Where to Stay for Long Course Weekend Wales (2–4 July 2027)

Long Course Weekend Wales takes a long-distance triathlon and spreads it over three days, one discipline a day, all finishing in Tenby. The next two editions are confirmed for Friday 2 to Sunday 4 July 2027 and Friday 23 to Sunday 25 June 2028.

It has a reputation for taking over the south of the county, but the published arrangements show much less disruption than that suggests. That changes where you can sensibly stay.

Race times below are the published schedule. Road closures are from 2026 because the 2027 closures have not been published yet, and we will update this page when they are.

The three days

Day	Event	Start	Cut-off
Friday	Wales Swim, 2.4 or 1.2 miles off North Beach	5pm	7pm
Saturday	Sportive: 112, 80, 40 or 20 miles, in waves from Salterns car park	06:30–09:10	17:15
Sunday	Marathon, from Salterns out to Pembroke Castle and back along the coast	10:00	16:00
Sunday	5K	10:30	16:00
Sunday	Half marathon, starting in Pembroke	12:00	16:00
Sunday	10K, starting at Manorbier Castle	13:30	16:00

Whichever event you enter, you finish in Tenby.

Less disruption than its reputation

These were the 2026 arrangements:

• Friday swim: The Norton was closed from 16:30 to 18:30. That was the only closure.
• Saturday sportive: no road closures at all. The riders share open roads, so drive carefully on the lanes that day and expect groups of cyclists on the climbs.
• Sunday runs: only Marsh Road westbound in Tenby was closed, and Saundersfoot and Narberth were explicitly listed as unaffected.

Compare that with Ironman Wales in September, which shuts roads across the south of the county for most of a day. If Long Course Weekend's 2027 closures look like 2026's, staying a few miles out of Tenby costs you very little.

Where to stay, by event

Doing the half marathon? Stay in Pembroke. It starts in the town, so you can walk to the start instead of joining the traffic heading the other way. There has been free parking at West Street in Pembroke for half-marathon runners. See where to stay in Pembroke.

Doing the 10K? Stay in Manorbier. The race starts at the castle. See where to stay in Manorbier.

Doing the swim, the sportive or the marathon, or supporting? You start and finish in Tenby, and with so few closures you don't need to sleep in the town itself. Saundersfoot, Kilgetty, Amroth, St Florence, Penally and Narberth all work. Tenby is still the easiest base if you can find a bed there; our Tenby guide covers the town area by area.

If everything near Tenby is full, there is one fallback over the county line. Travelodge St Clears Carmarthen is in Carmarthenshire, not Pembrokeshire, at the A40/A4066 roundabout on Tenby Road in St Clears, about nine miles east of the county boundary. It is not a base for any of the starts, and it is a drive from all of them. You would still need to park in Tenby or at one of the starts, so read the parking section below first. We haven't given a drive time: use a route planner for your day. Travelodge says it has limited free parking, first come, first served (you enter your registration on a tablet at check-in), pet-friendly rooms and family rooms. The booking link is at the foot of this page.

Parking, and one expensive trap

The official parking has been at Greenhill School, at £7 a day. Cars have had to be out by 07:00 on Monday, or a £100 release fee has applied. That is easy to miss when you finish late on Sunday and celebrate, so check this year's terms before you park.

For the half marathon, there has been free parking at West Street in Pembroke. For Tenby's other car parks, see our Tenby car parks list.

Getting in by train

The Pembroke Dock branch line runs through Narberth, Kilgetty, Saundersfoot, Tenby, Penally, Manorbier, Lamphey and Pembroke, so it links the half-marathon start, the 10K start and the finish. Two of the stations are a long way from the places they are named after. By our map, Manorbier station is about 1.2 miles from the castle village, and Saundersfoot station about 1.3 miles from the harbour. Pembroke station is about 0.4 miles from the town centre. Weekend services are limited, so check Transport for Wales for times before you build a plan around the train.

Bringing a dog

The organisers publish no dog policy for the event itself. What does apply is the council's seasonal beach restriction, which runs from 1 May to 30 September and so covers the whole weekend. North Beach, where the swim starts, bans dogs from the whole beach for that period. South Beach and Castle Beach are restricted, and Harbour Beach is not named in the ban.

Tenby's other big weekends

Ironman Wales is the September race day that closes roads across the south of the county. The Tenby Boxing Day Swim fills the town on 26 December.