Wye Valley Wye Valley The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; ) is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic landscapes in Britain. The River Wye () is the fifth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The upper part passes through Rhayader, Builth Wells and Hay-on-Wye, but the area designated as an AONB covers surrounding a stretch lower down the river, from just south of Hereford to Chepstow. This area covers parts of the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, and is recognised in particular for its
England–Wales border Skenfrith (in Wales), towards Monmouth, looping eastwards to include the town itself and a surrounding area within Wales. At Redbrook, the boundary again reaches the Wye, and follows the river southwards, past Tintern and Chepstow on the Welsh side, to its confluence with the Severn at the Severn Bridge. The boundary then continues down the Severn estuary towards the Bristol Channel, with the small island of Flat Holm being administered as part of Wales and the neighbouring island of Steep Holm as part of England. The boundary passes between Flintshire, Wrexham County Borough, Powys, and Monmouthshire in Wales and Cheshire