Bron Yr Aur is an 18th-century stone cottage in the hills above Machynlleth, famous as the retreat where Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote some of their most influential material in 1970. Plant had childhood connections to the area, and the pair chose the cottage specifically for its remoteness — at the time there was no electricity, and they worked by candlelight.
The cottage is private property (owned by Jimmy Page) and closed to visitors, but it has become a quiet pilgrimage site for Led Zeppelin fans who walk up to view it from the public footpath that passes nearby. The approach through the forest and hillside above Machynlleth is pleasant in its own right. It is best combined with a wider walk through the Dyfi valley, which has good waymarked paths through the surrounding hills.