Things to do in Solva
Within about 5 miles of Solva we list 29 places to go — 1 castle, 4 attractions, 2 museums and galleries, 1 nature reserve or viewpoint, plus 10 beaches and 5 walks.
The ones we've written up in full are Dr Beynon's Bug Farm, St Davids Cathedral & Bishop's Palace, St David's Airfield — start there if you only have a day.
For a wet day there are 2 indoor options nearby: Oriel Fach, Treasury of the Cathedral. Opening hours shrink hard out of season.
Everything below is ordered by distance from Solva, with the places we've written about in full listed first. Nothing on this page is paid for.
Castles and ruins near Solva
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.
1.7 miles from Solva
Attractions and days out near Solva
The paid days out — the ones that fill a whole morning and have a car park and a café.
Dr Beynon's Bug Farm
AttractionA working research farm about invertebrates outside St Davids — tropical bug zoo, trails, museum, and the UK's first insect-eating restaurant attached.
- Website
- thebugfarm.co.uk
2.1 miles from Solva
St Davids Cathedral & Bishop's Palace
AttractionWales's holiest site, hidden in its hollow — 12th-century nave, medieval ceiling, and the great ruined palace beside it.
3 miles from Solva
Aquaphobia
Attraction3.0 miles from Solva
Voyages of Discovery
Attraction3 miles from Solva
Museums and galleries near Solva
Mostly indoors, which on this coast is a category of its own. Opening hours narrow sharply out of season, so ring before you drive.
Oriel Fach
GallerySmall gallery ('oriel fach' — little gallery) in Solva, showing local artists in the harbour village.
400 yards from Solva
The Treasury exhibition inside St Davids Cathedral — centuries of the cathedral's silver, vestments and story, included in a cathedral visit.
Step-free access
3 miles from Solva
Nature reserves and viewpoints near Solva
Free, open whenever you turn up, and where a lot of the best of Pembrokeshire actually is.
St David's Airfield
Nature reserveThe old wartime airfield on the St Davids peninsula, now National Trust heathland — runways to stroll, skylarks overhead, and big-sky views to Carn Llidi.
1.2 miles from Solva
Ancient and historic sites near Solva
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.
The Gribin Fort, Solva
Ancient siteIron Age fort along the Gribin ridge dividing Solva's two valleys — the short sharp walk every Solva visitor should take, with the harbour below.
400 yards from Solva
Porth-y-Rhaw Camp
Ancient siteMulti-ramparted promontory fort at Porth y Rhaw near Solva — one of the coast's most defended headlands, excavated in recent decades.
1.0 miles from Solva
Photo: Richard Law (CC BY-SA 2.0)Caerfai Camp
Ancient siteIron Age promontory fort on the headland beside Caerfai Bay, St Davids — ramparts you walk straight through on the Coast Path.
2.5 miles from Solva
Photo: Llywelyn2000 (CC BY-SA 4.0)St Non's Chapel & Holy Well
Historic siteThe clifftop birthplace of St David — a ruined chapel, a holy well that still gets offerings, and one of the finest short walks from the city.
3 miles from Solva
Photo: Robert Edwards (CC BY-SA 2.0)The Bishop's Palace, St Davids
Historic siteThe vast ruined palace beside St Davids Cathedral — arcaded parapets and a great hall built for medieval princes of the church; Cadw site, entry charged, cathedral free next door.
- Opening hours
- Mar-Jun: Mo–Su 09:30–17:00 · Jul-Aug: Mo–Su 09:30–18:00
3 miles from Solva
Photo: ceridwen (CC BY-SA 2.0)Clegyr Boia
Ancient siteRocky knoll outside St Davids holding some of the oldest Neolithic settlement traces in Wales — and, in legend, the stronghold of the chieftain who feuded with St David himself.
4 miles from Solva
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 Solva
Carn Llidi Chambered Tomb
Ancient siteTwin chambered tombs on the slope of Carn Llidi above Whitesands — burial places with the best sea view in Neolithic Britain.
5 miles from Solva
Castell Heinif
Ancient sitePromontory fort above St Justinian, looking over Ramsey Sound — ditches and banks with the lifeboat station and island for a backdrop.
5 miles from Solva
Porth y Bwch Defended Enclosure
Ancient site- Website
- coflein.gov.uk
0.8 miles from Solva
Tre-Maen-Hir Standing Stone
Ancient site2.0 miles from Solva
Ring and Bailey
Ancient site4 miles from Solva
Showing the 12 closest of 14.
Activities, golf and the water near Solva
Coasteering, surf schools, kayaking, boat trips, and the two things everyone forgets to book until it's too late.
TYF Adventure
Activities18 Heol Fawr, St Davids, SA62 6SD
St Davids' original adventure outfit — coasteering, sea kayaking, surfing, climbing and paddleboarding from a shop on the High Street, running for over thirty years.
- Website
- tyf.com
3 miles from Solva
3 miles from Solva
Newsurf (Newgale Surf School & Hire)
ActivitiesThe surf school and hire shop on Newgale beach — lessons, boards and wetsuits right on the county's biggest learner wave.
- Website
- newsurf.co.uk
3 miles from Solva
Thousand Islands Expeditions
ActivitiesThe St Davids operator running landing trips to Ramsey Island's RSPB reserve, plus offshore whale-and-dolphin expeditions towards Grassholm and The Smalls.
- Website
- thousandislands.co.uk
3 miles from Solva
Photo: Andy F (CC BY-SA 2.0)Porth Clais Harbour
MarinaSt Davids' ancient harbour — a narrow tidal inlet with restored lime kilns, kayakers and Coast Path both ways; the city's port since the age of saints.
4 miles from Solva
4 miles from Solva
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
4 miles from Solva
Beaches near Solva
Dogs all yearSolva Harbour Beach
The drying harbour at the head of Solva's ria — boats on the mud, crabbing off the wall, sand at low water.
Dogs all yearPorthmynawyd (Pointz Castle)
The hidden cove between Solva and Newgale — a fifteen-minute field walk keeps it nearly private.
Dogs all yearCaerbwdi Bay
A small, stony, Coast-Path-only cove east of Caerfai — quiet, geological, and no use at all for sunbathing.
Dogs all yearCaerfai Bay
St Davids' walk-to beach: purple-tinged sandstone cliffs, a steep flight of steps and clean sand at low water.
Dogs all yearNewgale Sands
Two miles of open sand and learner-friendly surf behind a great pebble bank — St Brides Bay's big beach.
Dogs all yearPorthclais Harbour
St Davids' medieval harbour inlet — lime kilns, kayaks and a sliver of low-tide sand in a rocky creek.
Compare every beach near Solva — dogs, lifeguards, parking →
Walks from Solva
Solva to Newgale
A relentlessly up-and-down stage between a drowned-valley harbour and a two-mile shingle beach. Short on paper, hard on the legs.
5 miles · 3 hours · Strenuous
Newgale to Broad Haven
Along the top of St Brides Bay past the ruins of a colliery that mined coal out under the sea, with four beaches on the way.
7 miles · 3½–4 hours · Moderate
Abereiddi to Porthgain and the Blue Lagoon
A short, spectacular cliff walk between two abandoned quarry harbours, past the flooded slate pit everyone photographs.
3 miles · 1½ hours each way · Easy