Redwood Heyope

Celebrate everything literary and try your hands at pottery in Hay-on-Wye (45 minutes’ drive). Then turn from the literary world and into older times at the Croft Castle and Parkland (35 minutes), a National Trust site with 1500 acres of parks and woodlands and spaces for children to build dens or create wild art. Hike or bike around the reservoir at Elan Valley (45 minutes), where there are challenging courses over waterways and rocky hills and activities for children such as high ropes courses and bug-hunting. If the whole family is in tow, Small Breeds Farm Park and Owl Centre (half an hour) is a good stop too, as it's home to an owl centre and small farm animals that kids can feed. If you’re down for a day trip, the seaside could also be on the cards. Borth beach (an hour and 40 minutes) has a four-mile stretch of sand and sea fit for windsurfing, kitesurfing and surfing, while Aberystwyth (an hour and 35 minutes) has a cliff railway, sandy beach and the Vale of Rheidol Railway through the wooded hillsides.