 | | Cyclists at Strumble Head on the north Pembrokeshire coast close to the ferry port of Fishguard. Image: visitpembrokeshire.com |
PICTURE IT: landscapes, seascapes and holiday experiences by the luggage load. All guaranteed to bring out the true explorer. Plus the bonus of a great travel wheeze: but let’s save that until the end.
This is the wild west country of South Wales. Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Swansea Bay - with the lush green valleys of the Afan and Neath thrown in for good measure. These are the three-and-a- bit distinctly different but contiguous geographical spots which make up the south-west corner of Wales.
Picturesque Afan, birthplace of Welsh actor Richard Burton and the narrowest of all the former mining valleys, is a maze of waymarked footpaths and traffic-free cycle routes. Running parallel, though further north, is the tranquil Vale of Neath. At its upper end a cascade of spectacular waterfalls tumble down from the foothills of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Aberdulais is one – a National Trust site and inspiration for many artists, the great J.M.W. Turner among them.
At the heart of Swansea Bay is vibrant Swansea itself – ‘Wales' city by the sea’ and a centre for shopping, restaurants, entertainment, night-life, recreation and high-end culture.
Mumbles, a few miles west along the bay’s shoreline and start of the idyllic Gower Peninsula, is the city’s seaside playground, resplendent with promenade and restored Victorian pier all of which developed after the building of the Swansea and Mumbles Railway in 1804.
The railway has long gone but the promenade carries a flat, traffic-free cycle path all the way to the Swansea marina, the centrepiece of the city’s award-winning Maritime Quarter. A thoughtful bronze of the celebrated poet and writer Dylan Thomas (Swansea’s most famous son of recent memory) ponders the maritime scene of moored craft and seabirds along with the all-seeing blind Captain Cat, the colourful character from the poet’s play Under Milk Wood. The nearby Dylan Thomas Centre offers regular literary events including the annual Dylan Thomas Festival held October-November each year.
For all its solitary qualities, the Gower Peninsula could be a million miles from the bustle of Swansea city centre. The peninsula, which stretches 14mls/22km west from Mumbles to its coastal extremity at Worms Head, has long been recognised for its scenic beauty. In 1956 it became the first spot in Britain to be given the official protected status of an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. It’s a status which has since become key to protecting flora and fauna and the inherent natural qualities of landscapes. The Gower today, for the most part, holds on to its unspoilt qualities – a haven for those in search of serenity with wonderful beaches like Blue Flag Bracelet Bay, Oxwich Bay, Three Cliffs Bay, pretty Port Eynon and magical Rhossili.
The cockle breeding grounds of the Loughor Estuary on the western neck of the Gower Peninsula, mark the start of Carmarthenshire. There are frequent bus and train connections from Swansea.
Take the train and the rails hug the sand and seagrassed shoreline for much of the trip to the market town of Carmarthen. Along the way, 10mls/16km down the line from Swansea, the train stops at Llanelli today more famous for its rugby team than for the smoke stack industries that established the town in the first place. Over the last few years Llanelli has been busy reinventing itself. Now the jewel in its crown is the Millennium Coastal Park, 14mls/22km of sand, woodland, seaside gardens, harbours and a prolific assortment of wildlife. It's well worth sampling.
Fifty years ago all the apparatus of man’s industrial invention was assembled here, from tinplate works to quayside coal hoists. Now nature has claimed it back and in a generous display of 21st century enlightenment, the hand of man has swept away most of the industrial disfigurements and in their place created a labyrinth of walks and cycleways (this is no-car territory) and a wildlife centre now dubbed the National Wetlands Centre of Wales.
Carmarthen, county town of Carmarthenshire, is another 30 minutes by train. These days a bastion of spoken Welsh, 1900 years ago it was a Roman stronghold. The ancient (and sympathetically modernised) county town is a relaxing, pleasant place to shop, eat and browse.
Carmarthenshire is the self-styled ‘Garden of Wales’ (“a magnificent garden of peace and tranquillity, lush grasses, colourful blooms, an abundance of water features and a heritage of great houses,” as the tourism literature indulges). But who would argue? The landscape is an intricate canvas of rich pastureland, green river valleys, sprawling forest and 50mls/80km of coastline. The wide estuaries which spill out into Carmarthen Bay have been overlooked since Norman times by the castles of Kidwelly, Laugharne and Llanstephan.
The county is the natural home for the National Botanic Garden of Wales which boasts the world’s largest single-span glasshouse. Buses run to the garden from Carmarthen.
