Sarah & Geoff, Devon

The Beacons Way, September 2024

“In 2020 our Beacons Way holiday was cancelled because of Covid. The company we had booked the holiday with then decided not to run the holiday. Still keen to walk the Beacons Way, despite getting a bit older (71 and 74), we were delighted to find Rob and Sarah Rees of Exploring Mid-Wales. And what a find they turned out to be!

We sorted out the first two days ourselves and then with some trepidation (having not met Rob at this point) we walked to Crickhowell where Rob had promised to meet us. Sure enough there he was with our luggage and so started the fantastic support provided by Exploring Mid-Wales.

Rob had booked us accommodation in Llangatock, Brecon and Llandovery – all good, with Brecon being exceptional. These centres worked very well as there was a choice of places to eat (other than Llangatock as we were there on Sunday and Monday so we ate at the hotel).

Each day we were picked up at the accommodation at the agreed time and taken to the next stage of the walk. At the end of the walk stage Rob or Saraah met us and took us to the accommodation. This sounds straightforward, but a careful estimate of the walk time was needed to ensure we arrived on time. It helped us that Rob was really flexible; we provided up dates (when a phone signal was available) and he responded – on one occasion we needed extra time as the weather was poor. Each time either Rob or Sarah was waiting for us.

On the first six days we had good weather, but then the rain arrived and we had four days of little visibility as well as rain. To suit the weather conditions we were able to swap two of the walks around, despite it meaning more driving for Rob.

Rob was very knowledgeable about the route of the Beacons Way and the surrounding area. The daily briefing notes helped us and the additional information Rob provided enables us to get the best out of the holiday.

To sum up - Exploring Mid-Wales were reliable, knowledgeable and flexible and we would award them 11 out of 10 for the friendly, efficient service they provided. Many, many thanks.