Last Updated on 1 October 2025 by Colette
With foreign travel looking decidedly uncertain this year, we decided to take back control of the situation and actively choose not to book a holiday abroad this summer. In fact we hadn’t really planned to go on holiday at all until my Dad suggested that perhaps we might all like to go and stay in his friend’s airbnb barn conversion in Wales. Cwcw Barn at Penygaer Farm, Llandovery is a fantastic self-catering property sleeping up to six making it perfect for us as a larger family.
We arrived at Cwcw Barn shortly after 4.30pm on Saturday evening following a good 3.5 hour drive from our home in Manchester, so we were quite happy to just spend the evening unpacking, settling in and then cooking dinner to share with Mum and Dad (who were staying across the yard in the farmhouse with Jon).
Jon’s airbnb listing for Cwcw Barn has a vast amount of useful information about places to eat, drink, walk and explore but I thought I’d share with you what we got up to over our seven days in Carmarthenshire.
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Lyn y Fan Fach – Lady of the Lake
With the weather looking kind, on Sunday morning we packed up a picnic and set off to Lyn y Fan Fach – home to the Lady of the Lake. Although Lyn y Fan Fach is less than ten miles from Penygaer Farm, it took us around 50 minutes to drive there (as I mentioned in my review of Cwcw Barn – you’re not going anywhere quickly in this part of Wales!) – the roads are extremely narrow with lots of dips and bumps, you want to take this very slowly and be ready to reverse if you meet on coming traffic!
Parking at Lyn y Fan Fach was free and whilst the car park did look quite busy when we arrived, we were able to find spaces for both cars and it didn’t feel too busy whilst we were out walking. It’s worth noting that there are toilets in the car park but nothing else – you do need to make sure you take drinks and snacks with you – you’re going to need them!
The walk itself is a 1.5 mile uphill slog – it’s fairly steep and quite exposed so we got caught out by the sun / cloud cover meaning Ben and Dave both got a little burnt – I can imagine on a more inclement day it could be quite brutal walking up there! The walk isn’t at all pushchair friendly, it’s very bumpy and gravely and part way up there is a gate and narrow path that is impassable with a pushchair – we saw a family abandon their pushchair and continue the walk with their baby in their arms (having forgotten their carrier) – fair play to them, I don’t think I’d have bothered!
The walk uphill took us 1.5 hrs compared to just 45 mins coming back down again! (Jon rather optimistically told us it was a 40 minute walk to the lake – he clearly has far more experience of hill walking than we do!) We were glad of our sit mats when we stopped part way up the hill for lunch – we had planned to eat when we got to the lake at the top but, not knowing how much further there was to go, we gave in and stopped to eat most of our lunch en route!
Having finally reached the lake, nestled in the cwm of Fan Fawr, Ben’s exact words were, “Well that’s a bit underwhelming” – and I could see his point. Visiting in the height of summer meant that the water levels were pretty low and having since looked at other people’s pictures on instagram I think a spring or autumn visit would be more impressive! We were certainly treated to some stunning views (especially on the way back down) but I don’t know if any of us it felt like it was worth the effort!
Aberystwyth – South Beach
I was super keen that, should the weather allow, we fit in a day at the coast whilst we were on holiday in Wales. Living in Manchester means that whilst we do have access to beaches such as St Annes, Formby and Crosby within reasonable driving distance, the sea is often a long way out so paddling isn’t often possible. I had promised the kids after our last trip to the beach where the tide was miles out, that we’d have a beach day with Aunty Nic this summer (we usually go to Bridlington from Mum & Dad’s in York) but I knew we were going to be tight for time so fitting in a trip to the coast while we were staying in Llandovery made perfect sense!
Our host recommended Poppit Sands as being a beautiful beach with a lovely nearby pub but I really wanted something a little more touristy – that felt like the “seaside” if that makes sense?
The drive to Aberystwyth from Llandovery was about 40 miles and took us just over 1.5 hours. We parked at South Beach where parking was £2.70 for 2 hours or a very reasonable £4.10 for 24 hours! It’s worth noting that the machine accepts cards – which was lucky as we were just short of having the right amount of change. Near the pay machines you’ll find public toilets (these are supposed to be 20p to use but the gates were open) and a free, hot shower for rinsing off at the end of the day – we were super grateful for this!
We spent a full day on the beach – the sky was blue, the sea calm and clean and the views were everything you could want from a day at the coast. The beach is very pebbly in places so consider wearing water shoes – you’re ok in the water itself I think but walking up the pebbly beach in your bare feet is not fun!
Dave, Nic and Ben went for a walk mid-afternoon, walking down towards the North Beach which seemed to have more going on in terms of your typical seaside shops, ice cream stands and fish and chips. It’s not really a long walk – just less than a mile I think, so I recommend spending the day at South Beach and then heading over to North Beach for chips and ice cream for tea!
