Holiday Cottages In Rhondda Cynon Taf

Rhondda Cynon Taf has a modest set of self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk, around 25 at the moment, scattered through the old mining valleys north-west of Cardiff. This is green, steep-sided valley country, rising at its northern edge to the moors of the Brecon Beacons. Fourteen of the cottages take dogs and eight have a hot tub.

Best areas and towns in Rhondda Cynon Taf

Rhondda Cynon Taf covers three valleys, the Rhondda, the Cynon and the Taff, that run down from the hills towards Cardiff. The cottages are few and well spread, with no single base standing out, so it pays to pick a valley for the walking and the hills above it.

• Pentre and Treherbert: villages high in the Rhondda Fawr valley, close to the open mountain
• Llwynypia and Pontygwaith: smaller Rhondda communities on the valley floors
• Hirwaun, Penderyn and Rhigos: villages at the head of the Cynon valley, right on the edge of the Brecon Beacons
• Cwmbach, Aberaman and Llwydcoed: communities around Aberdare in the Cynon valley
• Pontypridd: the main town where the valleys meet, ten miles north of Cardiff
• Llantrisant, Pontyclun, Miskin and Llanharry: lower, greener places in the south near the M4
• Gilfach Goch: a former mining village in its own little valley to the west

With so few cottages on offer, search by the dates and the size of place you want rather than expecting a wide choice in any one village.

Rhondda Cynon Taf countryside and the valleys

This is the classic landscape of the south Wales valleys: narrow, steep-sided glens of terraced villages with high, open moorland in between. The coal that built the Rhondda is long gone, and the hillsides have greened over into a country of forestry, reclaimed parkland and breezy ridge walks. The northern rim of the county climbs into Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, the Brecon Beacons, and the dramatic mountain road over the Rhigos, the Bwlch y Clawdd, gives one of the great views in the region from its Rhigos Viewpoint. The bare top of Bwlch Mountain above Treorchy is another fine vantage point over the Rhondda. Lower down, country parks such as Dare Valley above Aberdare and Clydach Vale near Tonypandy have turned old colliery land into lakes, trails and picnic grounds. The county is also a recognised spot for dark skies, well away from the city's glow.

Things to do in Rhondda Cynon Taf

The big day out is the Royal Mint Experience at Llantrisant, where the coins of the realm are struck and you can see the production lines and strike your own. Pontypridd has a handsome old town with the riverside Ynysangharad War Memorial Park, home to a restored lido, and the Pontypridd Museum in a former chapel tells the story of the valleys. For the outdoors there is walking and cycling in Dare Valley Country Park and Clydach Vale Country Park, the viewpoint and mountain road at the Rhigos, and stargazing sessions run locally under some of the darkest skies in the south. Aberdare Park is a fine Victorian park for a gentler stroll.

When to visit Rhondda Cynon Taf

Late spring and summer are the easiest months for the valleys, when the hillsides are green and the country parks and mountain roads are at their best for walking, cycling and picnics. Autumn brings colour to the forestry and the reclaimed valley woods. Winter is quiet and often grey in the glens, though the high ridges can be clear and the long dark nights are good for stargazing. The weather changes quickly on the tops, so take layers and waterproofs whatever the season.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Rhondda Cynon Taf

More than 10 of the cottages in Rhondda Cynon Taf take dogs, and eight have a hot tub.

Getting to Rhondda Cynon Taf

Rhondda Cynon Taf lies just north and north-west of Cardiff, easy to reach by road. The A470 runs up the Taff valley through Pontypridd towards the Beacons, and the M4 clips the southern edge near Llantrisant and Pontyclun. The valley railways are a real asset: branch lines run from Cardiff up the Rhondda to Treherbert, up the Cynon to Aberdare, and through Pontypridd, so much of the area can be reached without a car. Cardiff Airport is around forty minutes to the south, with Bristol further off across the Severn.

Useful links

• Rhondda Cynon Taf Council
• Bannau Brycheiniog National Park
• Visit Wales

Rhondda Cynon Taf is a county borough in the south Wales valleys, lying immediately north and north-west of Cardiff. It is named for three of its rivers, the Rhondda, the Cynon and the Taff, whose deep, narrow valleys give the area its shape and its character. Neath Port Talbot lies to the west and Merthyr Tydfil and Caerphilly to the east, while the northern boundary climbs onto the high moorland of the Brecon Beacons. The borough was formed in 1996 from older valley districts and is one of the most populous local authorities in Wales.

The landscape is the legacy of coal. Through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the Rhondda in particular was one of the densest mining districts in the world, its valley floors filled with terraced villages and its hillsides scarred by collieries and spoil. The pits have all closed, and the slopes have greened over into forestry, reclaimed commons and country parks, leaving a country of steep ridges, fast rivers and long terraces beneath open hilltops. The highest ground, around the Rhigos and the head of the Cynon, rises into the national park, and mountain roads such as the Bwlch y Clawdd cross between the valleys with sweeping views.

The main town is Pontypridd, where the valleys meet before the river runs on to Cardiff, with Aberdare at the head of the Cynon and Llantrisant, home to the Royal Mint, on the lower ground to the south. The area is proud of its industrial and cultural heritage, from male voice choirs to the birthplace of the singer Tom Jones, and today it leans on services, light industry and a growing interest in the outdoors of its reclaimed hills.