Hay-on-Wye, GB

An atmospheric bar on Lion Street under new ownership since late 2025, now run by the team behind Hay Castle Cafe. The space operates evenings as a wine and sherry bar with cheese and charcuterie boards, pop-up kitchen nights, and cocktails — the full tapas kitchen from the original incarnation is on hold pending staffing. Worth a drink but no longer a full-kitchen tapas dinner.

A 17th-century inn near the old Lion Gate serving proper modern-British pub food that has won regional awards and a rosette. The crowd is a mix of walkers, paddlers and book-browsers, and Friday brings live jazz in the bar. The pick of the in-town pubs for a sit-down dinner.

A dining pub with rooms out toward Brecon that has won Welsh dining-pub of the year many times over, cooking simple, ingredient-led modern-British food. It is the destination meal in the wider area, worth the short drive for a long lunch or unhurried dinner. Comfortable, low-key and built around what is good locally that week.

The town's oldest surviving house, rebuilt after a fire, now an Italian-leaning pub and restaurant with a fire in winter and a terrace in summer. The kitchen runs an all-day Italian menu alongside local cask ales, so it works for a casual lunch or a fuller dinner. A reliable, characterful middle-ground spot.

The cafe tucked at the back of the flagship bookshop, a slick little room doing good coffee and a short, well-made brunch and lunch menu with Welsh rarebit a standout. It is the most reliable daytime eat among the bookshops. Best for a sit-down break mid-browse rather than a quick grab.

A tiny riverside coffee shop down by the Wye pulling carefully made coffee from Ross-on-Wye-roasted beans, with toasties and homemade bakes. The riverbank tables and small garden are the reason to come; grab a takeaway and walk on to the Warren if seats are full. The locals' pick for the best cup in town.

A vintage-and-curios shop on Broad Street with a relaxed coffee bar at its heart, putting out a daily blackboard of vegetarian soups, salads and curries. The boho clutter and slow pace make it a place to linger between bookshops. Good for a meat-free lunch and a flat white with cake.

The town parlour for Shepherds sheep's-milk ice cream, made on a farm in the Black Mountains foothills since the 1980s. A rotating set of unusual flavours like damson, lavender or rhubarb crumble sits alongside coffee and bakes. The dessert stop after a wander, and a genuinely local product rather than a generic gelato.

The cafe inside the restored Hay Castle, an airy modern room doing light lunches, coffee and cake and a well-regarded Sunday roast. The setting in the rebuilt castle is the draw, with views out over the town. A calm daytime spot that you can pair with the exhibitions upstairs.

A small counter on Back Fold making fresh hot and cold sandwiches to order, alongside homemade soup, cakes and good coffee. It is the locals' quick-lunch pick, with the breakfast sandwiches cooked fresh a particular draw. Built for a grab-and-go between bookshops rather than a sit-down meal.

An easy riverside walk of about 1.5 miles from the town along the Wye to the Warren common, on smooth well-kept paths good for families and dogs. It ends at the pebble beach and meadow where people swim and picnic. The simplest, prettiest leg-stretch from the centre.

A short but steep climb from the cattle-grid car park to the trig point on Hay Bluff, a half-mile or so up onto the escarpment edge for an outsized view. It is the quickest way to bag a real mountain-edge panorama without a long day out. Steep underfoot and exposed at the top.

A roughly six-mile moderate loop over the two flagship tops above Hay, linking Hay Bluff and Twmpa across open moorland with views into the Beacons and back over the Wye. It is the area's signature half-day ridge walk. Boggy in places and exposed on top, so it wants settled weather.

A shorter circular from Gospel Pass, the highest road pass in Wales, up onto Twmpa and back across the ridge. Because you start high, you gain a summit and big views for relatively little climbing. A good moderate option when you want the ridge but not the full Hay Bluff loop.

A demanding point-to-point of around 11 miles along the Hatterrall ridge on Offa's Dyke, running the England-Wales border high above two valleys before dropping into Hay. Steep up at the start, then a long airy ridge with spectacular views. The serious walker's day out here.

