Pontneddfechan is a small village situated in Powys, Wales, UK. It sits on the southern edge of The Brecon Beacons and gives access to a series of waterfalls in the Upper Neath valley.

We’ve visited the village numerous times over the last few years, using it as a start point for a ten mile circular walk. It’s probably our favourite hike, taking in eight impressive waterfalls. Its challenging at times with steep climbs, up and down, but with impressive scenery all the way.

We normally visit the falls as a day trip from home but I’ve always wanted to complete the walk without having to drive back. The village is also a great base for other walks in the Brecon’s so I decided to look for a suitable Air BnB property in the village. There were several properties available but I plumped for this former miners cottage here.

In hindsight I don’t think we could have made a better choice. The cottage itself was lovely, it was perfectly situated in the village and the hosts were excellent. The welcome basket we found waiting for us on arrival was the best we’ve ever been left.

We had several walks in the Brecons planned for our week. We started on the Sunday with a full waterfall route which is about ten miles. Although we have done the same route numerous times before its still a joy to walk. An added bonus this time was getting back to the cottage, chilling out in a bath and then walking down to the local pub for something to eat. It was as good as I thought it would be.

Our second long walk was a route from our OS Pathfinder book taking in Henrhyd Falls, the highest waterfall in the Brecons. Following the route, we also climbed Cribarth before returning through Craig Y Nos Country Park. A lovely scenic eight mile hike that had a bit of everything.

The following day we decided to take on the Pen Y Fan horseshoe walk which takes in three of the highest points in the Brecon’s, Corn Du, Pen Y Fan and Cribyn. We took a slightly different route from what most people would think of as the traditional horseshoe walk to take advantage of a new NT car park at the foot of the first peak, Corn Du.

I’m not too proud to say that this was a tough walk, but one I’m pleased to have completed. The descent down from Cribyn was especially hard going. Its a tough ten mile circular route but if you like a challenging hike, one you’ll enjoy.

We took a break from hiking on Thursday to visit and explore the town of Brecon. That was a nice day out. It’s a quaint little town with lots of nice cafes and trinket shops. Being where it is there are also plenty of outdoor walking equipment outlets in the main shopping area.

We finished our week by walking the waterfalls again. On our way to the start point we passed a house near our Air BnB selling jams from a roadside honesty box. We spoke with the friendly lady living there who invited us back to her house for a cup of tea after our walk. We took her up on the offer and spent a very pleasant two hours with her and her husband, sitting in their garden, drinking tea and talking about her art, their garden and his former life as a guitarist. It was the perfect way to end a lovely week in our little Welsh cottage.

All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2025 – All rights reserved.