Wales
Pen y Fan
South Wales's highest summit, reached only on foot, a cairn to perch on at the top.
No road, no train, no lift: the highest ground in South Wales is earned on foot, and at 886 metres the top of Pen y Fan is a flat top with a cairn that everyone sits on for the photograph. In clear weather the hills roll away for miles to cliffs older than anything built in Wales.
The mountain is among the most walked in Wales, which is both its recommendation and its warning. The standard route leaves the Pont ar Daf car park on the A470 eight miles south of Brecon; the T4 bus from Merthyr Tydfil or Newtown stops at Storey Arms for those without a car, and the Beacons Way and Taff Trail bring in walkers and cyclists from further off. At peak times the path is busy, and Visit Wales itself points the solitary towards the Black Mountains or the Cambrians instead; the answer for Pen y Fan is a weekday, an early start, or the edges of the season when the light is low. The national park's visitor centre at Libanus, off the road below, has Caffi y Fan and a wide view of the range, and Garwnant on the Merthyr side has coffee and forest trails. It is the south's summit, plain and unmissable, and the walk is within reach of most people who want it.
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Solo
A dawn start from Pont ar Daf on a weekday, the cairn, and the long ridge on to Cribyn.
Couple
An autumn morning ascent, tea at Caffi y Fan, and a night in Brecon.
Friends
The eleven-mile circuit over Corn Du, Pen y Fan and Cribyn as a group day, a photograph on the cairn, and a pint afterwards for the argument over who was slowest.
- At 886 metres Pen y Fan stands higher than anything else in South Wales, and from the top mile upon mile of hills roll away to sheer, ancient cliffs.
- It ranks among the most popular walks in Wales, so busy at peak times that Visit Wales suggests the Black Mountains or the Cambrians for anyone who wants to walk alone.
- The main start is the Pont ar Daf car park on the A470 eight miles south of Brecon, and the T4 bus from Merthyr Tydfil or Newtown stops at Storey Arms for a car-free ascent.
- At the summit walkers perch on the cairn for the photograph, and a network of routes, from the Beacons Way to the Taff Trail, brings them in from every side.
Tea and cake at Caffi y Fan, the tea room at the national park's visitor centre at Libanus, with the mountain filling the window.
Garwnant Forest Visitor Centre, on the road up from Merthyr, does coffee and cake the other side of the hill.
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