Destination: Tenby
West Wales’s prettiest village is perfect for a spring getaway
Come on, isn’t Tenby a tourist trap? It’s popular. The old town walls surround a lot of beautiful buildings, many of which are shops and restaurants set up to cater to the visitors who flock here for the superb beaches. It’s busy in summer, because it’s a great destination – and that’s true all year round.
But it’s quiet now, is it? Quieter, certainly. Going early in the season lets you enjoy the town and the surrounding area without the crowds you’d face in high summer.
Isn’t Tenby expensive? Experts say that holiday accommodation in Tenby “commands a premium” – but seasonality is your friend. High-season is more expensive, so going early in the year makes it more affordable.
So what is there to see? Tenby has a museum and art gallery as well as a restored Tudor Merchant’s house. There’s a ruined castle to walk round (though the Napoleonic-era fort on Tenby Island had to close last year). The lifeboat station welcomes visitors and, depending on when you go, you might be able to take a boat trip to Caldey Island to visit the monastery.
Sounds… exciting… If you want exciting, join the kids at the Heatherton World of Activities. There are other tourist sites nearby that might be more up your street, particularly the compact Museum of Speed at Pendine – where British speed records used to be set. There are castles all over the area (Pembroke, Carew and Manorbier are good), St David’s has a nice cathedral and there are charming villages to visit. But if you want thrills, get on the bike.
The riding’s good, is it? The riding’s excellent. Okay, it is possible to cross the Severn Bridge and sit on motorway or dual carriageway for 100 miles, to St Clears (about 15 miles from Tenby). But if you do that, you’re doing it wrong. There are great roads all across South Wales so it’s easy to plan a great route there and there’s some cracking riding on Tenby’s doorstep. What about the weather? It’s a gamble wherever you go. While West Wales is first in line to receive rain from the Atlantic gulf stream, this also means that it warms up early when the good weather arrives. A warm spring day there’s glorious. It helps make Tenby a great destination, whether you want to relax off the bike or have a brilliant ride.