Wiseman's Bridge

Wiseman's Bridge is a short stretch of sand and shingle at the mouth of a wooded valley, with an inn on the seafront and very little else. Its value is entirely about position: the old coal tramway from Saundersfoot runs along the shore here as a level, pushchair-friendly path through three rock tunnels, so you can walk to Saundersfoot in twenty-five minutes one way and to Amroth in fifteen the other, with the sea beside you the whole time. Few walks in Pembrokeshire give so much coast for so little effort.

In 1943 the beaches from Saundersfoot to Amroth were used for full-scale landing rehearsals ahead of D-Day, and Churchill watched them from this stretch of coast. The valley behind climbs into the woods around Stepaside and Pleasant Valley, where the ruins of an ironworks and colliery buildings sit among the trees — a good wet-afternoon wander.

The beach itself is more shingle than sand at high water, and the sand at low tide is firm and wide. There is no shop, parking is limited to a small area by the bridge, and the seafront road is narrow, so August middays get congested. Set against that: Saundersfoot's beach and harbour are minutes away, Tenby is ten to fifteen minutes by car, and Folly Farm and Narberth are a short drive inland. It suits people who want a quiet base at walking distance from a busier resort rather than in it.

Seafront properties look straight out over the bay and put the tramway walk on the doorstep, but parking is tight — confirm a space before booking. The lanes climbing towards Stepaside and Pleasant Valley have more cottages and barn conversions with gardens and easier parking, a ten-minute downhill walk from the sand.

Reached by narrow lanes from the A478 at Kilgetty or along the coast road from Saundersfoot. Kilgetty station, on the Pembroke Dock branch line, is about five minutes away by car.