Only 40 mins drive from the Old Vicarage, joining in the guided walks of the Crickhowell Walking Festival is a great option to discover stunning hikes with friendly locals during your stay at the house. There is also a Photographic Competition during the festival, with your chance to win £100 voucher with local outdoor shop, Crickhowell Adventure.

"Is this Britain's Best Walking Festival?" - the Telegraph Travel, section reviews the 2017 festival and sums it up well below......

Proudly independent, Crickhowell is an excellent walkers’ base year-round...with a combination of canal strolls, summit treks, mountain runs, Nordic walks, history-focused rambles or torchlight evening hikes; the festival always spans St David’s Day, when there’s a choral concert, too.

The weather doesn’t stop us,” affirmed walking leader Roger Austin, one of the army of volunteers running Crickhowell’s impressive programme of 90 walks. According to Roger, it was mostly locals participating when the festival first launched; now the event is in its 10th year, and more people are coming from further afield, using it as impetus for an off-season break.

True to form, our trail was a cracker – beset by rain, gales and mud, but cracking nonetheless. It had drama in spades, with plunging ridges, snatches of distant peaks and plenty of wild, springy moor. I finished determined to return. Wringing out my soggy gloves in the car park, one of my new walk-mates grinned. “You wouldn’t come out on a day like this on your own,” he said, “but getting out in this weather, at this time of year, finding new routes – it’s what it’s all about.” 

The 2018 Crickhowell Walking Festival will run from February 24 to March 4; walks cost from £6.50 to £12 per person (crickhowellfestival.com). 

Walking in the Brecon Beacons is excellent year-round; buy a copy of Cracking Walks around Crickhowell from the CRiC information centre (visitcrickhowell.co.uk) and see beacons-npa.gov.uk. Ordnance Survey map OL13 covers Crickhowell and the Brecon Beacons National Park (eastern area), £8.99 (ordnancesurvey.co.uk).

Although you can just turn up for many events, at Crickhowell and at the other festivals listed, some walks will book up well ahead. So as a rule of thumb it’s always worth booking.