Pembrokeshire in Winter: Christmas, New Year and What's Open

A Pembrokeshire winter is short days, rain on roughly half of them, and a lot of things shut. It also has free parking at the National Park's own car parks, every beach open to dogs, and the Coast Path almost to yourself. This page is the practical version: what the weather actually does, when it gets dark, what is open over Christmas and New Year, and which buses and trains run.

Almost every date below is for this winter (2026/27) or, where this winter's hasn't been published yet, is marked as last year's. We check the page each September and again when the Christmas details come out.

The weather, plainly

These are the Met Office's long-term averages for 1991–2020 at the Milford Haven station, the nearest long record to the coast most people stay on.

	December	January
Average daytime high	9.4°C	8.7°C
Average overnight low	5.1°C	4.4°C
Days with air frost	2.3	3.5
Sunshine, whole month	50 hours	59 hours
Rainfall	124 mm	109 mm
Days with 1 mm of rain or more	16.9	15.9

Put simply, it rains on about half the days, and the sun averages under two hours a day. What it rarely does is freeze: the sea keeps the coast mild, and frost is a handful of nights a month. Pack for wet and windy rather than for cold.

Daylight

On the shortest day, 21 December 2026, the sun rises in Tenby at 08:20 and sets at 16:13, which is 7 hours 52 minutes of daylight. Usable light (civil twilight) runs from about 07:42 to 16:51. The earliest sunset of the year is on 13 December, at 16:11, and the latest sunrise on 30 December, at 08:23.

In practice that means one proper walk a day, started in the morning, with a torch in the bag whatever time you plan to be back. Afternoons on the cliffs end sooner than you expect.

Two things winter does better than summer

Free parking at the National Park car parks. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority charges at its car parks only from 1 March to 31 October, so from November to February its own sites are free, which the Authority describes as four free months a year. Car parks run by the council or privately set their own charges; the Tenby car parks list shows who runs which.

Every beach is open to dogs. The council's seasonal beach restrictions run only from 1 May to 30 September. From 1 October dogs are welcome again, including on the beaches that are closed to them for the whole summer, such as Tenby North Beach and Whitesands. That makes winter the least restricted time of year to bring a dog. See dog-friendly beaches for the summer picture, and dog-friendly stays.

What is open over the winter

Place	Winter opening	Worth knowing
Pembroke Castle	Winter hours 10:00–16:00 (last entry 15:15) from 1 November to the end of February; closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January	Check before you go. The castle's own site could not be read automatically, and another source disagrees with these hours.
Carew Castle	2 November to 18 December, 11:00–15:00; closed 19 to 27 December; open 28 December to 3 January; then weekdays only, 4 January to 5 February	The tidal mill is closed from 3 November to 22 March. Adult £9, child £7, family £28.50.
Folly Farm	Weekends only, 10:00–16:00, through November, December and January	The exact Christmas closure dates need checking: two reads of their page disagreed.
St Davids Cathedral	10:00–16:00 Monday to Saturday, 13:00–15:00 Sunday	Suggested donation £5. Advent and Christmas service times for 2026 are not published yet.
Bluestone	Winter breaks from January to 18 March 2027	The Blue Lagoon water park is open daily, 09:00–17:00.
Torch Theatre, Milford Haven	Pantomime, Puss in Boots, 5 December 2026 to 2 January 2027	A relaxed performance on 19 December at 14:00, and a BSL-interpreted performance on 22 December at 18:00.
Castell Henllys	Winter Solstice event, Monday 21 December, 11:00–15:00	Adult £11, child £9, family £35.50. No other winter opening hours are published, so we can't tell you whether it's open on other days.

No list exists for the small things. There is no published schedule of which public toilets keep winter hours or which beach cafés close, so check before you travel rather than relying on either.

Getting around

Buses. Of the seasonal Coast Path buses, only one runs in winter: the 387/388 Coastal Cruiser, from 1 October 2026 to 28 May 2027, between Pembroke, Angle, Bosherston, Stackpole and Freshwater East, on Thursdays and Saturdays only. The 400 Puffin Shuttle, the 403 Celtic Coaster and the 404 Strumble Shuttle are summer-only. So the usual summer plan of walking one way along the Coast Path and catching the bus back doesn't work in winter, except on that one stretch on those two days. Choose circular walks, or take two cars. Our coastal buses guide has the routes.

