All of us go to cool new places all the time, so I thought it might be good to have a thread for people to make recommendations. It can be sight-seeing spots, restaurants, museums, cities, mini-breaks, big holidays, an afternoon out somewhere ... just about anything!
To start off with, this weekend I went to
Winter Weekend in
Hay-on-Wye -- a mini literary festival. It's nowhere near as big or impressive as the main festival in May/June, but it was really cosy and intimate, so almost nicer in that way.
Anyone who knows me knows that Hay is one of my very favourite places in the world! If you haven't yet been,
GO! We only went to one of the festival events, but it was fantastic. It was a talk by
Rachel Tresize about her new short story collection,
Fresh Apples. She's so young and so talented, it made me feel like a total failure! But she was great. She read one of the stories and we all loved it. She's already won the Orange Futures Award and the Dylan Thomas Award ... and she's not even 30.
The shops and galleries in Hay are fabulous. Because of the festival, they were mostly open late on Saturday night. And many were offering shoppers a glass of champagne or mulled wine. It's a great place to pick up presents that are a little out of the ordinary.
However, we had dinner at
The Swan, and I wouldn't recommend it at all. The food was average but way overpriced, and the service was dreadful. Skip it.
Another warning: Do not under any circumstances stay at
Baskerville Hall. We only booked there because we left it too late and those were the only rooms left in the whole town (and it's actually in a neighbouring town). I don't think I've ever stayed in a nastier place!!
But ... if you book early enough, find a great B&B and eat somewhere other than The Swan, you'll have a wonderful time in Hay!
