Photo: Julian Cremona (CC BY-SA 2.0)Things to do in St Ishmaels
Within about 5 miles of St Ishmaels we list 17 places to go — 8 castles, 1 attraction, 1 museum or gallery, 2 nature reserves and viewpoints, plus 10 beaches and 6 walks.
For a wet day there is 1 indoor option nearby: Milford Haven Museum. Opening hours shrink hard out of season.
Everything below is ordered by distance from St Ishmaels, with the places we've written about in full listed first. Nothing on this page is paid for.
Castles and ruins near St Ishmaels
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.
Photo: Julian Cremona (CC BY-SA 2.0)1.5 miles from St Ishmaels
Photo: David Merrett from Daventry, England (CC BY 2.0)Stack Rock Fort
Castle1.9 miles from St Ishmaels
Photo: Thorne17 (CC BY-SA 4.0)Thorn Island Fort
Castle1.9 miles from St Ishmaels
Photo: Peter Barr (CC BY-SA 2.0)West Blockhouse Fort
Castle2.4 miles from St Ishmaels
Tower House
Castle2.8 miles from St Ishmaels
Photo: Alvear24 (CC BY-SA 3.0)Hubberston Fort
Castle3 miles from St Ishmaels
Photo: Shaun Butler (CC BY-SA 2.0)Fort Popton
Castle4 miles from St Ishmaels
Broadmoor Rath
Castle4 miles from St Ishmaels
Attractions and days out near St Ishmaels
The paid days out — the ones that fill a whole morning and have a car park and a café.
Pump House
Attraction3 miles from St Ishmaels
Museums and galleries near St Ishmaels
Mostly indoors, which on this coast is a category of its own. Opening hours narrow sharply out of season, so ring before you drive.
Photo: Deborah Tilley (CC BY-SA 2.0)Milford Haven Museum
MuseumThe Docks, Milford Haven, SA73 3AF
- Website
- milfordhavenmuseum.co.uk
- Opening hours
- Today 10:30–16:00
4 miles from St Ishmaels
Nature reserves and viewpoints near St Ishmaels
Free, open whenever you turn up, and where a lot of the best of Pembrokeshire actually is.
Cobbler's Hole
Viewpoint3 miles from St Ishmaels
Vomit Point
Viewpoint3 miles from St Ishmaels
Ancient and historic sites near St Ishmaels
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.
Gann Lime Kilns
Historic site2.0 miles from St Ishmaels
Photo: Colin Bell (CC BY-SA 2.0)Chapel Bay Fort
Historic site2.3 miles from St Ishmaels
Runway
Historic site2.9 miles from St Ishmaels
Activities, golf and the water near St Ishmaels
Coasteering, surf schools, kayaking, boat trips, and the two things everyone forgets to book until it's too late.
Clay Lane, Hubberston, SA73 3RX
- Phone
- +44 1646 697 822
- Website
- mhgc.co.uk
2.7 miles from St Ishmaels
Milford Marina
Marina4 miles from St Ishmaels
Beaches near St Ishmaels
Sandy Haven
A quiet estuary beach on the north shore of the waterway, with stepping stones across the pill that only work at low tide.
Dale Beach
The sailing village's sheltered shingle-and-sand beach on the Milford Haven waterway — flat water, boats and a pub on the front.
Mill Bay
The small shingle cove near St Ann's Head where Henry Tudor landed in 1485 on his way to Bosworth — history, not sunbathing.
West Angle Bay
Sand, outstanding rockpools and a café at the mouth of the Milford Haven waterway — the best low-tide beach for children in the county.
Westdale Bay
Fifteen minutes' walk across the peninsula from Dale and a completely different sea — open Atlantic sand, and dangerous swimming.
Gelliswick Bay
Milford Haven's own sheltered bay — shingle and sand on the waterway, home to the sailing club and a genuinely local beach.
Compare every beach near St Ishmaels — dogs, lifeguards, parking →
Walks from St Ishmaels
Dale to Sandy Haven
A gentle stage along the north shore of the Haven with two tidal stepping-stone crossings that will add four miles to your day if you get them wrong.
7 miles · 3½–4 hours · Moderate
The Dale Peninsula and St Ann's Head
A full-day circuit of the peninsula that guards the mouth of the Milford Haven waterway, past a lighthouse, three forts and the beach where Henry Tudor landed.
8 miles · 4–5 hours · Moderate
West Angle Bay to Freshwater West
Round the exposed corner where the Haven meets the Atlantic, from a sheltered bay with a café to the wildest surf beach in Wales.
6 miles · 3–3½ hours · Moderate