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A Walk in Wales

On a crisp Saturday in October, Arie and I took a red-eye flight from NYC to London. My sister, Bryna, had moved to Cambridge, England a few months earlier, and I never pass up an opportunity to visit family abroad. Arie and I had both visited London several times, so on this trip to Great Britain we hoped to see something other than “The Old Smoke.” We had a week, and Scotland seemed a bit too far to see thoroughly (and Bryna had already been to Scotland), so we did as few tourists do, and planned a walk in Wales.

Upon our morning arrival, we met Bryna at our hotel and headed straight to Sunday lunch with Arie’s family, it was the only time we could spend with them. We only had one day in London before we headed west, and we had a lot to do. On my list: pick up a classic Barbour coat and a pair of Hunter wellies so I’d be in proper uniform for our time in the British countryside.

The Drive to Wales

The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast at a café close to the hotel, picked up our car, and began our drive to Wales. Bryna had done all of the necessary travel research, so we were following her lead. The drive was about five hours to our first stop, Saundersfoot, a beachside resort town in southwest Wales. The main lure of this town is summer fun; the town seems to fall asleep as soon as the cool air blows in. Since it was October, there wasn’t much open. After our long but scenic drive, we settled into a little motel and set out in search off dinner. I always have a list of local foods that I want to eat while on vacation, and a pie was on the top of my list. Unfortunately, it is fairly difficult to find a vegetarian pie! I settled for some mushy peas and a baked potato.

Exploring Charming Towns in Wales

The next morning we headed ten minutes down the road to Tenby. During the Georgian era, Tenby became a popular spa-holiday destination when wealthy Brits began to believe that bathing in ocean water was beneficial to their health. The town continued to grow in both size and popularity through the Victorian era. The colorful, well-maintained Victorian architecture mixed with modern boutiques give Tenby an element of charm that attracts visitors year-round. Even in the chill of October, it was noticeably livelier that its close neighbor, Saundersfoot.

We wandered around with no particular destination in mind. Tenby sits on a cliff overlooking a vast beach. We soaked in the view before hiking down to the water. It was a sunny day, and the beach was busy with locals taking their morning strolls. We wandered back into town, and after a quick snack and a tea, we began our short drive to Pembroke, twenty minutes down the road.

Pembroke is another charming Welsh town, but with a bit more history and might than Tenby or Saundersfoot. It is home to the Pembroke Castle, a fairly large, fairly well kept, medieval castle. Built in the late 1000’s, it has hundreds of years of history, too much to include in detail here. We decided to take the free, guided tour, and it was well worth our time. The highlights for me were learning about the stone domed tower (the first stone dome in Europe) which made this castle nearly impenetrable, and that this castle was the birthplace of King Henry VII, the first Tudor king (credited with ending the War of the Roses), and father to King Henry VIII, you know, the one with six wives. It was pretty cool.

After a long day of sightseeing, we arrived at our cute little cottage, an Air BnB in St. David’s. This small, coastal town has become a bit trendy with the hip London crowd looking for a quiet weekend away from the fast life. There are little cafes and cozy pubs with delicious eats. Our restored cottage was just a walk from the town center. Because it was already evening when we arrived, after greeting our hosts and getting settled, we went right to dinner. After some warm food and a beer, we cozied up in the cottage and went to bed.

The coast of western Wales is dotted with wild and rugged islands. Most of them devoid of human life, they are excellent habitat for local wildlife. We took an early morning boat ride out to one of those Islands, hoping to see birds, seals, and maybe even some dolphins or whales. It was another beautiful day, although a bit windy, as we circled the rocky, island cliffs. The round trip took about two hours. Since the wildlife is protected, we weren’t able to get too close, but we still saw a number of chubby seals warming their bellies in the morning sun, as well as loads of sea birds. We left quite satisfied.

The Pembrokeshire Coastal Path

The last item on our Welsh itinerary was a walk along the Pembrokeshire coastal path (we saved the best for last). This exquisite walkway is a 186-mile path along the coastal cliffs of southwest Wales. The path meanders along the coast, passing towns here and there, but mostly there is just green pasture on one side and the dark-blue Celtic Sea on the other. We decided that ten miles would be a decent walk for us. It was enough to feel as though we had accomplished something, but not too long that we needed to be fully equipped. Plus, it was afternoon by then, and we needed to finish before sunset.

We started at Whitesands Bay, a short drive from St. David’s, and then walked along the coast to Porthgain. We chose Porthgain as our final stop because of an awesome fish and chips spot, The Shed Fish and Chip Bistro, located just at the end of the trail. We knew after four to five hours of walking, we’d be ready for dinner, and a fried dinner at that! The walk was beautiful. We could not have had a better day. The sky was perfectly blue, and the pastures were lush and green. We saw sheep, happily grazing in fields of yellow and pink wildflowers. We even saw more seals! There were a few other walkers, but for the majority of the time, we had the path to ourselves.

The Shed was an excellent choice for dinner. It is located in the Porthgain harbor, right at the edge of the path. It was so popular that they almost didn’t have room for us! That would have been a disaster; I was starving. (Little secret, I don’t actually eat fish! I had the vegetable curry, and it was awesome). Oh, with a glass of beer, I was in heaven.

Driving to Cambridge: a Stop in Castle Combe

The next morning we started our long drive to Cambridge. We planned to make a mid-drive stop in Castle Combe for some refreshments and a little leg stretch. I had seen photos of this town thought it was too cute to resist. We did a little wander, snapped some pics, and headed on our way.

We arrived in Cambridge in the evening and settled in. My sister lives in a classic row house. It was nice to see her home so that I could imagine it correctly once back in NYC.

Touring Cambridge

The next day we wandered around Cambridge, mostly visiting the shops and cafes. In the evening, we attended Evensong at the chapel at King’s College. Evensong is a Church of England choral service. It is held in the gothic-style chapel built by King Henry VIII. The gorgeous setting, the style of the choir, and the acoustics created by the chapel all made it a truly amazing experience. It felt very sacred, a tradition that has been preserved and respected in a world that changes at lighting speed.

Having Tea in the Orchards

I had one more major food box to check off, so on our last day in England, we went for tea. My sister knew of a great spot in an orchard. To get there, we walked through the lovely Grantchester Meadows. The meadows were bustling with families who, like us, were taking advantage of the last few warm days before winter. We reached the orchard, and under the glistening green leaves of the apple trees, we had a proper pot of tea accompanied by scones, clotted cream, and jam. It was delightful. There couldn’t have been a more perfect way to spend our last day in England.

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