Photo: Gordon Hatton (CC BY-SA 2.0)Things to do in Bosherston & Stackpole
Within about 5 miles of Bosherston & Stackpole we list 15 places to go — 1 castle, 5 attractions, 1 museum or gallery, 2 nature reserves and viewpoints, plus 5 beaches and 6 walks.
The ones we've written up in full are Bosherston Lily Ponds, St Govan's Chapel, Green Bridge of Wales & Stack Rocks — start there if you only have a day.
For a wet day there is 1 indoor option nearby: Pembroke Museum. Opening hours shrink hard out of season.
Everything below is ordered by distance from Bosherston & Stackpole, with the places we've written about in full listed first. Nothing on this page is paid for.
Castles and ruins near Bosherston & Stackpole
Pembrokeshire has more castles per mile than almost anywhere in Britain, because for four hundred years it was a frontier. Some are ticketed and roofed; some are a gatehouse in a field with nobody taking money.
Photo: Gordon Hatton (CC BY-SA 2.0)5 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Attractions and days out near Bosherston & Stackpole
The paid days out — the ones that fill a whole morning and have a car park and a café.
Bosherston Lily Ponds
AttractionFlooded limestone valleys of water lilies (best in June) winding down to Broad Haven South — otters at quiet hours.
Dogs welcome
700 yards from Bosherston & Stackpole
St Govan's Chapel
AttractionA hermit's chapel wedged into the sea cliff — count the steps down and up; the totals famously never match.
1.5 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Green Bridge of Wales & Stack Rocks
AttractionWales's grandest natural arch and the guillemot-packed Elegug Stacks — on the Castlemartin range road (check opening).
2.3 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Photo: Monkeyrustler at English Wikipedia (Public domain)Pembroke Castle
AttractionWest Wales's mightiest fortress and birthplace of Henry VII — huge round keep, wall-walks and Wogan's Cavern beneath.
Hygiene 5/5Dogs welcome
4 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Photo: Vale Holidays (CC BY 2.0)5 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Museums and galleries near Bosherston & Stackpole
Mostly indoors, which on this coast is a category of its own. Opening hours narrow sharply out of season, so ring before you drive.
4 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Nature reserves and viewpoints near Bosherston & Stackpole
Free, open whenever you turn up, and where a lot of the best of Pembrokeshire actually is.
Stackpole National Nature Reserve
Nature reserveThe National Nature Reserve wrapping Barafundle, the Bosherston lily ponds and Stackpole Warren — otters, all eight UK bat species recorded, and the finest limestone coast in Wales.
0.8 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Elegug Stack Rocks
Viewpoint2.6 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Ancient and historic sites near Bosherston & Stackpole
Burial chambers, standing stones, holy wells and iron-age forts. Most are on open land with no gate and no charge; a few sit on working farms, so use the marked access.
The Harold Stone (Bosherston)
Ancient siteBosherston's own Harold Stone, standing in a field near the lily ponds — same name, same legend, different millennium of quiet.
500 yards from Bosherston & Stackpole
Greenala Point Iron Age Fort
Ancient siteGreat banked promontory fort at Greenala Point on the Stackpole coast — the Coast Path between Stackpole Quay and Freshwater East runs through its ramparts.
- Website
- coflein.gov.uk
2.5 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Henry VII Statue, Pembroke
Historic siteStatue of Pembroke's most famous son beneath the castle where he was born in 1457 — the Tudor dynasty started here.
4 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
cowshed
Historic site0.8 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Activities, golf and the water near Bosherston & Stackpole
Coasteering, surf schools, kayaking, boat trips, and the two things everyone forgets to book until it's too late.
Outer Reef Surf School
ActivitiesLong-running surf school teaching the south county's beaches — lessons, camps and coasteering out of Pembroke.
- Website
- outerreefsurfschool.com
4 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
5 miles from Bosherston & Stackpole
Beaches near Bosherston & Stackpole
Dogs all yearBarafundle Bay
The golden cove with no road — half a mile's clifftop walk from Stackpole Quay, and regularly voted among Britain's best beaches.
Dogs all yearBroad Haven South
White sand, Church Rock offshore and the lily ponds behind — Bosherston's beautiful back door to the sea.
Dogs all yearStackpole Quay
Reputedly Britain's smallest harbour, with a National Trust car park, café and toilets — and the start of the walk to Barafundle.
Dogs all yearFreshwater East
A sheltered, dune-backed crescent facing south — easy parking, safe paddling and far fewer people than Tenby.
Dogs all yearSwanlake Bay
A sandy bay between Freshwater East and Manorbier with no road access at all — usually empty, and entirely tide-dependent.
Compare every beach near Bosherston & Stackpole — dogs, lifeguards, parking →
Walks from Bosherston & Stackpole
Barafundle Bay and the Bosherston Lily Ponds
The best short walk in south Pembrokeshire: a cliff path to Barafundle, then inland along three flooded limestone valleys full of lilies.
5 miles · 2½–3½ hours · Moderate
Stack Rocks to Freshwater East
The showpiece of the south coast — Elegug Stacks, Huntsman's Leap, the chapel in the cliff at St Govan's, Broad Haven South, Barafundle and Stackpole Quay in six and a half miles.
6.5 miles · 3–4 hours · Moderate
Stack Rocks, the Green Bridge of Wales and St Govan's Chapel
Flat clifftop limestone at the southern tip of Wales, with the best sea arch in the country and a 13th-century chapel wedged in a cleft.
4 miles · 2 hours each way · Easy