From Basingwerk, walk back to Holywell. Cross the Clwydian range just below the summit of Moel y Parc.

Walk down the lovely Vale of Clwyd, through pretty villages with excellent pubs and some remarkably fine medieval churches (see the Enjoy Medieval Denbighshire site for details).

South of Ruthin, you can explore part of the medieval pilgrimage route which once led towards St David’s. Or you can head due south and walk along the spectacular ridge of Mynydd Llantysilio. The east end of the ridge descends to Valle Crucis, the Valley of the Cross. It takes its name from the massive carved standing stone known as Eliseg’s Pillar. This is carved with an inscription recording the history of the Welsh kings of Powys. The abbey has one of the loveliest settings of all Wales’s Cistercian houses, in this remote and sheltered valley.