Garwnant Visitor Centre — Attraction in Wales

We visited here two weeks ago as we were staying at the new forest holidays cabins on this site. The walks in the area are very beautiful and there are several routes that are also pushchair/wheelchair accessible while some are a bit challenging. The sculpture trail was especially lovely as it goes through some nice routes where you can see all of the mini waterfalls that have been naturally carved into the hills. I'm not sure why though, but in the valley area, you can see so many areas of woodland that have been cut down leaving just mud for the wildlife. See photos. Really not sure why so many trees have been destroyed in the area. Maybe for toilet paper. However the visitor centre itself could do with some work. While the staff were very friendly, the food was just awful. We had driven 4 hours to get here so we were starving on arrival and ordered a couple sandwiches. Firstly, 2 small (carton) milkshakes, 2 pieces of toast, 2 sandwiches, 2 coffees and a bowl of chips cost me £30. In comparison at my local pub I recently got 2 pints, a huge milkshake, a Fruit-shoot, chips and a pizza for £30. But you are paying for quality right? Wrong. I got myself a VLT (vegan take on a bacon, lettuce, tomato) as there were only a couple veggie options. What I got was some frozen vegan bites between two pieces of bread. No tomato, no lettuce and some weird pretend chicken thing instead of pretend bacon. Not even any butter or anything to stop the bread being dry. Confused? Me too. That student sandwich also cost me £7.50. In hindsight, I should have complained and asked for something else. I should have just had chips with the kids as they are just heated up so you can't go wrong. But I shovelled it anyway and had a walk until our cabin was ready. It should also be noted that the cabins are really far from the visitor centre. Which is fine if you like walking but not fun when you have small children :D So take a pushchair if you need to walk that. There is still a lot of work being down on the forest holidays bit so it's a bit like a building site in places and really muddy with builders in parked vans everywhere. They clearly raced to open it. Also if you are coming from the cabins by car and want to go to the visitor centre, you have to drive a long way round to the bottom of the hill and back up which is quite long. Just something to note. Overall lovely place but the visitors centre...

I loved this place. my family going back generations have visited. Ive been going there 46 years and unfortunately the council sold it to a holiday company without letting the public know. I went there weekly and i didn't see anything and i dont know anyone who did, maybe they said something on facebook but nothing at the centre. Its was bad, they laid off all staff and i was concerned what will happen and my concerns were well founded as the prices have gone through the roof compared to how they were. Its still nice there and so is the food and its not that its expensive compared to other places its just far more than it used to be. However the parking is a big issue, not only have the price gone up but you need to use a card to be able to leave, they dont have a normal pay and display, you have no idea how much you will be charged you just have to scan your card at the barrier. I saw many elderly people struggling and they will not return. I don't go weekly anymore which is a real shame as we dont have much and now a holiday company is taking all the profits rather than going into the community. Visitors used to spend more to help community. The holiday company said it would improve things but i haven't seen anything except its going to get more busy and polluted. People are starting to park outside on the main road so in the future the main road will get bad. Ive noticed they're trying to stop people doing that as they cant make money off them. I thought we was meant to get people from the local community to get out and about for health not hinder them so they have to make money. We need to follow the money and find out what council members approved this. Its suspicious i think as it was done so fast and so quiet. Nobody in the community wanted this. We are the ones who should decide as it belonged to the people not the council they should be ashamed. Another place privatised and put profits ahead of the environment. That reminds me the stream that we used to paddle in had lots of brown foam everywhere. People dont...

Stopped here on way to family holiday staycation. Easy to get to (a few minutes from Methyr Tydfil). Plenty of parking.

Pay and display was broken when we were there but I saw it was normally £2. Given you get access to lots of walks and trails for the kids (animal trail and tree trail) this is worth it.

Kids playground is near car park but with views of the hills behind. Good size play park with lots to do and different spaces for small and big kids.

Lots of interesting information boards on way to cafe, and oddly clean and spacious toilets (usually places like this can have grim toilets). Cafe is pleasant inside, but staff are a little inexperienced and while there are sandwiches and snacks, a few cakes, and ice cream, be warned, it is expensive. Glad we bought our own lunch as plenty of benches with views of the surroundings. Went on the animal trail (kids can pick up a free sheet from outside the info building), which is a shortish trail where the kids have to solve short riddles/clues to work out what the next animal sculpture will be. Interesting sculptures (not all wood calved, cleverly done) and a pleasant walk past a stream, and into the woods. Kids enjoyed it. If you want a longer walk, there were other routes where you could explore the woods deeper.

If you're passing and want somewhere to stretch your legs and enjoy a quieter part of the Beacons, or maybe just have your lunch while birds float about nearby, and the kids explore the wood carved fairy tale / children's characters (BFG, Peter Rabbit) dotted about the place, this is a perfect spot. Cafe looks like it would be a cosy retreat on wet cold days too. Would definitely recommend, though advice to consider bringing...