Atmospheric ruins: Laugharne Castle guards the mouth of the Tawe Estuary in Carmarthenshire

Tenby to Swansea

Around Carmarthen Bay and the Gower Peninsula AONB. 131 miles/210 kilometres of varied coast walking in twelve easy day walk sections.

Day sections

  1. Tenby to Pendine
  2. Pendine to St Clears
  3. St Clears to Llansteffan
  4. Llansteffan to Carmarhen
  5. Carmarthen to Kidwelly
  6. Kidwelly to Burry Port
  7. Burry Port to Loughor
  8. Loughor to Llanmadoc
  9. Llanmadoc to Rhossili
  10. Rhossili to Oxwich
  11. Oxwich to Caswell Bay
  12. Caswell Bay to Swansea Marina

Best bits of Carmarthen Bay & Gower

Tenby harbour and old town, seabird colonies, Pendine Sands, ‘Museum of Speed’, Dylan Thomas’ boathouse and Laugharne Castle, St Clears Castle, St Anthony’s well, Llansteffan Castle, Green Castle Woods Nature Reserve, Carmarthen town, Ferryside, Kidwelly Castle, Pembrey Forest and Nature Reserve, Cefn Sidan sands, Pembrey Burrows, Burry Port marina, Millennium Coastal Park, Llanelli Discovery Centre, National Wetlands Centre Wales, Laugharne Castle, Llanrhidian Marsh, Lucas nature reserve, Whiteford NNR, Whiteford cast iron lighthouse, Culver Hole cave, Burry Holms island, Rhossili Bay and down, Worms Head, Paviland cave, salt houses at Port-Eynon, Oxwich NNR, Three Cliffs bay, Pennard Castle, Caswell Bay, Mumbles lighthouse, Oystermouth Castle, National waterfront museum, Swansea marina, Dylan Thomas Centre.

Tidal estuaries, forests and salt marsh, castles and tiny churches, Worm’s Head, and Dylan Thomas

Carmarthenshire and the Gower Peninsula offer some of the finest coastal walking in South Wales, rivalling even the Pembrokeshire National Park for beauty and natural variety.

The Carmarthenshire coast offers historic ports, peaceful estuaries and glorious sandy beaches, while the Gower Peninsula is a place of stunning and astonishingly varied beauty.

Once walked, it is obvious why the Gower Peninsula was chosen as Britain’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Gower coastline  has added protection as a Heritage Coast and is also the site of three National Nature Reserves.

The Carmarthenshire coast is as varied as the landscape, with the initial stretch between Amroth and Pendine being the toughest. Beyond Pendine rugged cliffs give way to a landscape of sand and silt extending all the way to Gower’s iconic Worm’s Head.

The south Gower coast is wild and rocky and contains some of the most impressive limestone cliffs in Britain, as well as a number of popular and stunningly beautiful sandy bays. An easy stroll along the Swansea Bay cycle path concludes the section. From start to finish, this is an inspiring and richly rewarding walk.

Books and maps for this part of the coast