A peninsula in Swansea, South Wales with beautiful coastlines, sloping sand-dunes, rugged coves and numerous sandy beaches.
We spent 3 nights in an air bnb in The Mumbles, a quirky seaside town in Swansea full of independent shops, cafes and restaurants with plenty of character and a promenade to go strolling alongside the sea. Myself and Phil both went to Swansea University, graduating back in 2006 and we remember The Mumbles for the infamous ‘Mumbles Mile’, a bar crawl through the seaside town ending up in Cinderella’s on the Pier (if we made it that far!). Many a birthday was celebrated doing the ‘Mumbles Mile’ and it was a nostalgic trip to see how many of the pubs were still operating that we could remember from our heydays!
The air bnb that we booked was at the top of the town right next to the Mumbles Cricket Club. It was a little bungalow with 2 bedrooms, 1 room had bunk beds and reminded us of a caravan. It was perfect for our little family of 4, and after living out of a suitcase at Claire’s parents for the last week or so it was nice to have our own space. It cost us £200 for 3 nights.
At the end of the close of bungalows was a path leading onto the Coastal Path (an 870mile path around the Welsh Coast) where a path took you all the way around the bay to Bracelet Bay and down to the Mumbles Pier, apparently a 30-40 minute walk. We unfortunately didn’t get to do this walk as we spent most of our time driving round the North and South Gower exploring the many beaches there.
Langland Bay
The closest beach to us was Langland Bay, we first arrived in the rain which didn’t really do the beach any justice so made sure we returned on our last day. It is a lovely, accessible stretch of sand and some rocks for crabbing. It has beach huts and a couple of fish shops/cafes as well as the very well located Langlands Brasserie, which is on the more expensive side for meals and drinks but we did stop for 1 drink to soak up the sunshine at the end of a long day exploring and cheers our new nephew into the world.
It is easily accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs with a pay and display car park. There are toilets, showers and cafes. There is a lifeguard on duty, unfortunately dogs aren’t allowed.
Caswell Bay
Caswell Bay is the next beach along the coast from Langland. It is a beautiful cove with plenty of sand, lots of interesting rocks to climb on and rock pools to discover.
We had eagerly watched the weather the previous evening and we were sure the sun was supposed to be out, at 10am there was no sign but our Dubai boys were freezing, running around with hoodies firmly up, wind like they’d never felt before lashing their faces but wearing big smiles as they dodged the waves, laughed at the crazy surfers and pointed at the babies running around just in swimming shorts in utter disbelief. We spent about 30minutes here before the cold became too much and we continued on our journey around the coast.
It is easily accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs. There is a pay and display car park, toilets, showers, a little cafe/shop and lifeguards on duty 7 days a week. Dogs are welcomed.
Three Cliffs Bay
Three Cliffs Bay is a beach we have heard lots about but never got round to visiting. We parked at the caravan park at the top of the hill (£4 for the day) and started blind descent to the beach. The promised good weather still hadn’t made an appearance so everything was still looking rather glum and murky. It is a bit of a clamber down a rocky path to the beach where you then have to walk through sand dunes, it definitely isn’t recommended for anyone with mobility or fitness issues. As we were getting further and further into the walk we were getting increasingly worried about whether the boys would make it and how long it would take us to get back to the car inevitably carrying 1 of them each. However, it was an adventure and they made it easily.
It is a stunning beach, backed onto sand dunes with rocky cliffs all around. The 3 cliffs in the distance a wonderful sight. The tide was out so there was a vast beach available to play on and some rock pools to discover. Our boys adore the beach and always have the best time running up and down, splashing and getting sandy. We spent a nice hour here with the sun eventually starting to shine through.
The walk up was easy too, I’m sure all the other beach goers on their descent thought we were crazy as we kept them distracted with renditions of Lion King songs, chasing butterflies, counting steps and pointing out stingy nettles to avoid…but they made it without either of them needing carrying. Superstars!
This was definitely our favourite beach out of all that we visited.
We saw 2 car parks for Three Cliffs, one was £5 per day, the other at the caravan park £4 per day, there’s no toilets, showers or shops. There is on the caravan site though. It is not accessible for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Lifeguards are on duty during the summer months and dogs are allowed.
Oxwich Bay
We had visited this beach when we were in our twenties, off-season when we were camping down the road but had no real memory of it. The road down to Oxwich is a bit of a difficult drive through tiny lanes and round hair-pin corners but Phil managed it expertly. We headed towards the Oxwich Bay Hotel, friends of ours got married here a few years ago – we hadn’t made the wedding as we were back in Dubai – but we didn’t really want to take the sandy, wet boys in for a nose about and a drink so backtracked and found a shop with free parking. We re-fuelled with a bag of chips and some ice-creams and then walked across the road to the beach.
It is a huge beach with sand as far as the eye can see, over to Three Cliffs Bay and beyond. There are plenty of marshes, dunes and wetlands behind the beach and just the Oxwich Bay Hotel on the end of the Bay and a lovely looking restaurant called The Beach House (voted AA restaurant of the year 2018) just behind the main beach. Again, we didn’t enter with 2 tired, sandy and wet boys but the menu looked and the kitchen smelt….delicious! We only stayed about 30minutes as we were conscious of the car being left outside the shop, but it was enough time for a paddle, collecting shells, a little nap for Elis and a few games of tag.
