If you need to get lost, for some reason, then Tyllwyd is hard to beat for remoteness. Squeezed in between the burbling waters of the River Ystwyth and an unclassified road, high in the hills at the top of Cwm Ystwyth, the site is about 20 miles inland from Aberystwyth. On the map it looks like the back of beyond, but happily, though Tyllwyd is isolated, it doesn’t feel so.
The journey to find Tyllwyd is, from anywhere, a long and winding road, and the nearest supermarket is at Aberystwyth – 20 miles away. So while the site doesn’t really feel as though it is in the middle of nowhere it is probably one of the most isolated campsites in Britain.
Midweek, and out of season, you could set your deckchair up in the middle of the road next to the site and not have to move it all day, but come a summer Sunday it can seem as though every motorcycle and classic car in the world is parading up and down this lonely strip of tarmac. This isn’t actually the nuisance it might seem, happening as it does on just a single day. So, six days a week, those lucky folk camping at Tyllwyd have this lovely road at their exclusive disposal, the joyful sparkling stream of the River Ystwyth to splash about in outside the tent, an all-round view of the big green empty hills of Mid-Wales, and all laid out in a soothing, lush, green valley. In a nutshell: location, location, location.
Site facilities are good, too, though you have to cross the road to find them at the farmhouse, which once upon a time was an inn catering for travellers on an important route across Wales. The present occupiers, the Raw family, are as welcoming as their valley, though it should be noted that their midges offer a less friendly welcome at times.
The drive to Rhayader from the site, through the wastes of Wales, may be famously stunning, the scenery in the other direction, downstream, is more rewarding, being more complex and intimate. There are mountain-biking routes in the forest immediately to the north of Cwmystwyth, and about six miles from Tyllwyd is Devil’s Bridge, where you can climb aboard the train to Aberystwyth.
Tyllwyd is in the back of beyond, for sure, but it also feels very much in the centre of Wales.