Barely 13 miles from the English border, the mountain-ringed town of Abergavenny has spent centuries earning its 'Gateway to Wales' nickname. The Romans built forts here to hold the edge of their empire, and the Normans followed with a castle and medieval walls. These days the draw is different: one of Britain's best food festivals and a 520-square-mile national park practically next door.
That festival is the headline act. The Abergavenny Food Festival, the largest in Wales, takes over the town for a weekend in the second half of September each year. More than 120 small producers and food businesses set up shop — think salted Welsh butter, hams from Carmarthenshire and brownies baked on the Gower Peninsula — alongside talks and cooking workshops from big-name chefs. When the market stalls close, the crowd moves into Abergavenny Castle for a live-music party.
You don't need a ticket to eat well here, though. Frogmore Street, the largely pedestrianised spine of the old town running south from a medieval gatehouse, is lined with cafes, bars and restaurants. Il Gusto (rated 4.8 on Google Maps) does refined Italian, from carbonara to king prawn risotto, while Mezze Me serves Turkish small plates like smoked eggplant dips and spiced falafel.
The town itself is worth a couple of hours before you head for the hills. Abergavenny Castle, a late 11th-century Norman fort that saw repeated fighting between English and Welsh forces, now hosts the town museum, which ranges from Roman finds to re-created traditional Welsh farm kitchens. Then there's the landscape: Bannau Brycheiniog National Park — Wales' second-largest, after Eryri in the north — starts right at the town's southeastern edge, so trailheads are minutes away.
Closer options include the four-mile climb up Skirrid, which rises from woodland to sweeping views over the Usk Valley, and Blorenge, the peak looming southwest of town — steep in places but rewarding at the top. For something bigger, drive under an hour to the start of the Pen-y-Fan Horseshoe, a demanding 10-mile circuit past ancient burial mounds and over bare summits, including Pen-y-Fan itself, the highest point in the national park and all of southern Britain.
Getting there is simple. Abergavenny sits about 25 minutes west of Monmouth on the A40, roughly an hour from both Bristol's international airport and Cardiff, Wales' main air hub. From London it's a drive of just over three hours via the M4 and Newport before turning north into the hills. For anyone after a short break that mixes medieval history, serious food and proper mountain walking without long transfers, this corner of Monmouthshire is an easy win.