There is no lifeguard on Oxwich, the parking is around £5 for the day, the beach is accessible for wheelchairs/pushchairs and dogs are allowed all year round.
Port Eynon
The next beach along the coast was Port Eynon, which is a village that leads directly down to the beach with a pub, shop, cafe and Youth Hostel. It is a big, sandy beach with sand dunes behind and also a huge, rocky area that is fantastic for rock pooling and crab hunting. The boys loved the rocks the most and we spent lots of time teamed up with another family frantically trying to find a crab. Unfortunately they must have all been previously plucked away as we came away disappointed only finding a crab skeleton on the way back to the car (although Dylan and Elis were pretty chuffed with that!). We scoffed down some more of our packed sandwiches, crisps and juice in the car and started on our way to the famous Rhosilli Beach.
It is easily accessible for pushchairs and wheelchairs, with a pay and display car park, toilets, showers and a lifeguard during summer months. There are some restrictions for dogs so do check beforehand.
Rhosilli
Rhosilli beach has won numerous accolades the most current being Wales’ Best Beach 2018 by the Trip Advisor Traveller’s Choice Awards and 3rd in the UK from the same awards. It is easy to see why, the views from the top are utterly breathtaking, a mammoth, golden sandy beach surrounded by green cliffs and sand dunes and Worms Head jutting out from the other side. It is such a huge beach that it never seemed busy even on a peak-season August afternoon.
To get to Rhosilli you have to drive through the busy village (lots of traffic) and then you come to the parking, there were no signs of costs so we naively thought it was free and drove past maybe 150-200 cars and parked in a big overflow car park whereupon a parking steward arrived. It is so popular that they just have attendants walking around giving out tickets and collecting money, it was only £2.50 for 2 hours so we were happy enough with that. However, it was BUSY! Coach loads of people, numerous holiday makers, dog walkers and surfers all crowding on the cliff top to get a glimpse of the famous view.
We have been to Rhosilli a few times in the past so we knew there was a long, steep walk downhill to the beach, accessed next to the Worms Head Hotel pub but there were lots of people that we helped out who were looking lost and uncertain – a few more signs please Rhosilli! The walk down was easy, Dylan and Elis made a friend on the way down and went, often precariously, skipping their way down the path. Once on the beach it was pretty incredible, 3 miles of sand and dramatic, craggy cliffs surrounding us. The boys started playing frisby with a Dutch family and we wandered around taking in the scenery and sunshine and marvelling at the amount of people on the sand yet space available for everyone.
The walk uphill was OK, hard for little, tired legs but we made some friends with some dogs, sang some songs and promised them an ice-lolly at the top if they made it without being carried – bribery at it’s finest. Ice cream and then back to Langland for a well-deserved drink before an early night all round, 14k steps and a full day exploring takes it out of all of us.
Rhosilli has plenty of parking, £5 per day or £2.50 for 2 hours, there is a pub, ice cream shops and cafe, toilets and showers and dogs are allowed. There are no lifeguards and the beach isn’t really accessible for wheelchair users, pushchairs could probably get down there but would be very hard work coming back up!
Llangennith
On our final day we drove to Llangennith beach, stopping on the way to take in the countryside and try and get close to some sheep. The boys were astounded that sheep can just stroll around the roads and fields and wanted to get as near to them as possible.
Llangennith is a beach we were familiar with. It has a popular campsite called Hillend Camping that we used to frequent during summer holidays in our twenties with groups of friends. It gets very busy during summer months so it is advisable to book ahead. There is a popular pub – The Kings Head Inn – which is just a walk up the lane to get to and now has some BnB bedrooms. There is now a cafe/bar on the campsite which would save the late night stumble back to the tent!
Llangennith has won many awards for best surfing beaches in the UK and is, of course, very popular with surfers. Some surf schools run from there and it was great fun watching the children tackling the waves. There is a short walk through the dunes to get to the beach so you need to be on foot to get here. Again, it is a huge, sandy beach with numerous sand dunes hugging the beach waiting to be explored. Dylan and Elis loved traipsing up to the top and sliding back down. It was actually warm enough for them to have a proper splash about in just their shorts and they looked like proper Welsh boys braving the cold and running around on a cloudy day at the beach.
The parking is £3 for the day in the campsite, it isn’t accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs as you have to climb the sand dunes. Toilets, shop and cafe are available on the campsite. There is no lifeguard on duty but dogs are welcomed.
We had a wonderful 3 days driving up and down the A4118, negotiating narrow lanes, ogling beer gardens and quirky pubs and missing the turn offs! Exploring the sand dunes, cliffs tops and sandy bays of The Gower and reliving some days of care-free years gone by. A breath-taking and magnificent corner of the UK.
For more information check out the Visit Swansea Bay website.
If you want to read about some other parts of the UK that we have explored, click here.
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