In the Tal-y-llyn valley, with Cadair Idris for a backdrop, Alex Yorke and Lorraine Hinkins are the ‘dedicated hosts’ at this 18th-century farmhouse-turned-‘exceptional guest house’. Bedrooms are made inviting with a Welsh wool blanket and local artwork; tea- and coffee-making facilities and good toiletries are supplied. Each room has a window framing a countryside vista, but book one of the three with a window seat to better take in the views of lake, mountain and hills. In the lounge, borrow a volume from the crammed shelves of the glass-fronted bookcase, then settle into a sofa by the log-burning stove. Another day, step into the garden and scan the skies for red kites. Dinner, cooked by the hostess four nights a week, is ‘simple but seriously good’ – perhaps twice-baked Welsh cheese soufflé; rack of salt marsh lamb (‘the best we’ve eaten anywhere in Britain or Ireland’). An ‘extremely generous’ breakfast is just what’s needed before exploring southern Snowdonia: a historic steam railway leaves Tywyn Wharf for a waterfall trail in Nant Gwernol; the fantastic Precipice Walk around the peak of Moel Cynwch is within reach. More reports, please.