Machynlleth (pronounced roughly mak-UN-khleth) is a small market town in mid-Wales, sitting at the head of the Dyfi valley on the edge of Snowdonia National Park. It punches above its weight for a town of its size, with a clock tower at its centre, a Wednesday street market, and a genuinely interesting history: Owain Glyndŵr, the last native Prince of Wales, held his parliament here in 1404.
Most visitors today come for the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), just a couple of miles north up the Dyfi valley. Founded in the 1970s, it's a working demonstration site for renewable energy, sustainable building, and organic growing — worth a half-day especially if you have kids in tow.
The town itself is a decent base for the surrounding area. Cadair Idris, one of Wales's finest mountains, is accessible to the south, and the Mach Loop — a low-level military flying route through the valleys — draws aviation enthusiasts from across the country. Cors Dyfi nature reserve on the estuary to the south is home to nesting ospreys — the first wild breeding pair in Wales in 400 years. The Bron Yr Aur cottage nearby is where Led Zeppelin wrote much of their acoustic material in 1970. The Cambrian rail line connects Machynlleth to Aberystwyth to the west and Shrewsbury to the east.