our own way. We popped back to the cafe in the middle for an ice cream break but ended up staying in the area for several hours.
By the time we left the children were wet, muddy and exhausted and I would highly recommend a visit to the Garwnant visitor centre. Well behaved dogs were allowed on leads, parking was reasonable (I think £5 for the day) and the cafe had a mix of hot and cold food including vegan options.
Henrhyd Falls
We had seen a waterfall on our trip to Devon and the children were amazed so I was keen to fit some waterfalls into our Wales trip. My brother suggested Henrhyd Falls as the batcave was filmed there for the Batman movies. It is also the highest waterfall in South Wales at 90ft. We haven't watched them yet but I assumed it would be impressive and it definitely was. The car park is around a 15 minute walk from the falls and there is a burger van there if you need snacks pre or post walk.
The walk wasn't too tricky and you could get down to a great view of the falls. That wasn't enough for my gang though and we knew that you could walk behind the falls. To get there you have to walk across the rocks which are slippy because of the spray, but the children were all more than capable in their trainers (as was I at 5 months pregnant). We got soaked by the water but there is something so exhilarating about getting behind a waterfall. If you want to see a waterfall without a big trek, then this one is definitely worth a visit.
The Four Waterfalls Walk
We had enjoyed our waterfall taster but after reading about the best falls to see, I had come up with the four waterfalls walk and I was excited to see how we would get on as a family. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. The walk is beautiful and the paths between falls are easy to navigate. When you are approaching the falls, it gets a little trickier and we were climbing up and down rocks for some as well as a 180 large stair walk to get to another. To get up close you do need to be wearing solid footwear (we were all ok in trainers) and not be afraid to get very muddy! The children all loved the challenge and nothing was too much for them to get closer to the water. We went with my brother and his family too and all of the little ones loved getting stuck in exploring.
We walked miles, we left the car park as the sun was setting but amazingly all the children kept up, even Cora at 5 with her little legs, probably encouraged by the excitement and adrenaline. It is a fantastic walk and the falls are just beautiful.
The Brecon Beacons are such an amazing place to go exploring and there is so much more than what we could fit in to our short trip. The wildness and beauty was both wonderful to photograph and an ideal location to let our adventurous children discover Wales.
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