Holidaying in Wales: Where to Base Yourself and What to Plan Around

Wales rewards people who pick one corner and stay put. Try to see all of it in a week and you'll spend most of that week looking at the road rather than the hills either side of it.

Choosing a base you won't resent by Wednesday

Start with the shape of your days rather than the photographs. If you want long walks from the door and a slow pub dinner afterwards, a farmhouse down a lane is exactly right. If half the party doesn't drive, or nobody fancies shuffling cars every morning, that same farmhouse becomes a chore by about day three.

Which is why the facilities list matters more than the interiors. The Old Dairy House sleeps five and lists both a bus stop and a train station nearby, and that combination is rare enough among rural cottages to plan a trip around. It means one person can go for milk without waking the house, and a teenager can get themselves into town without a lift. None of the other cottages here list either, so if public transport is part of your thinking, filter for it before you fall for a view.

Match the stay to the trip

The cheapest option is not always the compromise. Work out your headcount, then compare what the money actually buys.

• Two couples, or a small family: Cothi Cottage at Upton Hall sleeps six from £393 per break, which is about as much space per pound as you'll find on this list. Good for a trip where you're out most days and only really need somewhere to eat and sleep.
• A quiet four: Hen Efail sleeps four from £383 per break. Smaller footprint, no wasted rooms, and the sort of size that suits a walking week rather than a party.
• The big gathering: Ty Bledrws sleeps ten from £1,074 per break. Split across a few families that lands well, and it saves the awkward business of booking three cottages and hoping they end up near each other.
• Six, two ways: Tyn Y Coed Farm House starts at £577 per break and The Barn at £961 per break, both sleeping six. Same headcount, very different budgets, so put the two side by side before you commit.

If the dog is coming, settle that first rather than last. Our list of dog-friendly places to stay in Wales is the sensible starting point, because working backwards from a cottage you've already set your heart on and finding it doesn't take pets is a miserable half hour.

Days out worth building a week around

Wales does small museums well, and they are the thing that saves a holiday when the weather turns. Two or three across a week gives the trip some structure without making it a schedule.

The National Cycle Museum is an easy one to sell to a group that claims not to like museums. Talgarth Mill is the other good bet with children, and it is worth checking what is running on the day you plan to go. For local history, Brecon Museum, Lampeter Museum, Radnorshire Museum and Llanerchaeron Museum all sit in the same bracket: an hour each, better as a stop on a driving day than as the whole day. The Royal Welsh Regiment Museum is the one for military history, and the Signal Box Museum for anyone in the group with a soft spot for railways.

Check opening days directly before you set out, and check them again if you are travelling out of season. A wasted trip in the rain sours an otherwise decent day. Ring ahead, then build the rest of the afternoon around whatever answer you get.