Photo: Julian Cremona (CC BY-SA 2.0)Things to do in St Ishmaels
Within about 5 miles of St Ishmaels we list 18 places to go — 8 castles, 2 attractions, 2 museums and galleries, 2 nature reserves and viewpoints, plus 15 beaches and 8 walks.
The ones we've written up in full are Dale Fort, Torch Theatre & Cinema, Cobbler's Hole — start there if you only have a day.
For a wet day there are 2 indoor options nearby: Chapel Bay Fort & Museum, 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.
Photo: Markus G. Klötzer (CC BY-SA 4.0)Torch Theatre & Cinema
AttractionPembrokeshire's producing theatre — its own professional company, plus cinema screens and a café-bar, five minutes from Milford Waterfront.
Founding Partner
- Website
- torchtheatre.co.uk
4 miles from St Ishmaels
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: Colin Bell (CC BY-SA 2.0)Chapel Bay Fort & Museum
MuseumA Victorian coastal fort at Angle restored by volunteers into a working museum of the Haven's defences — guns, ramparts, café and all.
- Website
- chapelbayfort.com
2.3 miles from St Ishmaels
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
ViewpointCliff viewpoint near St Ann's Head at the tip of the Dale peninsula — savagely folded rock strata that geology field trips cross Britain to sketch.
3 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 siteLime kilns on the Gann estuary flats between Dale and Musselwick — industrial archaeology amid the wading birds.
2.0 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
MarinaThe marina at Milford Waterfront — pontoons, bars and restaurants around the old fishing docks, with the Torch Theatre and town museum alongside.
4 miles from St Ishmaels
Beaches near St Ishmaels
Dogs all yearMonk Haven
A pebble cove at the end of a wooded valley, guarded by a Victorian wall — one of the Haven's oldest landing places.
Dogs all yearSandy Haven
A quiet estuary beach on the north shore of the waterway, with stepping stones across the pill that only work at low tide.
Dogs all yearLindsway Bay
A cliff-backed sandy bay near St Ishmaels that empties with the tide and is never busy even when it exists.
Dogs all yearCastlebeach Bay
A small wooded cove with a restored lime kiln, five minutes' walk from Dale towards St Ann's Head.
Dogs all yearWatwick Bay
The Dale peninsula's white-sand surprise — sheltered, walk-in only, and startlingly beautiful at low tide.
Dogs all yearDale Beach
The sailing village's sheltered shingle-and-sand beach on the Milford Haven waterway — flat water, boats and a pub on the front.
Compare every beach near St Ishmaels — dogs, lifeguards, parking →
Walks from St Ishmaels
Sandy Haven to Milford Haven
The path changes character completely: an easy half-day along the north shore of the Milford Haven waterway, timed around the tide at Sandy Haven, ending among the marina and museums of the town.
6 miles · 2½–3 hours · Easy
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