Dolphins, lobsters and wild coasters
Spot dolphins and pull up lobster pots on boat trips from New Quay. Ride the Teifi Valley Railway or Megafobia, one of the world’s wildest coasters at Oakwood. Grown- ups can shoot clay at Cwm Gof or 18 holes at Newport Golf Links. Fish the trout lake, walk the coastal path, then sink a pint at Tafarn Sinc, Pembrokeshire’s highest pub.
Country kids
Love dolphins? Head to the coast at New Quay to spot them from dog-friendly boat trips that also pull up lobster pots brimming with marine life. At Folly Farm zoo, see animals you won’t see anywhere else, including Eastern black rhino, Bactrian camels, bongos, tapirs, Barbary macaques, squirrel monkeys and the only giraffes in Wales.
Visit Wales’ only dedicated shire horse farm visitor attraction at Dyfed Shires, with TV- star horses from Escape to the Country and Farmers’ Country Showdown. Ride the Teifi Valley 2ft-gauge railway through rural West Wales. Or head to Oakwood Theme Park to ride Megafobia, one of the world’s wildest wooden coasters.
In Cardigan, watch live theatre and three-screen cinema at Theatre Mwldan. Take the boat out to Ramsey Island for 120-metre cliffs squawking with guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars, and spot peregrine falcons cruising along the cliffs. Or how about kayaking or coasteering at Stackpole Nature Reserve?
When the Americans rave about West-coast living, ask if they mean Tenby. The Sunday Times reckons Castle Beach is the UK’s finest. And don’t forget to visit the
monastery on Caldey Island. Then check out other great beaches at Newport, Penbryn, Poppet, Whitesands and a miniature gem called Mwnt.
For the grown ups
Plenty to occupy big kids around these parts. Start with clay shooting at Cwm Gof in Cardigan, then shoot 18 holes at Newport Golf Links, fish on site in the trout lake, or explore difficult roads that lead to beautiful destinations with Caernigli bike hire. Book four legs from Harvard Stables, or just take Shanks’ pony.
Walkers have great options here – from the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path and the National Park to the Preseli Hills, where Foel Eryr gives you a 360-degree panorama to Snowdonia and across the sea to Ireland. Or take The Golden Road for a taste of history that takes in prehistoric remains, burial cairns and Iron Age hill forts.
Book Tyf Adventure for coasteering, kayaking, surfing, and climbing. Take boat trips from Cardigan with A Bay to Remember. Discover Colby Woodland’s hidden wooded valley and secret garden. Go foraging with Matt Powell. Dig into 900 years of history at Cardigan Castle, or 1500 at St David’s Cathedral.
Polish things up with a little pampering at the Cliff Hotel Spa in Cardigan or Countryside Beauty – who’ll come out to Deri Manor if you book three treatments. Shop till you drop in Cardigan and Newport and plunder independent boutiques in Narberth. Wrap up your day at Tafarn Sinc, the highest licensed pub in Pembrokeshire.