And wherever else you go in Carmarthenshire, there’s one place you really shouldn’t miss: that's sleepy, enchanting Laugharne, where poet Dylan Thomas (an over-arching influence in these parts) "got off the bus one day and forgot to get back on". The cliff-top shed where he wrote, and the boathouse where he lived (until his tragically early death in New York in 1953), are reasons enough to visit south-west Wales.
On Carmarthenshire’s western border is Pembrokeshire – a peninsula, waterbound on three sides, forming the most westerly point of the principality and Britain’s only coastal national park.
In Pembrokeshire you’re never far from the sea, in distance or in spirit. The proliferation of magnificent beaches, the ‘fair and fashionable’ resort of Tenby (as it was labelled by wealthy Victorians), and the dramatically sculptured limestone cliffs colonised by breeding seabirds, are all physically linked by the breathtaking beauty of the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path (access to which is made easier by the help of the Puffin Shuttle summer bus service).
Then there are the countless boat trips up, down and around the coast and to the island wildlife reserves of Skomer, Skokholm, Grassholm and Ramsey. Even the great Norman castles of Pembroke (birthplace of Henry VII), Carew and Manorbier owe their strategic locations to the sea. And Milford Haven’s 23mls/37km of sheltered tidal waters were described by Nelson as “one of the world’s finest natural deep-water harbours”.
In every sense, Pembrokeshire is a breath of fresh (Atlantic Ocean) air – a clean, pristine environment which provides a quality of life long sought by city dwellers. Little wonder that in recent years it has become a magnet for a new breed of traveller intent on indulging in a whole variety of sporting and leisure activities.
And that big travel bonus when you come to this corner of Wales? Well, it's Ireland: so easily reached by ferry to Cork (from Swansea) and Rosslare (from Pembroke Dock and Fishguard). Popping over from Rosslare is just as easy too!
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getting there
South-west Wales lies between 190-270mls/304-432kms west of London. In travel terms that amounts for some 4h by coach, 3h by train to Swansea, 4h to Carmarthen and 5h to Haverfordwest,Pembrokeshire. The local links look like this:
- In public transport terms, access to the Gower Peninsula is exclusive to the bus. Although a country bus service it runs a seven days a week service from Swansea to all parts of the peninsula with a minimum guaranteed frequency of 2h and to many parts every hour. Even the most westerly resorts like Rhossili and Port Eynon get a 2h service seven days a week. Moving inland from Swansea and, in particular, north through the Vale of Neath, there are buses every 30min. from Swansea to Resolven and every hour to Glyn-Neath on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
- Trains from Swansea provide a local stopping service every hour to stations on the line west to Carmarthen; it may be necessary to change here for connecting services to places like Tenby, Pembroke and Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.
- For sheer spectacle The Heart of Wales Line takes a lot of beating. Swansea is the southern terminus of the line which for 120mls/192km runs through the glorious mountain country of mid-Wales to Shrewsbury just over the border in England. There is good accommodation along the way.
- Buses from Carmarthen town run a comprehensive year-round service. There's the Mon-Sat 2h service to Cardigan and Newcastle Emlyn passing through rich farming country and touching on a host of remote villages along the way.
- Laugharne, home to poet Dylan Thomas, gets a similar service, which is less frequent on Sunday.
- Pembrokeshire’s Puffin Shuttle is a May to October bus service which carries walkers between points on the National Park’s Coastal Path. It runs twice a day, seven days a week between St David’s and Milford Haven.
- Consider Haverfordwest a good hub for transport links to outlying country areas like St David's and Fishguard.
- The Richards bus from Haverfordwest to St David's comes strongly recommended. A window seat that brings a passing show of rich rolling countryside and panoramic views of the sea.
- The Freedom of Wales Flexi Pass offers unlimited travel by bus and train throughout Wales. In addition there are discount vouchers for visitor attractions and Youth Hostel accommodation. The 4-in-8 days version costs (in 2004) £55 summer, £45 at other times. For free colour leaflet and pocket timetable visit Freedom of Wales
The West Wales Rover Ticket gives unlimited travel for a day on any bus services within Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion (the area to the north of Pembrokeshire).
- Greenways Day Ranger offers unlimited train travel in coastal south Pembrokeshire (Tenby, Manorbier, Pembroke etc).
- Details on the Puffin Shuttle bus are available from the tourist information contacts at Tenby, Haverfordwest, Pembroke, Fishguard etc.
- Carmarthen tourist information can supply times of bus service to the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Story posted on April 5th, 2006
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coach The once-a-day Traws-Cambria Bangor (North Wales) to Cardiff (South Wales) coach service - calls at Carmarthen. Check details at 
