With long, sandy beaches, abundant wildlife, excellent food and drink producers and great restaurants, discover some of the best options on the Welsh coastline for an escape to the sea.
Words Amy McPherson and Alex Fisher
1. FOR A MICHELIN STAR EXPERIENCE
There is now quite a collection of Welsh restaurants with Michelin stars – and some of them are on the coast.
Ynyshir, in Eglwys Fach, was the first in Wales to obtain two stars and, to date, remains the only one. It offers a 30-course tasting menu, showcasing some of the world’s finest ingredients. Run by owner and chef patron Gareth Ward, the venue is now a world-renowned foodie destination. The dinner experience here is £385 + VAT per person, with the option to stay overnight from £250 + VAT for a House Room (ynyshir.co.uk).
In Penarth, in the Vale of Glamorgan, chef James Sommerin heads up Home. This contemporary one Michelin star restaurant has a ‘Surprise’ eight-course tasting menu, featuring the best of each season, at £145 per head. Home also runs cookery demonstrations and has a beautiful apartment for guests, right in the heart of Penarth. Stay there from £150 per night (homeatpenarth.co.uk).
Closer to Swansea, Beach House on Oxwich Bay is known for its sophisticated, classical cooking and use of Welsh produce. Head chef Hywel Griffith works only with trusted local suppliers to create menus that follow the seasons, with vegetarian options available. From £94 for three courses (beachhouseoxwich.co.uk). Stay nearby at The Oxwich Bay Hotel – a standard double room with breakfast costs from £94 (oxwichbayhotel.co.uk).
2. FOR A FANTASTICAL ADVENTURE
‘Cherish the past, adorn the present, construct for the future’ was the motto of Clough Williams-Ellis, the creator of the extraordinary, whimsical tourist village of Portmeirion. Clough spent his life transforming a near-derelict estate on the estuary of the River Dwyryd into the colourful resort it remains today, which attracts nearly a quarter of a million visitors each year.
Portmeirion is a fantastical blend of Italianate design, Georgian details, and salvaged historic architecture, set within a 70-acre subtropical woodland and garden. Guests can stay in boutique rooms in the village, the four-star Hotel Portmeirion, or in cottages with sea or garden views. Eat at the Art Deco fine-dining restaurant, sip cocktails in the bar overlooking the estuary, or enjoy a gelato in the piazza.
Double rooms at the waterside Hotel Portmeirion with estuary views start from £199 per night, including breakfast. Self-catering cottages can be booked from £109 per night (minimum stay requirements apply). Entry to the village is included with overnight stays (portmeirion.wales).
3. FOR RECONNECTING WITH NATURE
For a magical back-to-nature escape, Bert’s Kitchen Garden on the Llyˆn Peninsula is a hidden gem. This car-free eco-campsite provides wildflower meadow pitches, stylish huts, and a cosy cottage, all designed to help guests have a digital detox and reconnect to the natural world and the people around them. With no wifi or electric hook-ups, you’ll soon slow down to a more peaceful pace. On-site, tuck into small plates and hearty mains
at the Bert’s Kitchen Garden restaurant, or enjoy cakes and coffee at the Beachside café, just steps from the sea.
The surrounding area offers great adventures, such as wild swims off Trefor Beach, kayak hire at Porth Iago, and coastal walks to ancient sites, including trips to Bardsey Island. Pop to Criccieth for castle views or have a pint at the Tyˆ Coch Inn in Porthdinllaen, which, infamously, visitors can only access on foot.
Camping costs from £22 per person per night, with huts and The Piggery cottage from £175 per night (bertskg.com).
4. FOR A SEAFOOD FEAST
There’s been an inn at The Old Point House in Angle, Pembrokeshire since the 1500s, and its timeless setting is still wonderfully off the beaten track. Reached by a tidal causeway that floods a few times a month, this 16th-century pub sits at the water’s edge, with sweeping views across East Angle Bay.
The menu is a love letter to the sea. Oysters are plucked straight from the bay, Pembrokeshire crab and lobster are landed locally, and seaweed
is foraged to feature in dishes like laverbread soda bread or seaweed salt chips. Other standouts include grilled lobster with seaweed butter, and the seafood platter piled high with crab, oysters, and pickles.
Guests can stay in one of three cosy rooms above the bar, or pitch up at the small, peaceful meadow campsite. Just a short walk away lies Angle’s sandy beach – a perfect spot for a morning swim or sunset stroll.