Trains. The 2026/27 Christmas timetable has not been published. In the most recent festive timetable no trains ran at all on 25 and 26 December, services on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve finished from about 21:00, and there was engineering work around New Year between Whitland, Haverfordwest and Milford Haven. Expect a similar pattern and check Transport for Wales before you rely on a train over the holiday.

Walking in winter, safely

Winter is storm season. The UK's storm-naming year runs from September to August, and a storm is only named when it brings an amber or red warning, so a named storm is a day to stay off the cliffs. Watch Met Office weather warnings and Natural Resources Wales flood alerts before you go.

The National Park Authority's own winter advice is worth following:

• Cliff-top walking is dangerous in high winds.
• Know the tide times, and don't get cut off.
• Don't climb cliffs or shelter underneath them, and keep back from edges and overhangs.
• Expect mud.
• Waterproof, windproof clothing and boots with a deep tread are essential.

Good circular walks for a short day include Stack Rocks to St Govan's, the Marloes peninsula and St Davids Head. If you want to watch big seas, our storm-watching page says where to stand, and where not to.

Wildlife in winter

Seals. The grey seal pups are essentially gone by Christmas; the pupping season runs from August to December and is busiest in September and October. What winter does bring is adult seals hauled out on rocks and beaches as they moult. See where to see seals.

Birds. Winter is when birds arrive rather than leave, and the National Park puts that down to a maritime climate that is milder than continental Europe's. Redwing and fieldfare come in from eastern Europe. Lapwing, golden plover, greenshank, godwit and snipe gather around the Angle estuary and Castlemartin, and big flocks of lapwing gather at West Angle Bay. Goldeneye, teal and tufted duck spend the winter on the Bosherston Lakes near Stackpole.

Dark skies

Pembrokeshire is not an International Dark Sky Reserve, whatever you may read elsewhere. The National Park Authority says plainly that the park isn't large enough to qualify. What it does have is eight Dark Sky Discovery Sites: Broad Haven South, Garn Fawr, Kete, Martin's Haven, Newgale Beach, Poppit Sands, Skrinkle Haven and Sychpant. According to the park's 2015 survey, the darkest skies are inland towards the Preseli Hills, and the main light pollution comes from Milford Haven, Pembroke Dock, Haverfordwest, Tenby and Saundersfoot. See dark sky season for when and how.

Christmas and New Year

Boxing Day. The Tenby Boxing Day Swim on North Beach is the big one. Its 2026 details haven't been announced yet.

New Year's Day. The Saundersfoot New Year's Day Swim is on Friday 1 January 2027, its 41st edition. Entry is £5 for adults and £3 for under-16s, booked through saundersfoot.co.uk. In 2025 a record 2,535 swimmers registered, and around 9,000 people are estimated to have watched. We are not giving a start time, because it moves with the tide each year and published sources disagree, so check when you book.

Whitesands. The St Davids Penknife Club runs a festive swim at Whitesands. We have no primary source for its timings, so check locally.

Not published yet for 2026. None of the following have announced this year's dates, and we are not copying last year's forward: Glow at Carew Castle, the Narberth Winter Carnival, the Christmas lights switch-ons at Saundersfoot, Haverfordwest, St Davids, and Fishguard and Goodwick, the Christmas Convoy, the Illuminated Tractor Run, the St Davids Cathedral Advent and Christmas services, and most of the Christmas markets. Our Christmas lights and Christmas markets pages describe what each usually involves; take the dates from the organisers once they announce them.

What stops for the winter

Island boats. The Skomer and Ramsey boat trips stop for the winter. You can see the islands from the coast, but you can't get onto them. See the island boat trips guide for the season.

Campsites. Most of the coastal campsites close for the winter. Check with any you're considering.

Where to stay

In winter, stay in a town or village where you can walk to a pub and a shop after dark, which comes at about a quarter past four. Tenby stays open all year. St Davids has the cathedral and the north-coast walks. Narberth has the restaurants and is handy for Folly Farm and Bluestone.

A hot tub and a log burner are what make a winter cottage worth booking. Christmas and New Year also have the least choice: fewer properties are open over the festive period, and those that are often ask for longer minimum stays. If you have particular dates in mind, that is the reason to book early.

If you are coming for October half term instead, Pembrokeshire in autumn covers that. You can also browse hot tub stays.