Wye Valley Walk

Start: Rhayader
Grid Ref: SN 972682
End: Chepstow
Grid Ref: ST 544940
Distance: 179 km
Walking Time: 9 days
Counties Traversed: Powys, Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire
Explorer™ Maps: 200, 188, 189, OL13, OL14

The route follows the river Wye from Rhayader, high in the Welsh Hills, to its junction with the River Severn at Chepstow. The journey takes the walker through some of the finest scenery in the British Isles, including the magnificent woods which line the gorge through which the river flows in its lower reaches. A number of interesting historical sites are passed on route including Goodrich and Monmouth castles, the atmospheric ruins of Tintern Abbey and Clyro, the home of Francis Kilvert the Victorian diarist.

The deep wooded gorge of the lower Wye is perhaps at its most beautiful and stunning at Symonds Yat where the river winds its way between steep cliffs, swinging round in a great loop circling Huntsham Hill and returning to within 400m of its original course. The view from Symonds Yat Rock is spectacular. At little further downstream at Biblins an interesting fun diversion is to be found in the slender suspension bridge which takes the Walk across the river.

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