We had our tea at PD’s Dinner which is a beachside, outdoor cafe serving fish and chips – what I would say is that whilst we enjoyed our tea (Dave said the fish was fantastic) the chips weren’t “chippy chips” – they were crispy, fried chips so I felt a little cheated out of my traditional seaside tea! There was a chip shop near the pier which we’d definitely try next time for a more traditional chippy tea. After we’d finished our chips, we bought ice creams (again from PD’s diner) and sat down on the wall looking out to sea. I must admit I was disappointed by my ice cream and thought it was really poor quality – which was surprising as Mario’s ice cream seemed to be everywhere we went over the coming week.
Brecon
Our reasons for travelling to the town of Brecon were a bit random – we had brought much of our grocery shopping with us to Llandovery but needed a bit of a top up and wanted more choice than the local Co-Op would offer so Dave set about looking to see where the nearest Morrisons / Asda / Tesco / Sainsburys were and discovered that they were all about a 40 minute drive away from Penygaer Farm. We decided to go to Morrisons and tie it in with exploring Brecon and a bit of lunch on a day when the weather wasn’t forecast to be great anyway. It turned out that the Morrisons was still a fairly minor supermarket and definitely not worth the 40 minute drive (we are spoiled with both a big Tesco and Morrisons within walking distance of our house in Manchester).
Brecon wasn’t particularly exciting – though we did manage to get to Boots to see the pharmacist and get some stuff for my sister who was reacting badly to some insect bites so that in itself was probably worth the trip! There didn’t seem to be much choice in terms of places to go for lunch (especially as there was 8 of us). We ended up having lunch in The Bank which was nice enough – fairly standard pub fayre.
We explored Brecon Cathedral after lunch – a member of staff gave the children a scavenger hunt style quiz to do which they were really excited by and made the cathedral visit far more interesting for them than it might otherwise have been.
Llandeilo
Our main reason for going to Llandeilo was to visit the GinHaus Deli – a firm favourite with our host Jon and somewhere Mum & Dad really enjoyed eating on a previous visit. We had thought we might pick up some bits for lunch to take back to our barn in Llandovery but changed our mind and decided to eat in – sadly this wasn’t to be as the GinHaus Deli was super busy on Wednesday lunch time and there was no way they were squeezing in a table of 8!
Instead we picked up sandwiches from Maryellens@139 Coffee Shop – the staff were super friendly and really helpful while we ordered a full picnic lunch for eight which we then ate sat on the benches in a small grassed area opposite Eve’s Toy Shop (which incidentally is well worth a visit – we may have come home with a new Jelly Cat calf!)
Llandeilo is home to some lovely shops – and definitely worth a wander. We spent quite a bit of money in Barr & Co on new jewellery for Mum, Dad and Ben (a birthday present from Aunty Nic) and enjoyed pottering around the other shops in the area – what we particularly loved was that there was very little in the way of “brands” – this was all little independents.
Llandeilo is about half an hour’s drive from Cwcw Barn in Llandovery and definitely one of our favourite places that we visited during the course of the week.
The National Botanic Garden of Wales
The National Botanic Garden of Wales is a Botanical Garden located in Llanarthney in the River Tywi valley and around a 45 minute drive from our base in Llandovery. There were a number of reasons for choosing to visit the National Botanic Garden – not least the play area and the birds of prey!
Tickets for the National Botanic Garden of Wales start from £12.50 for an adult and £6 for children (when pre-booked online) but the family ticket for 2 adults and up to 4 children at £36 represents really good value. (As a family of five we are well used to having to buy a family ticket plus an extra child!). I think we paid about £88 for all eight of us including the additional £1 per person fee for the Bird of Prey centre. (You can also pay an extra £3 per person to watch the flight shows but we didn’t do this as Mum & Dad had only recently done something similar and were planning to take Ben next year anyway)
The botanical gardens feature the world’s largest single-span glasshouse, measuring 110 m long by 60 m wide – it’s an impressive structure both inside and out however Dad and I both said we weren’t especially impressed with the plants inside it – we had expected to be wowed by the rare and endangered plants but although it clearly does house some of the most endagered plants on the planet – there were also plenty which were fairly standard fayre too!
Amy loved walking through the fairy garden – especially as we found a herd of cows in the field next to the woodland!
One of my favourite things about the gardens was the water feature running right down the main path – I was fascinated to see the starting point and how it curved down the path, stopping off at a pond, as well as briefly disappearing under ground, finishing up in a grand swirl and fountain near the park entrance.
The Bird of Prey Centre was fascinating and well worth the extra £1 to visit – I love spotting birds of prey when we’re out and about but can usually only identify the red kite in flight so it was great to see kestrels, owls, eagles and red kite up close. Some of the owls were very noisy!
