I have been asked to be joint best man at my mates wedding next September. When discussing what he wanted to do for his stag, he said that he'd like to go walking in Brecon (or surrounding areas). He is pushing 40 and feels that he is too old do just do the standard "pub crawl / club"

I am after recommendations for places to go, stay in South or Mid Wales (for 1 night or 2). And other idea's apart from just walking. Maybe some mountain biking, or some other activites.

Stag do will be early September 2012.

Any FISO'ers able to share thoughts/experiences/ideas?

Thanks in advance.

If North Wales is not too far away I would suggest "Go Ape"

http://goape.co.uk/sites/coed-y-brenin

Just checked one in South Wales as well

http://goape.co.uk/sites/margam

I would also recco going up Snowdon via the Pyg Track and down the miners track.
Not a hard route at all, just make sure you head onto the pyg track and not up Crib Goch by mistake though.

http://www.felinfachgriffin.co.uk/

Great pub with lovely beers and excellent food. Great location for outdoor activities. Have a look at the To Do page.

Storey Arms in Brecon Beacons can organise variuos activities.

I stayed there last year and had a great time.

Brecon Beacon itself is a great walk with fabulous views. Not arduous but enough for a group of slightly hung over 40 year olds to enjoy.

Plenty of info here:

http://www.breconbeacons.org/visit-us/o ... es/walking

Liking this Snowdon idea.

And of course, there is always Brecon Beacon as Groomy stated. Remember going there with the school many many years ago. Lovely place.

Heather and gorse is out in September too

How can you be a joint Best Man?

You're either the best or you're not.

You could do the SAS course to sort it out, they do that in the Brecon Beacons don't they?

Yep both paths pyg track and miners track are very well maintained. No scrambling or rock climbing involved. Very picturesque walk, I have seen children as young as 7 go up it and elderly gents 60+ complete it.

No real fitness required, go as fast as slow as you want. The paths are very well defined as well - so map reading skills are not required but I would recco taking a OS map of snowdon with you and compass/whistle.

I'd give my right arms for a stag weekend that does involve 1,000 pints and terrible shots.

The Pembroke Coast is as beautiful as it gets and there are less hills.

We did the Brecon Breacons a few months back with a circular walk taking in Pen-Y-Fan - get's the old raspberry going. What I cannot advise on is the night life though Brecon itself is quite a decent size with a few nice looking pubs at least.

You could use Abergevenny as a base and you have the black Mountains / Sugar loaf on your doorstep too.

Down-side - weather - almost certainly!

How about cycling in Rhayder (mid Wales)?

http://www.clivepowell-mtb.co.uk/

Used to go to the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons a lot, but it was years ago so a bit hazy on the details. Walking round there is pretty nice and fairly easy going. Pen Y Fan and the amusingly named Fan Y Big provide pretty good views.

I've also done some canoeing and kayaking on the Wye and on Llangorse Lake round there - might be worth looking into. The Wye is fairly good for Canadian canoes round there, although I seem to remember it gets a bit shallow in places - might just have been a dry summer though. Suspect Llangorse Lake will have some activity centres based nearby. There's also a canal in the Beacons that you can paddle down and pretty good mountain biking there

Alternatively (depending on where people are coming from), the Forest of Dean is pretty nice. You've got Symonds Yat for Canoe Hire (there's some whitewater there, but also lots of nice quiet stretches for more leisurely paddling), plenty of decent but not too hard trails for mountain biking and some good walking country as well. Only just over the border from Wales so may even be more convenient than South Wales.

Could also give climbing a try. never climbed in the Brecon Beacons but there's probably some places there that run beginner days. There is some decent climbing at Symonds Yat (limestone, bit polished though and the walk up's a bit of a muddy slog) and I'm pretty sure that there's a climbing centre there that would run beginners taster sessions.

There used to be a mountain bike orienteering course in the Forest of Dean which was good - hopefully still there.

10+ years ago now so I can't help with names but we stayed at a pub that had a couple of good quality outhouses with lots of decent bunk beds. Great for food and a few beers after a hard day's riding.

I went to one where there were at least 3

Some options from North Wales, but not too far North....kinda South North
White water rafting http://www.ukrafting.co.uk/rafting.htm and stay in Bala, plenty of good real ale pubs
Mountain Biking at Dolgellau http://www.mbwales.com/en/content/cms/c ... renin.aspx
You could also climb the very popular Cader Idris http://www.snowdoniaguide.com/cader_idris.html Dolgellau is a lovely Market town also with some nice pubs.
Up mountain Cnicht is another popular one where you can stay at the very picturesque and village of Beddgelert http://www.beddgelerttourism.com/

On a hangover.....easy to combine with the above...
Visit the slate mines http://www.llechwedd-slate-caverns.co.uk/deepmine.html
Steam train trip http://www.festrail.co.uk/
Visit the set of the original "Prisoner" http://www.portmeirion-village.com/

A really lovely part of the world - highly recommend Forest of Dean and Symonds Yat - really nice pub near SY down on the Wye - with a ferry across the river.

I've walked from the northern half of the Wye valley trail from Rhyd-y-benwch to Hay-on-Wye - really lovely, but very quiet, part of the world.