Last week we traveled down to Wales, for our long awaited holiday to the Brecon Beacons ♥
We packed up the car with the dogs, too much food for the week and our walking boots, ready to explore what the Beacons had to offer.
We stayed at a gorgeous lodge, Brecon Retreat, that I'd found late last year through a dog friendly instagram account. I fell in love straight away, with the hot tub, wood burner and general feel of the place. It was the perfect country retreat, set amongst a gorgeous running stream and trees and fields on your back door step. We soon booked up, and had our countdowns on, ready for our week away of relaxation, wine drinking and dog walking.
The lodge was as gorgeous as I'd hoped, we felt so homely and cosy there for the the five days. Jumping in the hot tub most evening, and relaxing on the comfy sofa's inbetween long walks. The lodge has one double bedroom & one twin room, so we'd love to go back in the Summer with friends when we can use the terrace and BBQ to the fullest.
We did start to search for dog friendly places to visit, see or eat at, and Google was such a struggle for this. Even finding a pub seemed to be a long drive away, luckily the lodge had a comprehensive guide of tried and tested places, so this ended up coming in really useful.
The Brecon railway seemed to allow dogs, so we decided to give that ago. Even though it was full of young children or OAP's, it was still fun to travel on a steam train and get to see some of the mountains and reservoirs from the slow moving machine chugging along. The dogs sat on our laps and watched out the window....before it got a little too much and a nap was in order. The price for dogs is £2.50, however he only charged us for one, as Lily was still a puppy. Sadly the tea rooms at the stations didn't allow dogs in, which obviously is a real shame as the train did.
The weather was kind to us mid week and so we made the most of it with a trip to find some waterfalls, as well as a boat trip on the Brecon Canal.
We took the long walk down to find the waterfall and when we go there it was really very gorgeous, the dogs got to play in the stream and having lots of photos with the falling water. We headed back on a trek route, that seemed to take us through woodland, passing more streams and pretty scenery.
We headed down to the Brecon canal that afternoon, and hired a boat for a few hours. It was great that they allowed pets on board, and Sev was watching all the ducks swim by. We spent a couple of hours heading up and down the canal, watching the rolling hills, and enjoying the sunshine with a cider or two [so classy!] We hired our boat from Beacon Park Boats which was £30 for 2 hours.
Our last day consisted of yet more walks, and Severus got to have a big swim too. Lily even paddled and retrieved the ball, which was great work for her. We also decided to have a proper look around Brecon town, after briefly seeing it on the canal boat previously. I asked Helen, the owner of the lodge, for some dog friendly recommendations for cute places, and she pointed us in the direction of Cariad Cupcakes. The cutest little cafe that had sweet little signs and decoration all over the place, the sandwiches were amazing and the the milkshake was even better. The dogs were allowed down stairs of the cafe, and we managed to get a lovely table with fresh flowers and enough room for the dogs to wander at our feet.
Of course no food is ever enough, so we also made a cheeky stop at the ice cream parlour too. They had every flavour you could think of, and we were able to sit in the front area [before you go into the shop itself] with the dogs, which was quiet and did the job while we ate our yummies. Sadly no doggy ice cream though.
The whole trip was wonderful, and it was great to try out somewhere different and new for us. I did miss the coast, and we'll no doubt be heading back to the seaside again soon with the dog menu's and dog ice cream galore. Wales was beautiful though and the lodge no doubt made the holiday super special and wonderful. If you do enquire or book then let them know I sent you!
Severus and Lily are on instagram too, so remember to follow their adventures over there.
