Travel | 48 hours in Pembrokeshire, Wales

Earlier this month, we spent two nights in Saundersfoot on the Pembrokeshire Coast. We managed to accumulate enough Tesco Clubcard points to receive a reasonable discount off a stay at hotels.com – and so we booked a guesthouse as our base.

The change of scenery was much needed, and while we weren’t totally blessed with the weather, as you can see from the image above, it did eventually get better. It was really nice break, although I’d say two nights wasn’t long enough to fully explore and appreciate our surroundings. We stopped off en route in Tewkesbury for a picnic. We eventually found quite a nice spot. The journey in all was just under 4 hours.

Dinner in Tenby

On our first evening, we drove to Tenby for dinner – and to try and find a shop to buy some warmer clothes. All the shops closed between 5-5:30pm in the week, so we didn’t have much luck. Poor Alfie only had shorts and t-shirts, and I hadn’t packed any jumpers or jackets for myself either.

We didn’t spend too long in Tenby, and with the adverse weather conditions, certainly didn’t go down on the beach. I loved the pastel-coloured buildings which were super cute – just postcard perfect! There was some gorgeous little shops, independents and just better shops than your average high street. Of course, there were plenty of souvenir shops and confectioners. Alfie and I loved looking in the windows of those. We came across one which sold everything, and Alfie pointed out some branded sweets – Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig. As we were walking on by, the man who owned the shop left with his dog, and then opened up the shop next door – returning with a pig mallow lolly for Alfie. It was such a kind gesture.

A lot of the pubs and restaurants had waits of 20-30 minutes for a table, never ideal with a three-year-old and it wasn’t the warmest waiting outside. Eventually we found a pub where the bar was a boat. It was fairly cheap and cheerful, but we were hungry – and the portion sizes were huge. 

 A first glimpse of Saundersfoot beach

The following morning, we explored Saundersfoot. We had a quick wander on the beach before heading to a café for breakfast. Our accommodation was room only, but we had no idea. Thankfully, there are some great spots in Saundersfoot. Our first breakfast was had at the Tramway café, and the next day we tried somewhere new – Little & Large Lite Bites.

I had a gingerbread latte and what I thought was going to be a sausage baguette – but was more like giant finger/submarine roll. Alfie was blessed with options – a sausage in a roll and a piece of jam on toast, and he ate bits of both.

We had some time to return to the beach before going on our excursion for the day. I’ll be blogging about it later in the week, but we went to Folly Farm. It’s a really great day out – and has a farm, zoo, amusement arcades and fairground rides, as well as a massive soft play and plenty of other attractions. I was really impressed.

St David’s: Britain’s smallest city

Beautiful narrow streets with plenty of pubs and a stunning cathedral – I was immediately sold. Although that was all we saw of St David’s, I’m not actually too sure if there is much else, other than exploring its coastal paths.

We were unable to get a table for dinner service at The Bishop, but they had a lovely beer garden and we stayed for a drink. Luckily, there was another pub not too far away – The Farmers Arms – where we could not only get a table, but also sit outside. We had a lovely meal – I finally had a bowl of mussels, as I was disappointed not to have had that (or even a dressed crab) the night before. With the journey back to the guesthouse being 40 minutes, we drove back after dinner.

 Exploring the Pembrokeshire Coast

What better way to set yourself up for a walk than with a big breakfast? I had the little ‘big breakfast’ (one sausage, one rasher of bacon, one poached egg, tomatoes and mushrooms with a slice of brown buttered toast), while the boys had giant crumpets (Nutella for Alfie; sausage, bacon and egg for Ash). I had an incredible popcorn latte too.

We had planned on doing a coastal walk and there were so many different routes in varying lengths. I think the shortest one was about 7-8km – but sadly, time was not on our side as this was the day we were returning home. And I had dinner with the girls booked for 8pm.

We did manage a short walk up the coastal path and I’m not entirely sure where we went – but I believe it was roughly from the harbour to Wisemans Bridge, and possibly slightly beyond. We ended up coming back through woodland, on Alfie’s request. It was incredibly steep going uphill, but once back on level ground, the view was spectacular and made better by beautiful blue skies. Coming back downhill was definitely more fun.

At this point, it was time for an ice cream, and we had just enough time to have another wander on the beach – it was a lot busier today, but the sun was shining! I wouldn’t be surprised if we returned to the Pembrokeshire Coast – like I said, two nights just wasn’t enough.

I definitely took living by the coast for granted, and probably didn’t make the most of it as much as I could have. But I miss it now. I’m not one for swimming in the sea and even too much sand is unbearable. But it’s beautiful and there’s nothing like the fresh air of exploring coastal paths.

Love, Lucy xx