Where to Stay in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock: Castle Town, Ferry Town, Coast

Pembroke is a castle with a town attached: one long Main Street on a ridge, the castle at the western end with the Mill Pond wrapped round it, and everything else — the shops, the pubs, the two old inns — strung along the street. Pembroke Dock, two miles north, is a different place with a different job: the Victorian naval dockyard town that is now the port for the Irish Ferries boat to Rosslare.

Between them and the coast to the south is the reason to stay: the Stackpole beaches, St Govan's, the Castlemartin cliffs. Everything we hold a record for is on the Pembroke stay lists and the Pembroke Dock lists.

Main Street, under the castle

The Old Kings Arms and the Coach House are the two hotels on Main Street, both old coaching inns; Lovesgrove at Bangeston Hall is the country guest house on the edge of town. Stay on the street and the castle, the Mill Pond walk, the pubs and Pembroke station are all on foot. It's a quiet town in the evening compared with Tenby, which is either the point or the problem.

Lamphey and Freshwater East

Two miles east, Lamphey has the ruined Bishop's Palace and Lamphey Hall, the country hotel, with its own station on the line. Three miles on, Freshwater East is the nearest proper beach — a wide sandy bay with the Caravan and Motorhome Club site on Trewent Hill above it and Dews Lake caravan park inland. The Coast Path runs from here west to Stack Rocks and east to Manorbier.

Stackpole, Bosherston and the cliffs

Fifteen minutes south of Pembroke is the coast that people cross the country for: Barafundle, Broad Haven South, the Bosherston lily ponds, St Govan's Chapel in its cleft, and the Stack Rocks to St Govan's cliff walk. The beds here are campsites — Trefalen Farm, Buckspool Farm, Stackpole Under the Stars — and cottages; see the Bosherston page. The Castlemartin range closes the coast road on firing days, and our page carries the published times.

Pembroke Dock and the ferry

The Travelodge and the Dolphin Hotel on Pembroke Street are the beds within minutes of the ferry terminal — the Irish Ferries crossing to Rosslare is covered in the ferry guide, and the 02:45 sailing and 00:46 arrival in where to stay for the Pembroke Dock ferry. The town itself is the Victorian dockyard, the heritage centre and the Cleddau bridge to Neyland and the north; it is a practical stop rather than a holiday base.

Getting here

Pembroke, Lamphey and Pembroke Dock all have stations on the branch from Whitland via Tenby, which makes this end of the county the easiest to do by train. The 387/388 coastal bus serves the Stackpole villages in summer. See getting around without a car.

The honest bit

We haven't stayed in these places and don't rate them. The lists come from open data with websites where the map has them. For a hotel on your dates, the Booking.com search on the Pembroke hotel list is a paid link and is labelled as one.