A gentle riverside path that follows the old Bailey Walk along the Wye on the town side, a short flat stroll with water views and benches. It is the low-effort, all-weather option for a quick turn by the river. Easy enough for almost anyone and walkable straight from the centre.

Beyond the views, the restored castle runs a rolling programme of exhibitions, talks and workshops across its galleries, leaning into Hay's literary and cultural life. It is the town's main indoor cultural venue and a solid rainy-day plan. Pair the exhibitions with the cafe and the garden bookstalls for a full visit.

Browsing the bookshops is the actual entertainment in Hay, and this three-floor emporium with an attached burger bar and a small cinema is the most immersive single stop. The science-fiction and fantasy rooms are a particular draw. Treat the whole building as an activity, not an errand.

A micro-distillery in the centre of town with a small tasting room and bar, making gins by hand in tiny batches and mixing them into cocktails on site. You can drop in for a drink or book a guided tasting to learn the process. The evening, adult-leaning thing to do in Hay.

A long-established canoe and kayak operator at Glasbury, just upriver, running half-day and full-day paddles down the gentle Wye, including the easy float back into Hay. Briefings and kit are well organised and it suits families and first-timers. The standout active day out in the area.

An independent arts centre in a converted 1752 chapel, spread over three levels with a mixed programme of live music, comedy, talks, film and exhibitions, plus a cafe-bar and a garden. It is where the town goes for an evening out that is not the pub. Check what is on; the line-up is the whole point.

A lovingly restored Victorian walled garden near Three Cocks with long borders, glasshouses and a Grade II greenhouse, free to enter, with a cafe using garden produce. It is a calm, family-friendly half-stop where kids can roam and adults can sit among the roses. Quietly one of the nicest small outings nearby.

A fully restored 18th-century watermill in Talgarth that still grinds flour, with guided looks at the working waterwheel and a riverside cafe baking with its own flour. It is a hands-on bit of local heritage that doubles as a good lunch stop. Worth the short drive for the mill-and-cafe combination.

A Norman castle and Jacobean mansion that sat as a burnt-out shell for decades and reopened after a long restoration as a small museum, gallery and cafe above the town. The tower and ramparts give the best overview of Hay's rooftops and the river bend, and the changing exhibitions lean local and literary. Worth the modest admission if only for the view from the top.

The flagship shop of the man who declared Hay an independent book kingdom, spread over three floors of new and second-hand stock with a cafe and cinema attached. It is the anchor of the whole book-town idea and the easiest place to lose an hour you did not plan to. Go for the building and the range, not for a quick errand.

The open-air honesty bookshop in the grounds of Hay Castle, where shelves stand outside unguarded and you drop a coin in the slot for whatever you take. It has run on trust since the 1960s and proceeds go toward the castle. More a small ritual of the town than a shop you browse for long.

The Victorian Bath-stone tower at the town's central crossroads, locally nicknamed the clockless tower for the years it stood before its faces and bell were added. It is the natural meeting point and orientation marker for the bookshop streets that spoke out from it. A landmark to navigate by rather than a destination in itself.

A riverside common on a meadow loop of the Wye, with a pebble beach, slow shallow water and grass to spread out on. Locals come to swim, picnic and skim stones; in summer it is the town's de facto beach. A 15-minute walk from the centre and the best free thing to do on a warm day.

The steep northern nose of the Black Mountains, rising straight off the common above Hay with one of the widest views in the area across the Wye Valley and into the Beacons. You can drive almost to the foot of it at the cattle grid and walk up, or take it as the climax of a longer ridge walk. Best on a clear, dry day when the long views actually appear.

The roofless arches of a 12th-century Augustinian priory set deep in the Vale of Ewyas, one of the most atmospheric ruins in Wales and free to walk among. A pub and cellar bar occupy part of the old buildings, so a visit pairs ruin-wandering with a drink. The drive in over the single-track Gospel Pass is half the experience.