The roads get narrower and the hills they climb become more ambitious as you approach Gilfach Farm – a sure sign that one’s camping experience is not going to be trammelled by the petty irritants of urban life. Indeed, the campsite at Five Saints Riding Centre is even out of sight of the farmhouse and riding stables – there’s a field with a lake in it to be crossed before you arrive (the owners will whizz your stuff down on a quad bike if necessary) – leaving the only vestige of civilisation a very tiny but well kept shed that houses the compost loo.
The site’s simple treelined field slope down to a sylvan-topped stream with a view of hilly farmland beyond. If you pop back to the next door field, you can hire a raft or a dinghy for the day and potter about on the small lake with its pair of miniature islands. The countryside around can be explored by bicycle (mountain bikers will love the local forestry tracks), but if you prefer your transport to be more equine-based, horse rides can be arranged with the owners (if the mounts aren’t already booked), including a day's jaunt that takes in a pub. Walkers can borrow Fly, the farm’s border collie, for a promenade avec chien.
Only four tents are allowed at any one time here, but if you happen to hold to Sartre’s maxim that ‘hell is other people’, you can book the whole site and spend your time in wonderful isolation. Breathe in. And out.
Head to the Dolaucothi Gold Mines (01558 650177) to pan for gold and descend into a Roman mine that was open till the 1930s. For a day at the seaside, head to the charming harbour town of New Quay or go dolphin spotting in Cardigan Bay.