Elan Valley & Llandrindod Wells Luxury Walking and Social Weekend

Overview: We return to this wonderful walking area with another of Steve’s walking and social weekends – aimed at both serious and social walkers. On the Saturday there will be the choice of a short or long walk (approx 5 or 9 miles), in the Elan Valley, with its wonderful scenery, reservoirs, woods and dramatic valleys. The Sunday walk is directly from the hotel so no need to use your cars until its time to leave. 

We stay at the superb Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells. Its bedrooms are decorated and furnished to a high standard. The Hotel's Victorian grandeur is complemented by a superb indoor Leisure and Spa Complex in a Victorian style conservatory. Facilities include a 54ft heated swimming pool, sauna, whirlpool, steam room and beauty salon, where you can book many treatments.  

Steve is looking into us having our own function room each night to run a social event such as a quiz and Rock n Roll Bingo.

The walking programme 

Saturday: We walk in the beautiful Elan Valley with its wonderful scenery, reservoirs, woods and dramatic valleys.

Note Change of walk route: The planned Saturday walk has been impacted by the storms in January. A section of the trail which allows a circular walk from the Elan Valley Visitor Centre has been closed for safety whilst they clear the many fallen trees. Using a coach, to drop us off further up the valley, there will be a linear walk back to the visitors’ centre, where the coach will take us back to the hotel. The walk is similar in length and uses about 70% of the original planned walk and takes in 3 of the famous Elan Valley dams and reservoirs. There will still be the option of doing a shorter and longer walk. The full walk is around 8 miles, but this can be reduced to around 5½ miles if you prefer.

We make use of the old railway line that was built for the construction of the dams, along the shores of Caban-Coch reservoir and Garreg-ddu Reservoir, giving great views both of the shores of the reservoirs as well as open and woodland ending with a dramatic view of the dam. We will stop to admire the Penygarreg dam which is a spectacular sight. 

Sunday: Today we have a 5½ mile walk from the hotel and head east over the hills to a lovely old church at Cefnllys, passing the famous Shaky Bridge. The walk passes the infamous lake which supposedly contains “The Water Beast of the Lake of Llandrindod Wells”. The terrain is varied – from hills to farmland and woodland paths. We get some magnificent views of the area. As with Saturday there are some gradients but we will take our time. 

The social après walking 

Friday night: Dinner is at the hotel and after dinner Steve will do a welcome chat to go through the plans for the weekend. Afterwards Steve will look into the option of a social activity. 

Saturday night: We will eat at the hotel and the package includes a three course meal. The food, like the hotel is of a very high standard. After the meal Steve will run one of his famous quizzes. 

The hotel has great leisure facilities and will be available to all guests staying at the hotel. Please feel free to arrive early to take full advantage of the facilities and of course any treatments you might like. It is advisable to pre book treatments. Please use this link to see the Spa facilities and to book any treatments. 

For non-walkers: There are many local attractions if you want to have a break from walking including the Elan Valley and its Visitors Centre with many reservoirs and dams and stunning scenery.