Tuesday, 28 January 2025

24 hours in Hay-on-Wye

As a book lover, Hay-on-Wye has always been on my bucket list - billed as the world's first book town, I knew it was a must-visit for me. We recently visited for roughly 24 hours, so here's everything you need to know and what we got up to!





Where to stay in Hay-on-Wye


I booked a 3-bed, 2-bath Airbnb for £200 for the night; we were travelling with my parents, and the little cottage was spacious enough for the four of us. It had three double bedrooms, two with a gorgeous view, as well as the two bathrooms - one with a bath, one with a shower. A dining area, large kitchen and cosy living room with a proper fire as well as a small yard area completed the cottage. Just on the edge of town, it was exactly what we needed and really cute too! Also available on Booking.com


Parking in Hay-on-Wye


We parked at the Wyeford Road car park, as there was no parking at the Airbnb, and we were lucky to get a space but it was free and really close to the river, the town and our cottage.

Food in Hay-on-Wye


For lunch we stopped at Oscar's Bistro, a small but charming little café - we had paninis and jacket potatoes and they also do cakes, sandwiches and that kind of thing. Everywhere in Hay-on-Wye is relatively pricey but Oscar's wasn't too bad; for a panini, jacket potato, side of chips, a can and a coffee it cost us around £25.




Later on, for dinner, we ate at the Three Tuns, a 16th century pub with an exclusively Italian food menu - and my god it was delicious! I had a pizza, my fiancée went for a pasta dish, my dad had a burger and my mum went for the porchetta. The pub has a lovely vibe to it and the food was genuinely amazing, so I'd really recommend.

What to do in Hay-on-Wye


Let's face it - there's one main thing to do in Hay-on-Wye and that's go BOOKSHOPPING! We explored pretty much all of the bookshops in the town, and they're all amazing and so quirky. I loved the honesty Bookshop, which is an unmanned book shop with all sorts of hidden gems for £1 each, and Murder & Mayhem, which sells crime/thriller/mystery books galore. Gay on Wye was also a personal highlight, crammed full of LGBT+ books, postcards and pins. It's such a gorgeous vibe and a lovely independent business to support.





We also mooched around the charity shops and other sweet shops, and in the afternoon we walked up to Hay Castle - a medieval fortification and 17th century mansion house which has a roaring open fire and has beautiful grounds, complete with another honesty bookshop... we didn't pay to go in properly but did have a great chat with one of the staff who told us all about the key figures in history who lived in the castle or were involved in its story.




On the Sunday morning we had a lovely walk along the River Wye, from the Wyeford Road car park; we spotted loads of these adorable chainsaw carvings installed along the route, which really added something lovely to the landscape on such a grey and dismal day!




Another thing of note is that you have to cross the Whitney Toll Bridge to get to and from Hay-on-Wye, or at least we did - and it's just a fun little rickety old bridge that we found really amusing.

Overall, if you're a book lover then I'd highly recommend Hay-on-Wye for a day out or weekend away; it's a really cute little town with many a book shop, quirky home shops, cute pubs and of course the castle. I absolutely loved it, and I did come away with six books...

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