With so much to do in your luxury Safari Tent, you might not want to set foot off-site. But with an abundance of stunning countryside, great eateries and gorgeous towns nearby, you may just want to put your exploring boots on.
Raglan Castle
The unmistakable silhouette of Raglan crowning a ridge amid glorious countryside is the grandest castle ever built by Welshmen. We can thank Sir William ap Thomas, the ‘blue knight of Gwent’, for the moated Great Tower of 1435 that still dominates this mighty fortress-palace. His son Sir William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, created the gatehouse with its flared ‘machicolations’. These stone arches allowed missiles to be rained down on attackers. But Raglan came 150 years later than the turbulent heyday of castle-building. It was designed to impress as much as to intimidate. The displayed opening times are our general pattern. Please check the Cadw website for specific times and days, including closures.
Raglan Farm
A 'family run' Farm Park set in beautiful parkland, with a range of fun activities for all the family to enjoy! We have over 20,000 sq foot of indoor space too, so, even on a rainy day there's loads to do. There are 7 'soft play areas' which cater for 18 months to 11 years of age, zip wires, a bouncy castle barn, trampolines, slides, zip wires, go carts, pedal tractors, a 'lego zone' and a sand pit. Animals, including sheep, goats, ponies, a lama, alpaca, fish, turkeys, emus and a whole host of other furry friends! For the 'older generation' there are comfy sofas dotted around the barns to relax in. Our 'MEGA' play zone features the infamous 'red drop' slide for the more adventurous!
Raglan Estate
An oasis of beauty and calm in the centre of Monmouthshire. We have some grand plans for the estate to host special events and retreats, host world-class speakers, launch new and exciting leisure and games offerings to bring to life a unique and never done before eco-tourism offer. We welcome you to visit and join our journey as we continue to develop and bring you on-going activities and experiences for you to enjoy and be a part of. We currently have our restaurant Calon Rhaglan open for bookings, our 9 hole golf course, open to everyone to play without a dress code or membership, an adventure playground for the kids, a Cafe full of delicious treats and 20 acres of outstanding parkland to enjoy as a customer or if you join our Friends Of Raglan Scheme. We also have much more to come.
Abergavenny
Discover locally-produced food, great places to stay and fantastic scenery – the beautiful Black Mountains are the backdrop to Abergavenny in the south east corner of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The town is a great base for walking, cycling and just enjoying the great outdoors.
With its annual Abergavenny Food Festival, the town is also mecca for foodies – and there are plenty of gorgeous gastro pubs, ancient inns and restaurants to try in the surrounding countryside too. The town has regular markets where you can buy quality produce grown locally too.
Abergavenny has history and heritage in spades – come and explore our castles, medieval mansions, Roman remains and standing stones. We’ve got the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal on our doorstep and the Blaenavon World Heritage and Big Pit mine are just up the road.
Big Pit Nat'l Coal Museum
Take a unique underground tour of a real coalmine, where hundreds of men, women and children once worked to extract the precious mineral that stoked furnaces and lit the household fires of the world.
Sugar Loaf Mountain
Sugar Loaf Mountain - National Trust
One of the highest peaks in the Black Mountains, with panoramic views across South Wales. If you're up for a strenuous walk, park in town and walk the foot hills before the final steep ascent to the summit. Or make up the bulk of elevation by car to walk the final steep elevation to the summit. There are lots of start-point options.
Even those with poor fitness can enjoy the carpark-to-summit, but we advise only those who are stable on their feet undertake the final climb.
Sugar Loaf Vineyards
A little vineyard based in the foot hills of Sugar Loaf Mountain, Abergavenny. An ideal reward post-Sugar Loaf hike. Tours, tastings & wine/coffee shop. Cheese and meat boards also available.
White Castle Vineyards
Our aim is to produce Quality Welsh Wines.
We are very passionate about what we do here at White Castle Vineyard and are always striving to be as good as we possibly can be. We feel very privileged to have a vineyard here in Abergavenny.
White Castle Vineyard is a Welsh vineyard situated near the market towns of Abergavenny and Monmouth it is owned and run by Robb and Nicola Merchant.
Having purchased the 12 acre small holding in 1995 they converted the milking parlour into their home a year later, however it was 2008 before the dream of owning a vineyard become a reality, the 5 acre gently sloping, south facing field was purchased, soil tests were performed and vines ordered.
May 2009 saw the planting of 4000 vines, the varieties of vines planted were Pinot Noir, Regent, Rondo, Seyval Blanc & Phoenix, now there was no turning back, May 2010 saw a further planting of 800 vines this variety being Siegerrebe.
May 2019 marked their 10 year Anniversary since first planting and to mark this milestone they have planted a further 2000 vines these varieties are Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc.
Robb & Nicola have attended Plumpton College East Sussex to study viticulture, this training giving them the skills needed to produce quality Welsh Wines.
We believe that quality wine making starts in the vineyard.
We have carefully selected varieties that we know will grow well in our soil and produce grapes of the highest possible quality in the micro climate of the vineyard.
The grapes are closely monitored, as they ripen they will be carefully hand harvested and selected, then immediately transported to the winery for pressing to ensure we retain all the freshness and fruity aromas intact.
Eateries
There is no shortage of fine eateries in the area. These are just some of our top, very local recommendations:
- The Cripple Creek Inn; Usk/Raglan
- The Black Bea Inn; Usk/Raglan
- The Beaufort; Raglan