Wales

Where Adventure awaits

Why you should visit Wales

Whether you are looking for adventure or a relaxing country holiday, Wales has it all. With its rolling sheep-specked green hills, inlets, mountains and rocky coastline Wales will take your breath away. Covering over 8,016 square miles there are three National Parks, and multiple beaches, cities and villages in Wales.
Home to one of the UK’s most challenging hikes, one of the top ten walks in the world and the best beach in the UK it will be hard to decide on just where to visit. If you are an adventure tourist like me you will be sure to have your hands full. With lots of places to go Coasteering, kayaking, hang gliding, scuba diving, cycling, hiking and camping.

I only had a few days in Wales and wanted to make the most of it so I chose to visit the Gower Peninsula and Pembrokeshire. If you have time though make room for Snowdonia and Brecon Beacons National Parks.
​Wales was also the one place on my visit to England where I saw no other Americans and I would highly recommend this place to anyone. The food, the people, the activities and the mesmerizing beauty struck me unlike any other place I have visited.  Read more about my recommendations below,  and for and in detail read about my travels you can read my blog.

Swansea, Mumbles & the Gower Peninsula

Since I was traveling from London and I didn’t want to be hiking and exploring with all my bags every day so I chose to stay in Swansea and use that as my home base. Swansea is a coastal town that is about halfway between Cardiff and St. Davids (my destination in Pembrokeshire.) All these places are accessible by train and bus and are very easy to get to. From London, there are several trains to take to Swansea and they take slightly over 2 hours at a price of just over $100 US.

Travel Tip: Buy a sim card with Data; at least 2GB before you leave London, this way you can use Google Maps for updated train times, and for any time you get turned around. 

Swansea is a good size town but unless you want to spend your time in a pub for hours on end you can see all its fun points in a day.

My favorite part of Swansea was the coastal path that connects Swansea with Mumbles. (Photo Above) It goes for miles and is right along the ocean the entire time. It makes for a great walk, going right past Oystermouth Castle and the lighthouse.

Accommodations

I recommend staying in one of the many guest houses located along the beach. I stayed at Leonardo’s Guest house which was about $50 US a night and had made-to-order breakfast for 7 pounds if you wanted it. The accommodations were small and basic, but exactly what I needed for the trip. Located right along the beach and about 20 minutes from the train station/ 10 minutes from the bus station.  Additional Accommodations 

Things to Do

Oystermouth Castle – Closes at 4pm, but after hours you can bring some wine and enjoy a nice evening on the grass.
Lighthouse and relaxing at the peninsula with an ice cream
Botanical Gardens
Coastal walk – walk, run or bike – Bike rental Swansea 

Rhossili & WormsHead

St. Davids is probably one of if not the cutest towns I have ever seen. For a town with only 1700 people, it is filled with artisan shops, cafes, tea and chocolate shops, hotels and several adventure outfitters who also sell gear if you forgot your raincoat or need something warm. The first thing you will want to do in St. Davids is look at St. Davids Cathedral which was built in the 12th Century and has been open for business for over 800 years. It’s right in town and the size and beauty of it will blow you away.

From St. Davids, you can go on several day trips/tours/activities. One of the main attractions is a boat trip to Ramsey Island.

Ramsey Island is a national bird sanctuary and is home to not only puffins but several dozen other bird species that use its craggy sides to nest and breed. It is also home to a very healthy seal population whom you will see swimming around all year round. The island itself is also home to a farm run by the island caretakers, so if you see a random horse running about on a seemingly deserted island this is why.  The most popular tour lasts just an hour and takes you around the island through some sea caves (tides permitting) and then back to the harbor all by jet boat. They also supply big warm waterproof jackets for everyone. There are other trips to choose from as well, they have fishing outings, dolphin viewing, and other trips where you can get out and walk on some of the islands.

Travel Tip: I didn’t book ahead and literally just walked into the closest spot to the bus station and asked what the shortest and soonest trip was since I was pressed for time. Keep in mind Thousand Islands is literally 1 foot down the street. Whichever you chose I’m sure you will have a great time, don’t forget your camera and I would recommend booking ahead of time.

Leave enough time to get from St. Davids down to the docks. There is a town bus the Celtic Coaster that picks up from the town hall across the street from Voyages of Discovery.  It runs about every 30 minutes or so and this is what will take you down to the harbor. It’s just 2 miles but on single-file winding roads so it takes about 15 minutes.

More Adventure

There are also more adventurous things to do in St. Davids. For instance coasteering- which is a mixture of cliff jumping, swimming and sea cave exploration. You can read more about my experience on my blog. They also offer kayaking, sea cliff rock climbing and some other activities. I went out with TYF Adventures and they were awesome, as well as carbon neutral and very knowledgeable about the local marine ecosystem.

Two Boat companies
Voyages of Discovery( I went on this one)
Thousand Islands Expedition (More trips to choose from)
Adventure companies
TYF Adventures 
Real Adventure Company