Solva to Newgale

Solva is a drowned valley — the sea flooded a glacial meltwater channel, leaving a harbour that bends out of sight of the open water, which is why boats have used it for centuries. The lime kilns on the quay are the remains of its trading years.

Climb east out of the harbour and the character of the stage announces itself immediately: this section drops into and climbs out of a series of steep valleys, and the total ascent is far more than the distance suggests. Five miles here is not five miles on the flat.

The high points are the reward. Dinas Fawr is a narrow promontory you can walk out along, with sea on three sides. Nine Wells is the spring-fed valley where the water for St Davids used to come from. Between them the path runs high above small, mostly inaccessible coves.

The finish is Newgale: two miles of west-facing shingle and sand, one of the best surf beaches in Wales, and a completely different landscape from the cliffs you've just walked. At low tide the sands are enormous. The shingle bank behind was thrown up by storms, and in bad winters the sea still comes over it.

Where to finish. There's a café and a surf shop at Newgale, and the Duke of Edinburgh is at the top of Newgale Hill. Solva has more choice if you're heading back.

Doing it as an out-and-back makes for a long day. Use the bus.