How To Reach Hay-on-wye (Y Gelli)

Often called by a short name, ‘Hay’, Hay-on-Wye is a small community and market town in Breconshire, a historic county in Wales. Situated in the South East Bank of River Wye, the town is within the vicinity of the Brecon Beacons National Park, towards the north-easternmost side. This adorable town on the English/Welsh border is filled with most things related to books, about shelves on the streets, books in the castle and boutique bookstores. You will find ample old-fashioned and picturesque eateries here, where not only can you enjoy authentic British cuisine but also read away to sunset. Its location makes Hay perfect for travelers to explore the gorgeous border country and here's how you can reach it.

The fastest way to reach Hay-on-Wye from New Delhi is to fly to Birmingham and then make the onward journey via train and bus. For a travel time of 16 hours and 25 minutes, that includes transfers as well, the estimated cost of travel, one way works out to INR 65,000 approx. KLM, Air France, Swiss Air, Emirates, Lufthansa and Qatar Airways fly on the route. Alternatively, you can also fly from New Delhi to Cardiff/Bristol/Manchester/London Heathrow/London City or Liverpool.

On arrival at Birmingham International Airport, you can catch a train every 10 minutes for Birmingham New Street and it will have you there in 15 minutes. From Birmingham New Street, there’s a train every hour for Hereford, which takes about an hour and 24 minutes. Hay-on-Wye is about an hour’s journey on a bus from Hereford Station. Trains operating on this route include Transport for Wales, Virgin West Coast and West Midlands. The estimated travel fare between Birmingham and Hay-on-Wye is roughly INR 250-3,000.

When you fly to Birmingham, post the train journey from Birmingham New Street to Hereford Station, there’s a bus every 4 hours to Hay-on-Wye, Hay Castle which takes about an hour and costs approx. INR 600-750. The Stagecoach in South Wales and Yeomans Travel operate coaches on this route. Alternatively, you can take a bus from Birmingham, Smallbrook Queensway to the Crowngate Bus Station, on arrival here, board another coach to Country Bus Station and then finally travel to Hay-on-Wye, Hay Castle by another bus. The total travel time on this route would be roughly 6 hours, inclusive of transfers.

You can move around in Hay-on-Wye on a bus or train. The nearest station to Hay-on-Wye is the Hay Castle, which is just 194 meters away (3-minute walk), while the buses stop near Hay-on-Wye, T 14. There’s a consistent bus facility between the Hereford Rail Station and Hay-on-Wye and then further ahead to Brecon. Then, there are taxi services available as well.