We finished our trip to the National Botanic Garden with some time in the play area and an ice cream (well the kids did – remember that Mario’s ice cream I mentioned earlier – well yes, that’s what’s on offer at the National Botanic Garden too so I didn’t bother).
The National Botanic Garden is clearly huge and there’s no way we saw everything that was on offer – it’s worth knowing that your entry tickets are valid for seven days from your first visit so you could certainly go back and explore different areas of the attraction.
Quad Biking at Dulais Valley Quads, Neath
Because Ben’s 12th birthday happened to fall on the last day of our holiday in Wales, Mum and Dad booked him a quad biking experience as his birthday present. Dulais Valley Quads near Neath is about a 1hr 15 minute drive from Llandovery and about 40 minutes from Swansea.
Mum had booked the quad biking through a third party but the guys at Dulais Valley Quads said you’ll get a much better price if you book direct. We paid £50 per person for 90 minutes (half hour safey briefing and an hour on the bikes). You had to be 12 or over for this so Dad, Nic, Dave and Ben did the quad biking whilst Mum and I sat with the girls in the car, and then wandered up to see the highland cows when the rain had stopped.
I’ll hand over to Dave to chat you through the quad biking experience:
The experience starts with a very thorough run down of the quad bikes and how to use the controls. This is rattled through at quite a rate but the instructor was very pleasant and happy to answer any questions that were asked. He specifically targeted Ben as the youngest of the group to ensure he had an understanding of the equipment.
Once that was finished we mounted the bikes and, after practicing starting and stopping the engines, set off around a small trial route to get used to using the throttle and steering. One instructor led us around the course whilst the other moved from rider to rider checking they were ok and answering questions.
The main bulk of the experience was riding in a line up through farmland tracks up into the hills of the surrounding area on a variety of dirt tracks and rocks with one instructor at the front and another bringing up the rear. We stopped for a break to survey the surrounding area from a great vantage point where the host pointed out local landmarks and potential tourist attractions for the rest of our day as well as taking a group photo for us.
We then headed back down the way we had come before splitting into two groups, one for the more confident riders (Dad and Dave) and one for the others (Nic and Ben), each with an instructor leading the way. The off-road section that we took was significantly more difficult to pass than the trails we had been using. Riding through deep water and over obstacles that required you to lean and move your body to keep your weight on the required side of the quad bike for grip. It was very tricky and gave you an idea of what the quad bikes are actually capable of in the hands of experienced riders. The instructor was keen to point out that they have far more advanced tracks and trails for those who are willing and able to experience them.
All four of our quad bikers came back buzzing from their adventure and keen to have another go (though perhaps closer to home next time!)
Once the quad biking experience was finished we had planned to take a trip into Swansea or perhaps out to Gower / Mumbles but the weather was just so grim that we decided it wasn’t worth driving further to be out in the rain and so we headed back to Llandovery for some lunch and a little wander – and actually escaped the worst of the weather as a result.
Lunch in Llandovery
Having driven down into Llandovery on Friday lunch time (after a rather comical sheep incident), we parked near the Castle Hotel – parking was super cheap and plentiful.
We had intended to visit The Old Printing Office for lunch – a recommendation from Jon and one with good google reviews, unfortunately the cafe was closed. The Bear Inn had also been recommended to us by our host but they couldn’t accommodate eight of us so we eventually found ourselves in The Castle Hotel where we had a lovely lunch – the girls had chicken nuggets, Ben had a burger from the adult menu (as a special treat for being 12), I had a delicious Welsh Rarebit and everyone else tucked into fish and chips.
After lunch we had a potter round the town of Llandovery, sticking our heads into the various shops before heading to the castle ruins for an explore. Dave and Nic took the kids up the ruins whilst Mum, Dad and I decided that we’d had enough climbing for one week (and probably didn’t have the right shoes on) so we sat on a nearby bench and watched! The kids found a play area behind the castle so they spent some time there whilst Dave and I went off in search of cakes for pudding. We went to La Patisserie – and soon wished we’d been in earlier in the week. We bought a mixture of cakes and donuts – nine items in total for about £11. The custard slice was lush and all the bread look delicious. (We also recommend the butchers where we’d bought some fantastic steak earlier in the week too.)
An early exit
Saturday morning rolled around all too quickly and it was time to go home. Whilst the checkout time for Cwcw Barn wasn’t till 10am, we had been advised by our host to leave earlier if we could as Saturday is change over day for the majority of the holiday lets in the area, and the traffic can be a bit hectic (remember all those narrow single track roads . . .) Because we’d pretty much packed the day before and woke early, we were on the way for 8.40am and home by lunch time. Whilst we weren’t keen to leave the glorious views and the peace that our Llandovery stay had given us, we were more than happy for wider roads and space to over take!
If you want to read more about our accomodation in Llandovery there is a full review of Cwcw Barn at Penygaer Farm, Llandovery here!
Read our tips for road trips with kids next!
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