South Wales Christmas 2025

If you have ever joined OutdoorLads for our Penpont Canoeing activity you will have visited Glasbury on Wye, but Christmas gives us a chance to explore the village and surrounding countryside, and it will probably be a bit cold for the canoeing at this time of year!

The Brecon Beacons are a short drive away, so hopefully we can arrange car sharing for those that prefer a more mountainous walk, or perhaps a more leisurely walk taking in Three Cocks (The village of).  For the cyclists amongst you there is the challenging Gospel Pass Loop, or as Glasbury is located a whole 5 miles away from Hay on Wye  you may prefer a visit to the many bookshops there.

The Accommodation

This is our first visit to this location, but you can expect dormitory style accommodation with some spare beds available allowing us to spread-out throughout the building, and with a bit of OutdoorLads festive magic, we'll soon have the common areas looking like Santa's Grotto!   

Itinerary

The following is all subject to change but should give you and idea of what to expect if this is your first OutdoorLads Christmas event.

Friday

You'll be able to arrive at the site from around 4pm on the Friday, and find the bed you've reserved (more details on this closer to the time). Once settled in, there is plenty of room to relax in the lounge, with hot drinks available throughout the weekend. If your preference is for an alcoholic tipple you'll need to bring these yourself.

Friday evening will be jacket potatoes with a choice of fillings, but we're not completely forgetting the traditional OutdoorLads buffet. We'd like you to bring along something for desert or an offering for a cheese board to be set out on both evenings.

Once we've had a briefing over the plans for the weekend, we'll be looking for some volunteers to tidy up the kitchen and dining room, whilst the others can head back to relax in the lounge, or perhaps enjoy some board games (don't forget to bring your favourites).

Saturday

After breakfast on Saturday morning you'll head out on your choice of activity , returning to our accommodation early afternoon. This means you will likely need a packed lunch that you will need to bring yourself.

For those of you that like your ParkRun on a Saturday morning, the nearest is Hay on Wye and we'll try to arrange drivers for those that need it and time our daytime activities to give you a chance to do both.

IF YOU ARE ATTENDING THE HOSTEL YOU DO NOT NEED TO BOOK ON THE EVENT PAGE TO ATTEND YOUR CHOICE OF ACTIVITIES.  THE PAGE IS TO PROVIDE YOU WITH MORE INFORMATION AND TO ALLOW LOCAL MEMBERS TO JOIN FOR THE DAY.

• Park Run
• Three Cocks Walk
• Glasbury & Boughrood
• Walk to Hay On Wye (After Parkrun)

OutdoorLads hostel events always rely on everyone mucking in and helping in the kitchen over the weekend and Christmas is no different, so whilst a few volunteers are busy in the kitchen, we'll hopefully have some Christmas themed activities in the lounge including our traditional Secret Santa.

It wouldn't be a Christmas hostel without Christmas dinner. and you can expect a starter, traditional Christmas roast, vegan option and all the trimmings followed by dessert.

We'll need some volunteers to clear up in the kitchen and dining room, but once that's done it will be a chance to relax and digest, there could be some music on but I'm sure the board games will be in full swing again.

Sunday

Start the day with breakfast and as much coffee as needed to recover from the night before, and then we'll spend an hour or so tidying up the venue and leaving it as clean, or even cleaner than we found it. 

Our plan is to offer a short walk or cultural event on the Sunday for those that are not in a hurry to leave, but this is subject to volunteers stepping up to lead this for you!

Good to Know....

Dogs

Sorry, this event is not suitable for dogs. Registered assistance animals are welcome, but please let us know at the time of booking if you will be bringing an assistance dog. 

Car Sharing

Christmas is the time for sharing, so if driving to the event please consider offering spare seats to other members heading the same way.   Why not add your details to the car share page and we'll provide a Telegram Chat room nearer the time.

Want to Get Out More?

Why not check out the South Wales and South West Calendar here.

OutdoorLads Foundation

Fancy coming along but having a difficult time of it (for whatever reason), and/or finding it hard to justify the expense? Apply for a place on this event through the OutdoorLads Foundation! Nobody apart from staff members will know and we don't need lots of financial info from you either. To apply through the Foundation, you'll need to complete a very short form, which can be found along with more information here.

Want to Pay By Instalments?

You can arrange to pay in instalments if that helps. Please contact the office on support@outdoorlads.com who will help you to secure a place and set up paying in instalments. The event must be fully paid up a week before the event takes place. 

Images: Big thanks to Colin, Glenn and James (ODL Leaders) for the event photos