Holiday Cottages in the Wye Valley and Usk Valley, South Wales
Cottages for selfcatering holdiays in Wales - Wye and Usk Valley
The River Wye enters the Bristol Channel at Chepstow, the first town in south Wales, and the home of the only horseracing course in the principality. This medieval border town, with its superb riverside castle, is at the start/finish point of both the Wye Valley Walk and the Offa's Dyke Path, and is a lovely place to stay to explore this part of Wales. Chepstow Castle is one of the oldest in Britain and one of the first to have been built entirely of stone, and as it was in military service for 500 years shows the development of military architecture over this period. Renting a holiday cottage near Chepstow gives you a great place to stay in Wales and explore this fascinating town.
Following the Wye valley north, you come to one of the most beautiful ruins in Wales, Tintern Abbey, which is the most compete of Britain's ruined monasteries. The remains of colonnades, soaring walls, and gaping windows, have been reproduced by Turner, and praised by Wordsworth, and are extremely well-kept and a calming place to relax and reflect on the world.
The most English of Welsh towns is Monmouth, a Georgian town that sits at the head of the Lower Wye Valley and is the obvious place to stay to explore this area either on foot or by canoe. Monmouth was the birthplace of Henry V, a fact celebrated by Agincourt Square in the centre of the town, and has been both English and Welsh over the centuries. Outside the town, on top of a hill, are two interesting Georgian buildings called the Kymin, comprising a circular banqueting house and a monument dedicated to the glories of the British Navy. The 9 acres of pleasure gardens in Monmouth have lovely views out across the surrounding countryside. Self-catering cottages near Monmouth are plentiful and many offer luxury holiday accommodation for a Welsh holiday.
The Wye leaves Wales here and returns at the literary town of Hay-on-Wye. This small town is known throughout the world of book collectors, as this is where they come to browse amongst the forty or so second-hand shops, with their hundreds of thousands of volumes. There is a title for every size of pocket and every age, and the highlight of the year is the Hay on Wye Literary Festival every May/June. If you want to rent a holiday cottage in Hay-on-Wye then there is a great selection of cottages to chose from - luxury cottages near Hay on Wye and lovely farm houses to rent near Hay.
The Usk valley centres on the two towns of Abergavenny and Newport. Abergavenny is a useful base for walking in the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons and as such offers the visitor a wide range of accommodation from guesthouses to sumptuous bed and breakfast establishments, whilst the surrounding countryside is popular with those looking for self-catering cottages. This northern part of the valley is reknowned for its fine local produce, and several excellent restaurants have taken this to a high degree. Locally produced venison, lamb, beef, cheese, honey, and wine are all to be found in local markets, which makes the self-catering option a lot more attractive. The cottages in the Brecon Beacons, holiday houses near Abergavenny or accommodation for a holiday near the Black Mountains are options for a self-catering holiday in the Usk Valley.
The town of Usk, now much depleted, was once one of the largest in Wales and this is shown in the size of the castle ruins. Usk holds a regular, and very popular, farmers market every two weeks, and is a very busy place for fisherman - if you want a fishing holiday cottage near Usk then this is a great part of Wales for fishing. On the edge of Newport is the Roman town of Caerleon, at one time the largest Roman garrison town in Wales. Archaeologists have uncovered a wide range of artefacts and buildings and these are shown off in an interesting museum. Newport, on the other hand, is much more modern having expanded from a humble fishing village to its present size during the industrial revolution, with goods coming down to the port from Cwmbran and Pontypool to be shipped around the world. There is an ancient cathedral and a town museum, but the town ticks over on the pride of its Rugby team, which reaches religious proportions in this part of Wales.
There are some luxury holiday cottages to rent in the Wye valley and Usk valley - fabulous remote cottages near Abergaveny, isolated cottages in the Breacon Beacons, Black Mountain accommodation for a self-catering holiday, Chepstow cottages to rent for the races, luxury cottage to hire near Hay-on-Wye for the book festival, self-catering cottages near Monmouth - whatever kind of holiday home you are looking for in this idyllic part of Wales you will be able to find it at great prices.
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