Ebook lovers and bookworms of the world, rejoice! As a result of there exists the cutest little city on the England-Wales border that’s completely overflowing with books.
The city is Hay-on-Wye, a city of lower than 2000 folks that has dubbed itself “The World’s First Ebook City.” This little city solely has a pair principal streets to talk of, but it surely has 15+ unbiased bookshops – actually one on nearly each nook.
Hay-on-Wye makes a wonderful day journey from Cardiff, or a terrific cease on an extended Wales highway journey. Simply remember to avoid wasting room in your suitcase for all of the books you are going to be tempted to purchase.
Hay-on-Wye as a e-book city
It began again in 1962, when a person referred to as Richard Sales space opened a secondhand bookshop in Hay-On-Wye at 44 Lion Road. Hay-On-Wye was a little bit market city again then, however Sales space thought it might be one thing extra. He thought the city may use books – tons and plenty of books – to attract extra vacationers.
Sales space started increasing his personal bookshop into different small storefronts, and inspired others to open up e-book shops, too. He declared Hay-On-Wye a “City of Books” – and by that time, he wasn’t fallacious.
Richard Sales space was an eccentric man, and knew how one can get consideration. In 1977, he proclaimed Hay an unbiased kingdom, declaring himself King – and naming his horse Prime Minister. The stunt bought numerous worldwide consideration, additional placing Hay-On-Wye on the map.
In 1988, the city launched the Hay Competition of Literature & Arts (now often simply referred to as the Hay Competition), which to this present day nonetheless attracts tens of 1000’s of tourists every year.
As of 2025, even after years of post-pandemic struggles within the tourism and small enterprise worlds, Hay-On-Wye nonetheless has greater than 15 unbiased e-book shops working across the city.
Prime issues to do in Hay-on-Wye
Okay, so now you are intrigued and perhaps satisfied to go to Hay-On-Wye. What do you do whilst you’re there? Listed here are a number of concepts:
1. Store for books
DUH! You are not going to go to Hay-On-Wye and never go to its well-known bookstores! You can simply spend a full day simply visiting all of the completely different outlets, which all have distinctive personalities.
Begin out at Richard Sales space’s Bookshop, the unique store Sales space opened at 44 Lion Road. This three-story store just isn’t solely historic, however can also be chock filled with each new and secondhand books. The structure of the constructing is value seeing, too.
From there, wander round city a go to another bookshops! There are a number of themed e-book shops, like Homicide & Mayhem (devoted to thriller and crime novels), Homosexual on Wye (an LGBTQ+ e-book store), The Literature Laboratory (a youngsters’s e-book retailer), and The Poetry Bookshop, plus a number of normal e-book shops.
The Hay Cinema Bookshop is a big secondhand bookstore contained in the native cinema, and you can too try the e-book choice on the out of doors Honesty Bookshop on the foot of Hay Fort, the place you should buy used books for simply £1.
The good half about shopping for books in Hay is that, since a lot of them are secondhand, you will discover some really nice offers!
2. Go to Hay Fort
The city of Hay-On-Wye is partially located round Hay Fort, a fortification courting again to across the yr 1200. The fortress was used and expanded upon for hundreds of years, however fell into disrepair after fires within the 1900s.
As of 2022, nevertheless, Hay Fort has re-opened to the general public after main renovations to show it into an area for arts, literature and studying. The fortress now has an artwork gallery and cafe, together with varied workshops and talks.
There are day by day guided fortress excursions, and a viewing platform to go to with views out over the city and Welsh countryside.
3. Do different purchasing
Whereas Hay’s bookstores are the star of the present on the town, there are many different cute outlets and boutiques to find, too!
Head to spots like Mostlymaps, the Eighteen Rabbit Honest Commerce store, Haystacks Music, and the Hay Vintage Market, together with different outlets and galleries alongside Fort Road particularly.
You can even try the Canolfan Hay Craft Centre advanced close to the city’s principal car parking zone, which has craft/present outlets, a fudge store, and (maybe most significantly) public bathrooms.
4. Admire the River Wye
The River Wye runs proper alongside Hay-On-Wye, and you may go for a stroll alongside it whilst you’re on the town, and even lease a canoe for a part of the day!
5. Eat and drink your manner round Hay
Once more, Hay is a small city. However there are nonetheless loads of cozy spots to publish up for a espresso, a meal, or a pleasant pint. Just a few spots I might advocate embrace:
- Dugan’s Patisserie & Boutique
- Angie’s (their slogan is “tea desserts and insults!”)
- The Cosy Cafe (nice for lunch)
- The Sandwich Cellar
- The Granary (one other cafe)
- Three Tuns (pub)
- Tomatitos Tapas Bar
- Chapters Restaurant (good for dinner)
- The Previous Black Lion (pub and restaurant)
There’s even an area micro brewery simply outdoors of city referred to as Fortunate 7 Beer Co! See in the event that they’re open throughout your go to, or search for their brews round city to strive.
Attending to Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye sits virtually proper on the England-Wales border, however is formally in Powys county in Wales. The easiest way to achieve the city is by automotive. It is roughly 1.5 hours from Cardiff, 3 hours from Conwy, and three.5 hours from London.
An essential factor to find out about visiting Hay-On-Wye is that there is actually no parking in the principle heart of city apart from on the Market Sq. Automobile Park, which is small and restricted to 2 hours of parking. I like to recommend you park on the Oxford Street Automobile Park, which is a big automotive park a 5-minute stroll from all of the bookshops. Parking right here prices £2.50 as much as 2 hours, £3.25 for 2-4 hours, and £4 for something over 4 hours (extra on parking expenses right here).
Must you keep in a single day in Hay-on-Wye?
You *can* keep in a single day in Hay, and it’d make sense if you wish to go to the city and in addition spend a while mountaineering in Bannau Brycheiniog Nationwide Park (AKA the Brecon Beacons). However Hay-on-Wye would not actually have that many resort choices, and you may see just about all the things in about half a day.
So I personally suppose Hay-on-Wye makes a very good day journey from Cardiff versus an in a single day journey.
@dangerousbiz Love books? Then you definately’ll love the city of Hay-on-Wye in Wales. It calls itself the World’s First Ebook City, and there’s fairly actually a bookshop on each nook. Would you want to go to? #hayonwye #booklovers #booklove #bookshop #walestiktok #visitwales #booktokfyp ♬ Magical Fantasy – Dmitriy Sevostyanov
Who’s able to plan a visit to Hay-on-Wye, the e-book city of Wales?
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Harmful Enterprise Journey Weblog. She has traveled to greater than 60 international locations on 6 continents from her house base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and considerate journey via the US, Europe, and remainder of the world. Amanda solely shares suggestions based mostly on her private experiences and locations she’s truly traveled!