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The Brecon Beacons is a national park of four parts. The eastern part of the Brecon Beacons themselves slot in west of the Black Mountains, south of Brecon and north of Merthyr Tydfil. It is the park’s most-visited area, with the highest peak (Pen y Fan, 2907 feet) and easy access from bigger towns such as Abergavenny, at the southeast corner. Campsites in this rugged expanse are in the verdant valleys around the edge and usually family-oriented.
The sinuous River Usk threads through winsome, much-overlooked countryside south of Abergavenny. This is a green, gently-rolling land with the Brecon Beacons National Park’s bigger summits still looming in the background. There is delightful hiking, including on the long-distance Usk Valley Walk between Brecon and Caerleon, site of some impressive Roman ruins. Wood-fringed riverside campsites are conveniently positioned near the region’s midriff and area pubs.
Abergavenny is fabled for its festivals, so it’s worth planning a trip around them: Abergavenny Food Festival is the annual showpiece, in September. Crickhowell, just north, also has a walking festival in March. Weather is notoriously capricious here, and April and September can offer the same dry sunny spells that the height of summer can—and the same seemingly never-ending rain too—only without summer’s crowds.