The 10 best things to do in Pembrokeshire

Telegraph

2 days ago

Pembrokeshire has a pinch of everything that makes Wales unique. Here you'll find vast, lonely beaches, tucked-away coves looking out across stormy seas, and hedgerowed lanes swinging to one-pub hamlets and ridiculously pretty harbour towns. Reaching inland, heathery moors and hills are sprinkled with medieval castles, Iron Age hill forts and standing stones.
St Davids, birthplace of Wales' patron saint, makes a terrific base for striking out. And when you tire of the road or trudging along coastal paths, you can ramp up the adventure coasteering and kayaking around wild headlands, or seeing how many puffins, seals and dolphins you can spot on thrillingly remote islands.
For further inspiration, discover our guide to Pembrokeshire for the best hotels, restaurants, nightlife and more.
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St Davids & Around
Coasteering
Jump off a cliff
Coasteering is all the things your parents told you not to do on the beach as a child: we're talking throwing yourself off cliffs, drifting into caves, and scrambling over boulders. Besides being lots of fun, it's a brilliant way to acquaint yourself with Pembrokeshire's craggy coastline. Simply slip on a wetsuit and helmet to plunge into the shockingly cold Atlantic.
Insider tip: Get kitted out at eco-minded TYF in St Davids, one of the early coasteering pioneers in the 1980s. Pros lead you to the best hidden spots along the coast. They'll also take you kayaking, surfing and stand-up paddleboarding.
St Davids
Discover the huge medieval cathedral in a tiny city
A place of pilgrimage ever since Welsh hero St David was born at the sea-facing Chapel of St Non in the 6th century, St Davids, the UK's smallest city, has a huge medieval cathedral disproportionate to its size. In the Middle Ages, two pilgrimages here were known to be worth one to Rome. The cathedral is a riot of soaring, purple-stoned pillars and intricate coffered ceilings. Within its walls, you'll find a shrine that allegedly contains the saint's bones.
Insider tip: To experience the cathedral at its atmospheric best, visit at 6pm for choral evensong.
Foraging tours
Go wild for coastal foraging
You'll see Pembrokeshire in a whole new edible light on an illuminating coastal foraging ramble. Julia and John at the Really Wild Emporium head to beaches with rich pickings near St Davids. Their courses range from rock-pool discovery sessions for families to seashore foraging walks. You'll comb the coast in search of everything from mussels, winkles and razor clams to samphire, dulse, sea spaghetti and – the Welsh love-it-or-hate-it speciality – laver. After a forage, head to their art deco cafe in town for seaweed brownies and wild food-inspired lunches.
Insider tip: Foraging is naturally seasonal, so what you'll find will vary. Check dates online and book ahead (courses can fill up quickly). Exact meeting points are arranged a week in advance.
St Brides Bay
Skomer
Hang out with puffins
You can see puffins in other far-flung parts of Britain, but rarely as close as on Skomer, the nesting ground to 41,500 pairs of these loveably clownlike birds. Take a bumpy boat over to this rugged little island during breeding season (April to July) and you'll be in for a treat. Keep your eyes peeled for puffins (on the water, in burrows and soaring above the cliffs) and their adorable furball pufflings. Come later in the season (September and October) to glimpse the pups of Atlantic grey seals hauled out on the rocks.
Insider tip: Book well ahead to stay overnight at the Old Farm for a backstage pass to the wildlife. As the sun sets over the cliffs, you'll see Manx Shearwaters rafting at sea, waiting for the cover of darkness before returning to the island. Skomer is home to the world's largest breeding population (some 350,000) of these remarkable birds, who migrate to South America in winter.
Preseli Hills
Enjoy a prehistoric walk
Pembrokeshire gets wilder and remoter still in the lonesome Preseli Hills that ripple north in a vast expanse of crags, bogs and heather-flecked moorland. The must-do hike is the seven-mile, west-east Golden Road trail. Starting at Bwlch Gwynt on the B4329, it takes in the Carn Bica standing stones (supposed final resting place of King Arthur), the tors of Carn Menyn (thought to be the source of the bluestone for Stonehenge), and an Iron Age hill fort at Foeldrygarn. Bring a map as the path isn't fully waymarked. Don't rush off. In beautifully converted barns, Preseli Hills Cottages are a snug base for the night, with wood-fired hot tubs and log-burning stoves.
