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Coast Path stage

Trefin to Porthgain

Two easy miles linking two of the best small stops on the north coast — the ruined mill and beach at Aber Draw to the harbour, brickworks and famous fish and chips at Porthgain.

Distance
2 miles / 3.2 km
Time
1 hour each way
Difficulty
Easy
Climbing
about 90m
Type
Coast Path stage
Dogs
On a lead
Aber Draw beach and its ruined millPorthgain harbour and the giant brick hoppersThe Sloop Innserving since 1743Fish and chips at The Shed

The route

The shortest stage we list, and the one to give someone who wants to understand why people fall for this coast without asking six hours of their legs. From Trefin the path drops to Aber Draw, a rocky little beach with the ruin of the village corn mill beside it — it ground until 1918, and the millstones are still lying about.

The two clifftop miles that follow are easy, open walking with Strumble Head filling the horizon behind you. Then the path turns a corner and drops into Porthgain, which is unlike anywhere else on the path: a tiny working harbour walled in by the towering brick hoppers of what was, until 1931, a serious industrial port shipping crushed granite and slate out of the cliffs. The quarry workings, the tramway lines and the harbourmaster's white beacon are all still there to poke around.

It is also, mile for mile, the best-fed spot on the north coast. The Sloop Inn has been pouring beer since 1743, and The Shed, in the old machine shop on the quay, has a fish-and-chips reputation that puts a queue down the harbour wall all summer. Walk out, eat, walk back: as good a two-hour holiday as Pembrokeshire offers.

Getting there

Start
Trefin (village centre, by the Coast Path spur)
Finish
Porthgain harbour
Parking
Free village car park in Trefin; a car park by the harbour at Porthgain, which fills by late morning in summer because of the food.
Buses
The Strumble Shuttle coastal bus links Trefin and Porthgain on its St Davids–Fishguard run — seasonal and infrequent, so check times; walking back is genuinely the reliable option at two miles.

Open the start point in OpenStreetMap →

Start and finish shown. Schematic — take a proper map.

Light today at Trefin (village centre, by the Coast Path spur)

Sunrise
06:12
Sunset
20:39
Daylight
14h 27m

The light goes gold from about 19:52.

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.

Before you go

A gentle stage by Coast Path standards, but the cliff edge between the two villages is unfenced as everywhere. The lane down to Aber Draw is shared with cars.

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.

0m away · about 5 min walk

100m away · about 5 min walk

150m away · about 5 min walk

450m away · about 5 min walk

500m away · about 5 min walk

1.8km away · about 25 min walk

Beaches on the way

Other walks nearby

Porthgain to Whitesands Bay, Pembrokeshire

Porthgain to Whitesands Bay

From an industrial harbour past the Blue Lagoon and round the wild north side of the St Davids peninsula to the county's most popular beach.

8 miles · 4½–5 hours · Moderate

Abereiddi to Porthgain and the Blue Lagoon, Pembrokeshire

Abereiddi to Porthgain and the Blue Lagoon

A short, spectacular cliff walk between two abandoned quarry harbours, past the flooded slate pit everyone photographs.

3 miles · 1½ hours each way · Easy

Pwll Deri to Trefin, Pembrokeshire

Pwll Deri to Trefin

Ten empty miles of low cliff and storm beach between two of the quietest corners of the coast, with a Victorian railway scheme that never happened.

10 miles · 5½–6½ 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.