Rooms cost from £115 per night (theoldpointhouse.wales).
5. FOR A HISTORIAL SLEEPOVER
Step back in time with a stay in 12th-century Roch Castle, where every stone and door tells a tale of years gone by. The five-foot-thick walls seem to whisper stories of conquest and royal conflict.
It’s built on a volcanic rock outcrop, on what used to be seen as the ‘border’ between English-speaking and Welsh- speaking Wales. This invisible boundary, crossing west to east through south Wales, was and still is known as the ‘Landsker Line’. The castle served as one of a group of border strongholds that fortified Anglicised Wales from the independent Welsh to the North.
Roch Castle saw the reigns of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I, was attacked by Cromwell’s troops, and then fell into ruin before eventually becoming the luxury hotel it is today.
The stunning conversion features modern, stylish interiors, with a collection of commissioned artworks inspired by the castle and the surrounding area. These include embroideries by Amanda Wright, ceramics by Daniel Wright, and prints by Bambi. The castle is now a Visit Wales Gold Star property, achieved Best Bed and Breakfast at the National Tourism Awards for Wales in 2018, and was nominated for the Historic Hotels of Europe Historic Hotel Castle Award 2020.
A double room with breakfast costs from £190 (rochcastle.com).
6. FOR A WILDLIFE ADVENTURE
Explore the islands of St Brides Bay in Pembrokeshire for a thrilling wildlife experience – you’re likely to see dolphins, puffins and seals.
Spring to early summer brings more than 20,000 puffins to nest on the island of Skomer – look out for their colourful beaks flashing above the burrows as they take to the skies. A boat trip is the best way to see these beautiful birds, and hopefully you will also spot seals basking on nearby beaches. Further out into the bay, you may get to see dolphins and porpoises playing in the waves. The island is protected by the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales, and boat trips depart daily, weather permitting, priced from £30 per person (pembrokeshire-islands.co.uk).
On nearby Ramsey Island, you can take a Voyages of Discovery RIB ride for a close-up look at seals, seabirds and occasionally even whales, from £36 per person (ramseyisland.co.uk).
As a luxurious base from which to explore local wildlife, Twr y Felin Hotel, in St Davids, has double rooms with breakfast, starting at £180 per night (twryfelinhotel.com). Or try the nearby Penrhiw Hotel, which offers stylish rooms with a continental breakfast, starting from £160 per night (penrhiwhotel.com).
7. FOR BEAUTIFUL GARDENS
Green-fingered holidaymakers and garden enthusiasts will love the botanical delights at the Bodysgallen Hall hotel, a National Trust property with award-winning gardens and parkland. Guests stay in a grand 17th-century Grade I-listed manor, and can then explore the property’s 200 acres of stunning grounds. These include a walled rose garden, a 17th-century parterre of box hedges filled with fragrant herbs, a rockery with water cascade, and a lily pond, all tended by a team of experts.
Pick up a map from reception and explore the property’s woodlands. Follow the Terrace Walk, the Ladies Walk, or the Eastern Covert Walk, which leads to a gothic tower, and go on the Pydew Village Walk to find the obelisk on top of Pydew Mountain. Along the paths, you can find spectacular views of the River Conwy, the medieval town walls of Conwy and its castle, the Great and Little Orme headlands, and the ruins of Deganwy Castle. Also worth a visit is nearby Bodnant Garden.
In addition, the hotel has a fine-dining restaurant, a luxurious spa and swimming pool, and views of Conwy Castle and Snowdonia to enjoy.
Double rooms with breakfast cost from £261 a night (bodysgallen.com).
Find out how to travel to Wales by train at tfw.wales.
8. FOR MARITIME HERITAGE
The Albion was a brig that sailed out from Cardigan in 1819, carrying 27 families towards Canada for a new life. They are believed to have founded the first Welsh settlement in the country, at a location they then named Cardigan.
The Albion Aberteifi hotel pays tribute to this ship and celebrates the town’s maritime heritage in a building that is awash with ties to the sea. A conversion of an 18th-century warehouse, built on the docks when Cardigan was a thriving trading port, its exterior retains much of the original architecture. Rooms are individually decorated, with walls lined with reclaimed wood, oak flooring, and custom-made furniture and fixtures, to resemble a captain’s quarters. Guests will also find Welsh wool blankets and textiles woven to traditional designs – further evidence of the pride this town takes in its heritage. Double rooms with breakfast cost from £195 a night (albionaberteifi.co.uk).
