Hay-on-Wye
Y Gelli Gandryll
A “book town” on the border of Wales and England, with more than twenty second-hand bookshops, and home to the famous Hay Festival every year.
From the 1960s onward, Richard Booth opened numerous secondhand bookshops in the town, which made it the world’s first “book town.” Today it still has more than twenty bookshops, selling everything from rare books and maps to specialist second-hand titles. Beside the castle, an open-air “Honesty Bookshop” operates on a pay-yourself system. The Hay Festival, held every year from late May to early June, attracts large numbers of writers and readers. The town’s cafés and antique shops are also worth exploring. Hay-on-Wye sits in the northeastern corner of the national park.
Opening hours
Bookshop approx. 10:00–17:30
Nearby sights
- Gospel Pass & Hay Bluff
- Llanthony Priory
- Llangorse Lake
- Tretower Court and Castle
- Crickhowell
- Sugar Loaf
- Skirrid Fawr
- Abergavenny & Abergavenny Castle