Insider tip: Detour to Pentre Ifan, an impressively intact burial chamber and one of Wales' most famous megalithic sites.
St Govan's Chapel
Walk on the wild side of the coast
Bearing the full brunt of the Atlantic, the ragged coastline at Pembrokeshire's southern tip is Wales at its wind-whipped, wave-hammered best. For coastal drama, nothing beats the hike along the coast path to St Govan's Chapel, a tiny hermit's cell notched out of the gnarly limestone cliffs near Bosherston. Saint Govan holed up here in the sixth century, and a chambered chapel was built to mark the spot in the 13th century. Count the steps up and down – legend has it they are never the same twice. And while you're here, be sure to walk a few minutes' west to the Huntsman's Leap, a breathtakingly sheer coastal chasm.
Insider tip: Park in Bosherston and launch your hike by taking a gentle wooded ramble past the village's lily ponds. Eventually you'll emerge at the Broad Haven South, a gorgeous crescent of dune-backed sand, where Church Rock rises out of the water.
Carew Castle
Rewind to Norman times
Castles are everywhere in Pembrokeshire, but top billing perhaps goes to Carew Castle, originally a Norman motte-and-bailey, later an Elizabethan mansion, now highly romantic ruins. Complete with Celtic cross and medieval bridge, the fort hunkers down on a beautiful tidal river, and a circular mile-long walk leads to a restored tidal mill (crabbing kits are available at the shop).
Insider tip: If you like Carew, you'll love other standouts like Pembroke Castle (birthplace of Henry VII), Norman Manorbier Castle, Picton Castle & Gardens (now a stately home with woodland gardens), and 13th-century Cilgerran, which fired Turner's imagination.
Solva
Gorge on fresh shellfish
The little coastal honeypot of Solva is one of the most idyllic villages in Pembrokeshire, overlooking a narrow inlet where fishing boats bob. A 3½-mile path threads up through woodland and over the cliffs to the broad sands of Newgale, affording uplifting views all the way to Ramsey Island. Back in Solva, relax at the pub (the Harbour Inn) or with an ice cream at 35 Main Street right by the seafront.
Llama Lodge
Take a llama for a walk
If walking a llama sounds like a fun afternoon activity, this off-the-radar, eco-conscious farm in Llandissilio is bound to please. Surrounded by pretty oak and ash woodland, this is a delicious slice of remote wilderness. And what better way to explore it than by taking a llama for a walk? With shaggy-haired friends in tow, you'll take in terrific views of the valley and Preseli Hills, following a zigzagging path along the Black Cleddau River. Keep an eye out for buzzards and red kites wheeling overhead. Wellies or walking boots are advisable as it can get muddy.
Insider tip: More llama drama, you say? Stay overnight at the snug-as-a-bug, timber-clad Llama Lodge, where you can cuddle up by a log fire and listen to the gurgle of the River Cleddau and hooting owls. Wake up to llamas grazing outside your window.
Dinas Island
Go hiking
One to whisper quietly about, the Dinas Island peninsula between Fishguard and Newport is as ravishing as Pembrokeshire gets, with its sheer, gorse-clad cliffs, smuggler's coves straight out of a Famous Five novel, coastal woodlands and headland commanding bracing sea views. In spring, the island is awash with blossom and you might spot the first puffins returning to these shores via Needle Rock.
Insider tip: Hook onto the National Trust's three-mile circular walk for some of the best views in Pembrokeshire. Bring a picnic or round out your hike over a pint and Pembrokeshire crab sandwich at The Old Sailors on Pwllgwaelod beach.
How we choose
Every attraction and activity in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles, from world-class museums to family-friendly theme parks – to best suit every type of traveller. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up to date recommendations.
About our expert
Kerry Walker is Telegraph Travel's Pembrokeshire destination expert.
"I seize every opportunity I can to head west to Pembrokeshire – where I'm in my element hiking on the coastal path, leaping off cliffs coasteering, or cooing over the puffins on Skomer."