Pen-y-common

The walk up Pen-y-common takes about forty minutes from Hay-on-Wye and rewards you with proper views across the Black Mountains and into England. It's not a scramble - more a steady climb through open moorland that builds gradually until suddenly you're at 1,834 feet with the landscape spread out below you.

What you get is moorland rather than drama. The summit is bare, windswept, with that particular Welsh bleakness that some folk find magnificent and others find a bit bleak, if I'm honest. On clear days you can pick out the Wye Valley snaking away to the north and the Brecon range to the south. On the many cloudy days, you're walking through mist wondering if the views are really there.

Walkers and hill types will absolutely have their money's worth here. It's straightforward enough for reasonably fit families with older kids, though younger ones might find the moorland repetitive - no obvious features to break up the walk. History buffs won't find much to get excited about. This is about the walk itself and the sense of being up high over the border country.

Hay-on-Wye Caravan Park sits less than a mile away, which makes this an obvious choice if you're staying locally. You can knock it off before breakfast if you're early risers, or tackle it late afternoon when the light's better. No fees, no faffing about with gates or signs. Just park near Hay and start walking. Allow two and a half hours round trip if you're stopping to breathe and look around.