The town centre is tiny and walkable. The Black Mountains rise to the south; Llanthony is about 40 minutes by car over the Gospel Pass, and Tintern Abbey about 1 hour 15 minutes south.
1 The bookshops
Wander from shop to shop: large general stores, specialists in children’s books, poetry, travel, natural history and crime, and cellars stacked to the ceiling. Some shelves sit outdoors and work on trust, with an honesty box for payment.
Practical: Free to browse. Many shops open daily; hours shorten in winter.
2 Hay Castle
A Norman castle with a Jacobean mansion attached, once owned by Richard Booth. After a long restoration it reopened as an arts and literature centre with galleries and a viewing platform over the town.
Practical: Ticketed for the interior; the honesty bookshop below the walls is free to browse.
3 The town and clock tower
The Victorian clock tower of 1884 marks the centre of a town of narrow streets, a weekly market and old pubs. The Offa’s Dyke Path long-distance trail passes through.
Practical: Free. The market is held on Thursdays.
4 The River Wye
One of Britain’s most beautiful rivers runs past the town. Hire a canoe upstream at Glasbury and paddle down to Hay, or walk the riverside paths.
Practical: Canoe hire seasonal; book ahead in summer.
5 Llanthony Priory
The ruins of an Augustinian priory in the remote Vale of Ewyas, with tall pointed arches framed by the Black Mountains. Reach it over the Gospel Pass, the highest road in Wales, via Hay Bluff.
Practical: Free; Cadw site. A small pub adjoins the ruins.
6 Tintern Abbey
Further south in the Wye Valley, the great Gothic shell of a Cistercian abbey that inspired Wordsworth and Turner.
Practical: Cadw site; ticketed. About 1 hour 15 minutes by car from Hay.
