Llandeilo

A red inn above the river mist

The Cawdor is bright red. It stands on Rhosmaen Street, a Georgian former coaching inn that started life as the Bear Inn under the Golden Grove estate and was given its current front around 1807 by the architect William Jernegan, working for Lord Cawdor. It has been putting up travellers since the 1760s and now has 23 rooms, no two the same, plus a restaurant called Cegin Cawdor in a dining room with bay windows. It is hard to miss.

Rhosmaen Street is the high street, and it is lined with brightly painted Georgian buildings that climb the hill. At the top, the tower of St Teilo's crowns the whole thing. The town sits above the River Towy in the Vale of Towy, and on the right morning it is shrouded in river mist — "dragon's breath," as a local guide's daughter calls it.

Old pubs and independent counters

Further along the street is the White Horse, a 16th-century coaching inn and one of the oldest buildings in town, tied to Evan Evans and pouring two well-kept ales from that brewery. Evan Evans itself is at 1 Rhosmaen Street; its beers are all gluten-free and vegan-friendly, which is not a sentence you often get to write about a Welsh brewery. The Salutation, near the centre, keeps three beers, a pool table on one side and a wood fire on the other, with an open-mic session on Tuesdays. The Cottage Inn goes back to the 1850s and was once a drovers' hostelry.

For a town of 1,784 people, the shopping is disproportionate. There is a bakery, Pitchfork and Provision, in the Castle Courtyard; a chocolatier called Heavenly doing handmade chocolate and ice cream; Diod, a coffee and wine shop; and The Hang Out, which serves Melbourne-style brunch. Café Braz on King Street was opened in 2010 by Kerry and Lee. Nigel Williams runs a delicatessen. The Works Antique Centre houses more than 55 sellers alongside a garden centre and a vintage tearoom. The Sunday Times named Llandeilo one of the top six places to live in Wales, calling it "a sophisticated shopping destination," and for once the estate-agent language undersells it.

Parkland paths and castle ruins

The walking starts at the edge of town. Dinefwr Park, run by the National Trust, was landscaped by Capability Brown and holds fallow deer, the ancient White Park cattle, and the ruins of the 12th-century Dinefwr Castle above tree-lined paths. Most of the paths are gentle and surfaced. Down by the water, the Tywi footpath crosses a suspension bridge and reaches a pebble beach you can paddle from. Four miles south-east, Carreg Cennen sits on its limestone crag, billed as the most romantic ruin in Wales.

The tower St Teilo left behind

St Teilo's was rebuilt between 1848 and 1851 by Sir George Gilbert Scott for £4,723, seating around 700. The 15th-century tower is the only part left standing from before. The saint himself is said to have made Llandeilo his base in the 6th century, though Llandaff Cathedral disputes the burial.

Arriving on the Heart of Wales line

The station is a few hundred yards from the centre, on the Heart of Wales line. It is unstaffed, so you buy your ticket on the train, and there are eleven free parking spaces if you drive instead.