Lydstep

Lydstep sits on the A4139 halfway between Tenby and Manorbier, a small roadside village with a church, a scatter of houses and two very different coastal assets below it. Lydstep Haven is a sheltered south-facing bay of clean sand, largely occupied by a long-established holiday park — the beach is accessed through the park, which is worth knowing before you plan a day there. Lydstep Point, immediately west, is National Trust land with a circular clifftop walk, wildflower grassland and views along the whole south coast.

The caverns under the point are the local curiosity: at low tide, and with care and local advice about the tides, you can reach sea caves cut into the limestone at the foot of the cliffs. The Coast Path here is excellent in both directions — east past Giltar Point towards Tenby's South Beach, west over the cliffs to Skrinkle Haven and Manorbier's castle bay.

As a base, Lydstep is genuinely well placed for the south coast: Tenby is five minutes by car, Manorbier ten, Freshwater East and the Stackpole estate twenty. The trade-offs are that the village has no real centre, the main road through it carries steady summer traffic, and beach access is not the open free-for-all it looks like on a map. Choose it for the walking, the position and the limestone cliff scenery rather than for village life.

The holiday park above Lydstep Haven dominates supply and suits families who want the beach, pool and on-site facilities in one place. For something quieter, look at cottages and barn conversions in the lanes inland towards Penally and Manorbier, which give gardens, parking and easy drives to several beaches.

On the A4139 between Tenby and Manorbier. The nearest stations are Penally and Manorbier, both small halts on the Pembroke Dock branch line, each a few minutes away by car.