Druidston Haven

Druidston is the stretch of St Brides Bay that most visitors drive past without realising it's there. The lane down from the ridge is narrow and steep, roadside parking amounts to a handful of spaces, and the way onto the sand is a scramble down a path through crumbling cliff. What you get in return is a genuinely wild beach: a long run of firm sand at low tide, dark cliffs behind, streams cutting across the sand, and usually a fraction of the people you'd find at Broad Haven a mile and a half south.

Tide is everything here. At high water the sea reaches the cliffs along much of the beach and there's no continuous walking route, so go on a falling tide and give yourself the whole ebb. It's an excellent beach for walking, dogs, driftwood and watching weather come in off the Atlantic; it's a poor beach for anyone who wants a toilet, a kiosk or a lifeguard, because there are none. Swimming is unguarded and the bay can throw up rips when there's swell running.

The clifftop hotel above the beach has been a fixture here for decades and is well known locally, but don't count on rocking up without checking ahead. Better plan: park at Broad Haven or Nolton Haven and walk in along the Coast Path, which runs the whole way along the cliff top with the beach laid out below you. That approach solves the parking problem and gives you the best view of the place.