Things to do in Mathry
Within about 5 miles of Mathry we list 12 places to go — 1 castle, 1 attraction, 1 museum or gallery, 2 nature reserves and viewpoints, plus 6 beaches and 4 walks.
The ones we've written up in full are Carreg Samson, Llangloffan Fen National Nature Reserve — start there if you only have a day.
For a wet day there is 1 indoor option nearby: Harbour Lights Gallery. Opening hours shrink hard out of season.
Everything below is ordered by distance from Mathry, with the places we've written about in full listed first. Nothing on this page is paid for.
Castles and ruins near Mathry
Pembrokeshire has more castles per mile than almost anywhere in Britain, because for four hundred years it was a frontier. Some are ticketed and roofed; some are a gatehouse in a field with nobody taking money.
5 miles from Mathry
Attractions and days out near Mathry
The paid days out — the ones that fill a whole morning and have a car park and a café.
2.3 miles from Mathry
Museums and galleries near Mathry
Mostly indoors, which on this coast is a category of its own. Opening hours narrow sharply out of season, so ring before you drive.
Harbour Lights Gallery
GalleryPembrokeshire Coast Path, Porthgain, SA62 5BL
Family-run gallery in Porthgain harbour, forty-odd years old, selling original Welsh art — Kyffin Williams and John Knapp-Fisher to the current crop — and doing bespoke framing on site.
- Phone
- +44 1348831549
- Website
- harbourlightsgallery.com
- Opening hours
- Today 12:00–16:00
4 miles from Mathry
Nature reserves and viewpoints near Mathry
Free, open whenever you turn up, and where a lot of the best of Pembrokeshire actually is.
Llangloffan Fen National Nature Reserve
Nature reserveLlangloffan Fen NNR — a rare lowland fen along the Western Cleddau's young valley near Mathry; boardwalk access, sedge warblers and marsh orchids in season.
1.8 miles from Mathry
Corsydd Llangloffan National Nature Reserve
Nature reserve2.2 miles from Mathry
Ancient and historic sites near Mathry
Burial chambers, standing stones, holy wells and iron-age forts. Most are on open land with no gate and no charge; a few sit on working farms, so use the marked access.
Melin Trefin
Historic siteThe ruined mill at Aber Draw below Trefin, immortalised in Crwys's Welsh poem 'Melin Trefin' — every Welsh schoolchild once knew these wheels.
2.5 miles from Mathry
Trefin Quarry
Historic siteOld coastal quarry workings by Trefin — part of the slate-and-stone story that built Porthgain next door.
2.7 miles from Mathry
Hayscastle Tump
Ancient siteThe motte that gave Hayscastle its name — a Norman castle mound in a farm landscape, best admired from the lane.
4 miles from Mathry
Abereiddy Promontory Fort
Ancient siteSmall promontory fort on the headland at Abereiddy, beside the Blue Lagoon — Iron Age defence, slate-age quarrying, one headland.
5 miles from Mathry
Tre-Maen-Hir Standing Stone
Ancient site4 miles from Mathry
Activities, golf and the water near Mathry
Coasteering, surf schools, kayaking, boat trips, and the two things everyone forgets to book until it's too late.
Preseli Venture
ActivitiesCoasteering, sea kayaking and surfing from an eco-lodge near Mathry — the all-inclusive adventure-weekend operation on the wild north coast.
- Website
- preseliventure.co.uk
1.6 miles from Mathry
Celtic Quest Coasteering
ActivitiesCoasteering-only specialists at Abereiddy — scramble, swim and jump around the Blue Lagoon coast with a company that does nothing else.
- Website
- celticquestcoasteering.com
5 miles from Mathry
Beaches near Mathry
Dogs all yearAberbach
Abermawr's little sister — a shingle-banked cove one headland north, shared mostly with oystercatchers.
Dogs all yearAbermawr
A storm-built pebble bank with woodland and marsh behind, and firm sand appearing only at low tide — quiet, moody and rarely busy.
Dogs all yearAbercastle
A sheltered working-harbour cove between Trefin and Mathry — kayaks, crab lines and a 5,000-year-old tomb up the hill.
Dogs all yearAber Draw, Trefin
The rocky cove below Trefin, with the ruined mill on the shore — a five-minute walk from the village and no sand to speak of.
Dogs all yearTraeth Llyfn
A big sandy cove between Abereiddi and Porthgain, reached by a steel staircase bolted to the cliff — and cut off at high tide.
Dogs all yearAbereiddi & the Blue Lagoon
Black sand, a flooded slate quarry of improbable blue-green, and coasteering's most famous jump-off.
Compare every beach near Mathry — dogs, lifeguards, parking →
Walks from Mathry
Trefin to Porthgain
Two easy miles linking two of the best small stops on the north coast — the ruined mill and beach at Aber Draw to the harbour, brickworks and famous fish and chips at Porthgain.
2 miles · 1 hour each way · Easy
Porthgain to Whitesands Bay
From an industrial harbour past the Blue Lagoon and round the wild north side of the St Davids peninsula to the county's most popular beach.
8 miles · 4½–5 hours · Moderate
Pwll Deri to Trefin
Ten empty miles of low cliff and storm beach between two of the quietest corners of the coast, with a Victorian railway scheme that never happened.
10 miles · 5½–6½ hours · Strenuous