Forest bathing in Torfaen

Torfaen is a narrow valley county, Pontypool and Cwmbran along the Afon Lwyd, and the woodland is on the hills either side. Lasgarn Wood above Abersychan is the stand-out: beech and ash on limestone with a council circular walk through it and old quarries among the trees. Pontypool Park spreads 150 acres of mature trees, a grotto and a folly up the hillside from the town, and Blaen Bran Community Woodland above Upper Cwmbran is a volunteer-run mix of conifer and new broadleaf around a disused reservoir. The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal towpath runs through Cwmbran with woodland on its banks.

Forest bathing sessions here work in the sheltered hillside woods: two or three hours in a small group, a few hundred metres covered, a guide offering simple invitations and long spells of sitting under the beeches. The canal towpath suits anyone who wants it flat. Look at each guide's profile below for dates and prices.

Pontypool Park is the easy place to start, with free parking at the town end, tarmac paths through the lower park and Pontypool and New Inn station within reach. Lasgarn Wood is the better wood but steeper, best reached on foot from Abersychan.