Manorbier to Tenby via Skrinkle and Lydstep

This is a good stage: varied, not too long, easy to get back from, and it finishes in Tenby, which is the best arrival on the south coast.

From Manorbier the path climbs east past the castle and immediately runs into the first of the day's complications. Old Castle Head is a Royal Artillery range, and the Coast Path is routed inland around it. Below and beyond lies Presipe, a fine sandy beach reached by a steep path, which closes when the range is active.

Then comes the best bit of the stage. Skrinkle Haven and Church Doors are two coves separated by a fin of limestone with a natural arch cut through it — from the right angle it looks like a doorway, hence the name. A long metal staircase drops to the sand at Skrinkle. Both coves are completely cut off at high tide and the walls are sheer, so check the tide table before you go down and don't sit out a rising tide at the back of the beach.

Past Skrinkle the path runs above Lydstep Haven, a sheltered bay largely occupied by a holiday park, and then out onto Lydstep Point, a National Trust headland with a short waymarked loop round it. This is the best view of Caldey Island on the whole coast — the monastery, the lighthouse and the beach at Priory Bay laid out across the water. Caldey has been a monastic island on and off since the 6th century and the Cistercian community there still runs boats from Tenby harbour in season.

East again over Proud Giltar and along the cliffs above the Ministry of Defence ranges at Giltar Point. When the Penally range is firing, the path is closed here and diverted inland via the road and the path beside the railway through Penally village — check the flags.

The final mile is flat: down onto Tenby South Beach and a mile and a half of sand with the town, the walls and St Catherine's Island getting closer the whole way. If the tide is out it's a genuinely great finish.

Where to finish. Tenby has more choice than the rest of the county put together — the harbour, Tudor Square and the streets inside the walls.

Getting back. The train from Tenby to Manorbier takes a few minutes and runs all year, which is the easy answer.