Where to stay near Chepstow, Caerphilly, and Tintern

We've stayed at Symonds Yat Rock Lodge in the glorious Wye Valley on several occasions https://rocklodge.co.uk. It's not a B&B, although they did offer breakfast when we stayed however I'm not sure if they still do as there is no mention of it on their website. All the accommodations have a fully equipped kitchen.

Everywhere that you want to visit is within an easy drive and the lodge itself is in a rural location so there are no concerns about heavy traffic or parking issues.

Symond’s Yat is pretty, but the narrow roads can get very busy as it’s a very popular place. Parking there is limited so ensure wherever you stay has its own parking. It’s a bit out of the area that you hope to visit.

Monmouth would be a good base, although it’s years since I stayed there other than in my caravan.

From what I recall, Chepstow itself is functional rather than pretty. Caerphilly and surrounds is a former coal mining area and is therefore not somewhere where I would recommend that you stay. Avoid the Cwmbran- Merthyr Tydfil - Ebbw Vale triangle.

Tintern is more rural and there are a number of highly rated B&Bs there. Abergavenny has become a foodie town and isn’t far.

In 2019 we stayed at Parva Farmhouse Riverside Guesthouse in Tintern for three nights and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The breakfast was good and it has free parking. We walked to the Abbey once and drove to it an another occasion. Parva house also offers dinners, but we walked to town for dinners. On our first night there we walked across the street and ate at Wye Valley hotel restaurant. We also dined at the Wild Hare Restaurant at the Royal George hotel.

Originally we were going to stay in Chepstow, but I read too many reviews of hotels canceling reservations when there was racing taking place and they could get more money.

Monmouth is nice to walk around for an hour or so. It’s about 10 miles from Tintern and easy to get to. One can park in the Waitrose parking lot, free for one hour, which is enough time to see the Monnow bridge, Parish Church of Saint Thomas the Martyr, Over Monnow and walk along the Main Street. Monmouth castle is just a wall, so skip it.

Cardiff and Caerphilly castles are somewhat close to each other. If you had the time, you could also squeeze in Coch castle which is between the other two. It’s smaller and a reconstruction, but still nice.

Parking at Caerphilly castle can be a pain if you try to park in the lot along the front of the castle, in town. We parked in a lot on the backside of the castle, just off of Crescent Road. Much less busy and less crowded.

There are other castle ruins in the Tintern area that are free to enter including Skenfrith, White, and Grosmont. Raglan castle, also nearby, is actually pretty nice, but there is a fee. If you care about Neolithic stones, a few miles from Tintern in Trelleck are the 3,500 year old Harold’s stones. There are three stones and only take a few minutes to visit. As Jennifer stated and I’ll emphasize, some roads in that area are very, very narrow.

We visited al these places in 2017 driving from Bath by entered Wales and headed to Tintern Abby, then toward Cardiff were we stayed. We stayed in Cardiff for two nights and also visited the Museum of Welsh life at St. Fagans.

I also stayed in Cardiff to go to Caerphilly and one of my favorite places, St. Fagan's.