The Valletts

There's loads of lovely countryside around here for days out around the local footpaths, strolling alongside the Wye or pedalling peacefully among the Herefordshire countryside. It's easy to access the 136 miles of the Wye Valley Walk from here, for a hike six miles hence to Arthur's Stone, the Neolithic burial chamber  set high above Herefordshire's Golden Valley. For more organised outdoor days, a golf course is within three miles, horse riding within five and guided canoe trips along the Wye within six – or you could sample sections of the region's other walking paths on the Marches Way, Beacons Way, Usk Valley Walk and Offa's Dyke Path. In town, Herefordshire's capital Hereford is an ancient city with plenty of old piles to see, including its famed cathedral with chained library, medieval manuscripts and spectacular 13th-century Mappi Mundi: go see. There's a cider museum too, and a cider route, covering the apple (and perry pear) goodness in town and around the county. What goes excellently with cider? Books, that's what. Get along to Hay-on-Wye eight miles away to mooch around its dozens of bookshops, then take a tome to somewhere peaceful in the Brecon Beacons National Park or along the Herefordshire Cider Route.