A Long Weekend in South Pembrokeshire

South Pembrokeshire is the busy half, and there's a reason: limestone cliffs, the best beaches in Wales, and two of the biggest castles in Britain within twenty minutes of each other.

For three days it works well, because everything below is within half an hour of everything else.

Before you set off

Coming from the M4, you leave the dual carriageway at Carmarthen and it's single-carriageway A-road from there. In summer, add an hour to whatever the satnav says for a Friday.

Stay south of the Cleddau bridge for the weekend. Crossing to St Davids and back is a two-hour round trip before you've done anything.

And the August rule: the car parks fill by mid-morning. Stackpole Quay, Broad Haven South and Barafundle can all be full by ten. Be there at half eight, or come at four when the day-trippers leave.

Where to stay

Tenby for a car-free weekend — you can walk to three beaches and every restaurant, but parking is a genuine problem and the town is loud in season. Saundersfoot is easier for parking with a harbour and a beach. Manorbier, Lydstep and Freshwater East put you nearer the quiet coast with a garden and a driveway. Stackpole is the walkers' choice.

Friday evening

Arrive, unpack, and walk out. From Tenby that's the harbour and the walls at dusk. From Manorbier it's ten minutes down to the beach below the castle. Don't drive anywhere on the first night.

Saturday — Stackpole

The best coastal day in Wales, and almost none of it involves the car.

Morning. Park early at Stackpole Quay and walk over the headland to Barafundle Bay. No road, no kiosk, no car park at the beach — that's the whole point of it.

Afternoon. Continue to the Bosherston lily ponds and loop back on the full circuit. The lilies are out in June. If it's swimming weather, drop down to Broad Haven South instead.

Evening. Drive round to Freshwater West for sunset. It's a big, wild Atlantic beach with serious rips — go for the light and the dunes, not the swimming.

Sunday — castles, and the range

Morning. Pembroke Castle. It's enormous, largely intact, birthplace of Henry VII, and it has a natural limestone cavern underneath it. Two hours.

Afternoon. Two options.

If the Castlemartin range isn't firing, drive out to Stack Rocks and the Green Bridge of Wales — a limestone arch and a set of sea stacks stacked with guillemots in spring. The road is closed whenever the range is live, which is most weekdays, so check the published firing times before you commit.

If it is firing, go to Carew instead: castle, restored tidal mill and an 11th-century cross, with a walk round the mill pond.

Evening. Angle for the far end of the peninsula, or back to base.

Monday — Tenby, and out

Morning. The walled town: harbour, Castle Hill, Tenby Museum, and South Beach if there's sun. In settled weather, take the boat to Caldey instead — it's a short crossing and a completely different pace.

On the way out. Amroth and the beach at the county boundary, or Colby Woodland Garden nearby, or Narberth for lunch and independent shops if you'd rather end indoors.

Dogs: most beaches here restrict them 1 May to 30 September, so check the sign at the access point.

More: the three-day version, the full week, or the north.