Drive from home to Ceredigion
Overnight @ Penrallt Country House Hotel (bed and breakfast provided)
Address: Aberporth, Cardigan SA43 2BS
Check-in: 14:00
Check-out: 10:30
Evening meal suggestion: 1176, Cardigan Castle
Address: Green Street, Cardigan SA43 1JA
Optional activities:
Visit Cardigan Castle
Address and parking: Quay Street Car Park, Cardigan, SA43 1HS
(paid parking, you might need change)
Info: Having captured and demolished the previous Norman earth and timber fortress, The Lord Rhys moved his court here in 1171. He rebuilt the castle in stone, making it the first stone castle ever built by a Welshman. He then celebrated his achievement by hosting the first ever Eisteddfod in 1176. After falling into serious disrepair, the castle, and the Georgian mansion built within the castle walls in 1808, were restored and reopened to the public in 2015.
Visit Cemaes Head and try and spot a seal
Address and parking: Allt y Coed Farm Campsite, Poppit, Cardigan SA43 3LP
Parking info: Follow the road past Poppit Sands car park as far as it will go. Go through the gate at the end in to Allt y Coed Farm where parking costs £1.50.
2.5 mile circular walking route: Once you’ve parked, follow the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path signs through the farmyard. Behind you should be views of Poppit Sands and the Teifi and look across the estuary to see Cardigan Island and spot the distinctive peak of Mwnt.
Info: Cemaes Head, in North Pembrokeshire, is the highest sea-cliff in Wales and an important breeding site, where many pups are born. The inaccessible pebbly beach below is the spot for the largest Atlantic grey ‘haul-out’ in Pembrokeshire, when up to 200 seals and pups can be ashore at any one time.
For extra info: Autumn is the best time of year to spot one of Pembrokeshire’s best-loved mammals, the Atlantic grey seal. Not only is this the time of year the females come ashore to give birth, but there’s a very good chance you’ll get to see their cuter, furrier white pups too. Pups generally arrive between late August and November, starting life with a silky-soft white fur. Within the first month, a pup will triple its birthweight thanks to mum’s fat-rich milk. It then sheds its white baby fur, which is replaced with a thicker, darker, waterproof adult coat. The pup is then ready to hit the waves and learn to catch fish for itself.
Overnight @ Penrallt Country House Hotel (bed and breakfast provided)
Address: Aberporth, Cardigan SA43 2BS
Check-in: 12:00
Check-out: 11:00
Optional activities:
Visit Pentre Ifan Burial Chamber Admission is free.
Address and parking: Pentre Ifan, Brynberian, Crymych, SA41 3TZ.
You can park in the layby close to the entrance.
Info: Constructed from the same Preseli Bluestones used on its ‘big brother’ at Stonehenge, Pentre Ifan, near Newport (Pembrokeshire) also shares the same sense of mystery about its true purpose. It’s generally considered to be a communal burial chamber, but no traces of bones have ever been found here. An alternative theory suggests it’s a more elaborate version of a standing stone and the builders were simply showing off their skill. Whatever the real answer, there’s no doubt Pentre Ifan is an impressive feat of ancient construction methods. The giant 5m-long, 15-ton capstone, precariously balanced on three uprights, has managed to remain in place for over 5,000 years.
Visit Foel Drygarn in the Preseli Hills
Address and parking: Starting point for Feol Drygarn walk – layby on a small road near Blaenbanon, SA66 7SA (grid ref. SN165331)
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1.8 mile circular walking route: This short Pembrokeshire walk up to the Iron Age hillfort of Foel Drygarn takes you to most easterly summit of the Preseli Hills. Bring a good pair of walking boots.
Info: Foel Drygarn translates as ‘Bare Hill of the Three Cairns’ and, as the name suggests, there are 3 enormous Bronze Age burial cairns at the 363m-high summit. During the Iron Age, a hill fort was added, with defensive ramparts and huts. Aerial photographs reveal hundreds of circular depressions in the ground, thought to be the foundations of the huts. Legend says that there’s a hoard of gold beneath the flat stone known as Bwrdd y Brenin (‘King’s Table’). But we think you’ll find the 360-degree views of the Teifi Valley, the Preseli Hills and – on a clear day - the Irish Sea reward enough for your climb.
Visit Cenarth Falls
Address and parking: Cenarth, Newcastle Emlyn SA38 9JL
Paid car park, you will need change.
Info: On the borders of three counties – Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire – is the charming village of Cenarth. Its main attraction since Victorian times is the cascade of waterfalls on the River Teifi. In autumn, visitors come from far and wide to watch the fascinating spectacle of leaping salmon. This natural phenomenon sees migrating salmon fighting to clear the falls and get upstream to spawn. Cenarth is also one of the few places left in Britain where coracles are still used. Fishermen use these small round-bottomed boats, made of woven willow or ash and covered with a waterproof material, to drift down the river and catch salmon and sewin.
Evening meal: 8pm at the Bay View Restaurant @ Penrallt Hotel
Please enjoy a three-course meal and alcohol with your food if you’d like it. Your bill will be settled by us.
Check-out: 10:30
Visit the Pembrokeshire Coast Path
Address and parking: Strumble Head, Pencaer, SA64 0JL.
This will take you as close as you can get in the car to Strumble Head. There is a section of layby parking which we’ve highlighted on the map below in red.
Bring a good pair of walking boots.
Info: Strumble Head is on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and within the Pembrokeshire National Park, Strumble Head’s rocky and jagged headland juts out of the coastline. This area of the coast path boasts incredible wildlife including with bottle-nose dolphins, grey seals and even orcas having been spotted here.
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path twists and turns for 186 miles from St Dogmaels in the north to Amroth in the south. It covers almost every kind of coastal landscape, from volcanic rock headlands, limestone arches, blowholes and sea stacks, to narrow glacial inlets. Lines of red and grey sandstone cliffs are broken by sandy beaches. The Path reveals an abundance of coastal flowers and bird life, as well as evidence of human activity from Neolithic times to the present. But taking on the path in one go is not for the faint-hearted. It takes between 10 and 15 days and over 10,000m of ascents and descents – the equivalent of climbing Everest.
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