Pwll y Wrach Nature Reserve

The walk down to Pwll y Wrach - that's the Witch's Pool if you're translating - takes about twenty minutes through proper woodland, and honestly, it's the journey that makes this worthwhile. You're descending into a steep-sided valley near Brecon where the Nedd Fechan stream has carved out a small waterfall and a dark pool below. The water's cold, the trees crowd in, and there's something genuinely atmospheric about the place that photographs struggle to capture.

It's free to access and open year-round, though you'll want decent boots - the path gets muddy and the final stretch down is genuinely steep. Families with young kids might find the descent a bit much on the return journey, but older children who enjoy a proper woodland walk will get a real kick out of it. This is one for walkers and anyone after a bit of natural drama without crowds.

Allow an hour including the walk itself. Go when it's not raining if you can, because the ground turns into a slick mess. If you're camping at Bryndu or Woodland Park Glamping nearby, this makes a cracking half-day detour. The Brecon Beacons are right there too, so you could easily string together a few walks. It's not a destination in itself - the pool's modest - but as part of a wider walking holiday in the area, it delivers. The real appeal is the woodland atmosphere and the effort required to reach it.