Photo: Rod Grealish (CC BY-SA 2.0)Poppit Sands to Cemaes Head
The northern end of the Coast Path, and its highest cliffs. Hard work, few people, and dolphins offshore more often than not.
- Distance
- 4 miles / 6.4 km
- Time
- 2½ hours each way
- Difficulty
- Strenuous
- Climbing
- about 320m
- Type
- There and back
- Dogs
- On a lead
The route
The Coast Path's northern terminus is at St Dogmaels, but the walking starts properly at Poppit Sands, where the Teifi meets the sea.
The path climbs almost immediately and keeps climbing. Cemaes Head has the highest cliffs on the whole Pembrokeshire coast — around 175m — and the ground underfoot is rough, steep and often wet. This is the least-walked end of the path and it feels it.
What you get for the effort: the folded rock strata in the cliffs, which are a textbook site for geologists; a nature reserve full of choughs and peregrines; and one of the best stretches of water in Wales for bottlenose dolphins, which are resident in Cardigan Bay and regularly visible from the top on a calm day. Grey seals pup in the coves below from late August.
Looking north you can see Cardigan Island, and on a clear day the coast running up towards Aberystwyth.
Turn round at the head, or carry on south towards Ceibwr Bay if you have a lift arranged — that continuation is wilder still.
Where to finish. St Dogmaels is a couple of miles back and has the abbey ruins, Y Felin working watermill, and a pub or two. Cardigan is ten minutes further.
With a dog. Fine on the lead, but it's a long, steep pull and there's no water on the route.
Getting there
- Start
- Poppit Sands car park (SA43 3LN)
- Finish
- Cemaes Head
- Parking
- Pay and display at Poppit Sands.
The next few hours
Nearest forecast point: Preseli Hills
dry for the next few hours, around 9°C, breezy, gusts near 20 mph.
01:00
9°
Clear
W 20 mph
02:00
9°
Clear
W 20 mph
03:00
9°
Clear
W 20 mph
04:00
9°
Clear
NW 19 mph
05:00
8°
Clear
NW 19 mph
06:00
8°
Clear
NW 18 mph
07:00
8°
Clear
NW 18 mph
08:00
8°
Clear
NW 19 mph
Forecast from MET Norway, used under CC BY 4.0. It's a forecast for the nearest of six points across the county, not for this exact spot — on a coast this shaped, one headland can be in sun and the next in rain.
Light today at Poppit Sands car park
- Sunrise
- 07:33
- Sunset
- 18:40
- Daylight
- 11h 7m
The light goes gold from about 17:54.
Calculated for these coordinates, accurate to a minute or so. A cliff or a headland to your west will take the sun sooner than this suggests.
Tides near Poppit Sands to Cemaes Head
Cardigan (Town) · about 2 miles away
High water
08:41
Sat 10 Oct · 4.8m
High water
20:57
Sat 10 Oct · 4.9m
High water
09:15
Sun 11 Oct · 4.9m
High water
21:30
Sun 11 Oct · 4.9m
Predicted times from the UK Hydrographic Office. Wind and pressure shift real water levels, and the tide at a specific cove can run earlier or later than its port. Never plan a tidal crossing on this alone.
Before you go
Steep, exposed and much harder than the distance suggests. There is no shelter and no water. The cliffs are among the highest in Pembrokeshire and the edge is unfenced.
Where to eat and drink on this walk
The nearest pubs, cafés and restaurants to the start and finish. Check hours before you count on one.
1.6km away · about 25 min walk
1.7km away · about 25 min walk
Photo: Bill Boaden (CC BY-SA 2.0)Ferry Inn
PubPoppit Road, St Dogmaels, SA43 3LF
- Phone
- +44 1239 615 172
- Website
- theferryinn.co.uk
- Opening hours
- Today 12:00–23:00
1.7km away · about 25 min walk
Môr Ffein
Café2 High Street, St Dogmaels, SA43 3ED
Café on St Dogmaels High Street.
2.0km away · about 30 min walk
Beaches on the way
Stay near this walk
Hand-picked places to stay in and around St Dogmaels (Llandudoch), nearest first. Our picks are data-driven — we haven’t stayed — and we earn a commission when you book through a partner link. How that works.
St Dogmaels (Llandudoch) · Sleeps 2 · 1 bed
- 1 mile away
- Best for: Couples · Coast Path starters and finishers
Bookable via holidaycottages.co.uk
St Dogmaels (Llandudoch) · Sleeps 6 · 3 beds
- In St Dogmaels (Llandudoch)
- Best for: Families · cyclists and paddlers
Bookable via holidaycottages.co.uk
Cilgerran · Sleeps 4 · 2 beds
- 4 miles away
- Best for: Couples · river paddlers
Bookable via holidaycottages.co.uk
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Other walks nearby
Poppit Sands to Ceibwr Bay
The first real test of the path: up over Cemaes Head onto some of the highest sea cliffs of the whole 186 miles, then along a wild, empty top with no way off until Ceibwr.
6 miles · 3–4 hours · Strenuous
St Dogmaels to Poppit Sands
The official start of the Coast Path, and by far its gentlest stage: a flat two and a half miles down the Teifi estuary to a big sandy beach.
2.5 miles · 1–1¼ hours each way · Easy
Ceibwr Bay to Newport
The wildest stage on the north coast: a collapsed sea cave, a long switchback over unfenced cliffs, and almost nobody else on it.
7 miles · 4½–5 hours · Strenuous
Distances and times are approximate. Conditions on the Coast Path change with the weather and the season — take a map, and check tide times and firing times where they apply.