What’s the quickest way? Truck is 40t artic and 15ft 9ins of hay!
Have been up there three times and from out yard near Melksham I havn’t yet done in 4.5hrs, always falling short by 20 minutes or so.
Are you trying to avoid the toll or…?
if you are avoiding the toll then carry on to the the M4/M5 split, head M5 north, M6, M54, Shrewsbury, Welshpool, Machynlleth, Aberystwyth
If you dont mind the toll then over the bridge, off at the Coldra (jc24),up the A449 take the A40 turn for Abergavenny, head for Brecon (dont turn off for Talgarth after Crickhowell as its a crap road in a loaded lorry and if you have never driven it before, there is sod all time in it loaded), when you get to the roundabout at Brecon head for Builth Wells, when you get to Builth turn right go over the bridge turn left at the roundabout follow the A470 towards Rhayader, when you get to Rhayder you will go thru a narrow bit, go straight over and head towards Langurig still on the 470, turn left at the next roundabout straight towards Aber on the A44.
struggle to do it in 4.5 both ways but toll way is quicker
i used to go to twywn regular at one time with a 15.3" curtainsider artic.
i would suggest M4 of at juct 24, onto A449 norhtbound, off at Raglan onto A40 westbound to Abergavenny, you,ll have to follow alt route around Abergavenny as the through town route is closed at the moment.
head up A40 towards Brecon, off onto A479 to talgarth join onto A470 to builth wells after builth there is now a new bypass so you dont have to worry about the old 13.3" bridge anymore.
onto Rhayader then follow up to llangurig round about. turn left and follow A44 to Aberwystwyth.
somebody please correct me but i,m sure there are no bridges on thias route just some really crap roads, you may not arrive with all the hay you started off with( low trees) 
Which way did you go dude?
I’m glad I read this thread - not been through Builth for a few years and I still thought there was 13’6" bridge just north on the road to Rhyader.
sime17:
Which way did you go dude?I’m glad I read this thread - not been through Builth for a few years and I still thought there was 13’6" bridge just north on the road to Rhyader.
Brand new road from Builth to Newbridge, no bridge now, still see a few lorries doing u-turns on the old road due to following there old non-updated sat nav maps.
I normally deliver the hay North of Lampeter near the village of Telsarn, so I go M4/A48 to Camarthen, then straight up to Telsarn via Llanybydder (where Dunbia slaughter house is).
When I have done Aberystwyth before I have gone the same way but turned off left for Pencader and (avoiding the bridge) worked my way up to the coast, following that coast road through Aberaeron and on to Aberystwyth. This route was mentioned the other way around in the Topic linked above actually.
All the routes so far sound as broad as they are long and for me it may be a case of better the devil and stuck to the way I know best… 
NiceRoadTrucker:
I normally deliver the hay North of Lampeter near the village of Telsarn, so I go M4/A48 to Camarthen, then straight up to Telsarn via Llanybydder (where Sunnis slaughter house is).
When I have done Aberystwyth before I have gone the same way but turned off left for Pencader and (avoiding the bridge) worked my way up to the coast, following that coast road through Aberaeron and on to Aberystwyth. This route was mentioned the other way around in the Topic linked above actually.
All the routes so far sound as broad as they are long and for me it may be a case of better the devil and stuck to the way I know best…
Abergavenny is the best mate, that route in the link was based on a Cardiff starting point.
40 mins from Newport to Aber, 35 mins to brecon, 35 mins to builth, 20 mins to rhayader, 15mins to llangurig and 35 to Aberystwyth
Carmarthen to Aber is crap just 30mph villages and uphill stretches
If the drop’s just North of Lampeter- I’d go Abergavenny to Brecon, stay on a40 to and thru Llandovery, then right at Llanwrda across to Lampeter. The Llanwrda road is awful and twisty but they all are in that neck of the woods anyway! That’s the way we used to go with NR Evans fridges going into Llanybydder if we were coming from the NW (it was Oriel Jones in those days, then Dungannon meats), including with hanging loads. Just be ready to meet Jenkin’s and DJ Thomas’ artics coming the other way a bit spritely (they know the roads see!) 
Re the low trees I had a week on curtainsiders on spuds/ply last month, had a drop in Llanybydder then one in Newcastle Emlyn, I was surprised how bad the overhanging trees were on A roads even for a 14 foot trailer. Ceredigion/Carmarthenshire Council cutbacks probably to blame but it knackers yr progress when you have to hog the middle and be extra careful about oncoming traffic - but I spose (from distant memory) hay/straw was always like that anyway! 
Well, a big Thank You to Bubsy and GBD. I took the route you chaps recommended and I have just pulled in to my destination at Aberystwyth with 12mins to spare.
A bit twisty in places but all the roads up from Abergavenny are plenty wide enough and most have pretty recent, smooth surfaces too which make for a nice drive. The new bypass north of Builth Wells is a dream, never went on the old road but the new one crosses it once or twice and it looks like it would have been a fair slog for a couple of miles.
Thanks again, new route for me from now on.
I’ll try the one you mentioned Sime17 next time I go to the farm at Telsarn. I can do it ny way in 4h 10m so shaving anything off will still be a bonus.
Cool! 