Photo: Gordon Hatton (CC BY-SA 2.0)Things to do in Castlemartin
Within about 5 miles of Castlemartin we list 19 places to go — 2 castles, 5 attractions, 2 museums and galleries, 3 nature reserves and viewpoints, plus 4 beaches and 5 walks.
The ones we've written up in full are Green Bridge of Wales & Stack Rocks, Bosherston Lily Ponds, St Govan's Chapel — start there if you only have a day.
For a wet day there are 2 indoor options nearby: Pembroke Museum, Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre. Opening hours shrink hard out of season.
Everything below is ordered by distance from Castlemartin, with the places we've written about in full listed first. Nothing on this page is paid for.
Castles and ruins near Castlemartin
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)4 miles from Castlemartin
Photo: Shaun Butler (CC BY-SA 2.0)Fort Popton
Castle5 miles from Castlemartin
Attractions and days out near Castlemartin
The paid days out — the ones that fill a whole morning and have a car park and a café.
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 Castlemartin
Bosherston Lily Ponds
AttractionFlooded limestone valleys of water lilies (best in June) winding down to Broad Haven South — otters at quiet hours.
Dogs welcome
2.5 miles from Castlemartin
St Govan's Chapel
AttractionA hermit's chapel wedged into the sea cliff — count the steps down and up; the totals famously never match.
3 miles from Castlemartin
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.
Dogs welcome
4 miles from Castlemartin
4 miles from Castlemartin
Museums and galleries near Castlemartin
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 Castlemartin
Photo: Jaggery (CC BY-SA 2.0)4 miles from Castlemartin
Nature reserves and viewpoints near Castlemartin
Free, open whenever you turn up, and where a lot of the best of Pembrokeshire actually is.
Elegug Stack Rocks
Viewpoint2.1 miles from Castlemartin
Stackpole National Nature Reserve
Nature reserve3 miles from Castlemartin
Pwllcrochan Pond and Marshland
Nature reserve3 miles from Castlemartin
Ancient and historic sites near Castlemartin
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.
cowshed
Historic site2.0 miles from Castlemartin
Harold Stone
Ancient site2.1 miles from Castlemartin
King Henry VII
Historic site4 miles from Castlemartin
Compass
Historic site4 miles from Castlemartin
Greenala Point Iron Age Fort
Ancient site- Website
- coflein.gov.uk
4 miles from Castlemartin
Isambard Kingdom Brunell
Historic site5 miles from Castlemartin
Activities, golf and the water near Castlemartin
Coasteering, surf schools, kayaking, boat trips, and the two things everyone forgets to book until it's too late.
3 miles from Castlemartin
Beaches near Castlemartin
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 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.
Stackpole 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 West
Wales's premier surf beach: huge Atlantic sands, dunes, film fame — and genuinely dangerous swimming. Walk it, surf it, respect it.
Compare every beach near Castlemartin — dogs, lifeguards, parking →
Walks from Castlemartin
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
Freshwater West to Stack Rocks (the Castlemartin Range section)
The one stage of the Coast Path most walkers never do on the coast: the cliff route crosses a live firing range and the everyday alternative is inland.
7 miles · 3–3½ hours · Moderate
Pembroke Castle and the Mill Pond
A short, level loop round the water beneath one of the great castles of Britain, good for an hour with a pushchair or a dog.
2 miles · 1 hour · Easy