At the end of last week Sophie and I set off down to explore the Gower for a few days. We stayed at the Ibis in Swansea, a detailed review of which is here.
Despite living only an hour from Swansea, the gateway to the Gower peninsula, we’ve only visited once, to Oxwich Bay a couple of years ago. Thus I figured it would be a perfect destination for our next little trip. Here’s what we got up to each day…
Three Cliffs Bay
Thanks to social media recently, I’ve seen so many stunning photos of Three Cliffs Bay, so it was an easy first choice. I’d done a little research about where we might park etc. but that went out the window after getting stuck in a bit of traffic, following a Google Maps diversion and almost driving straight past a field offering all day parking for £3 for the beach. It was close to the Gower Heritage Centre and I figured we could manage the mile or so walk through the woods to the beach. It’s a flat, straight forward walk and the path comes out on the sand underneath Pennard Castle.
The tide was right out so we only had to wade through ankle deep water to get to the main beach area. We set up camp and then explored the river and caves. Whilst the tide is coming in, the river is pretty safe for little ones to play and Sophie played for hours on her bodyboard with some of the other children there. When the tide is approaching its highest the beach starts to disappear quite fast! Having moved our things twice already we decided it was probably time to leave the beach and headed up the hill in search of a cafe.
You can see the Three Cliffs Bay campsite from the beach and I’d heard so much about it that I really wanted to go up and check it out and also get up a bit higher to get a better view of the beach. It was a long, hot walk up, but we made it and enjoyed ice creams as a reward! It honestly must have the best view from a campsite in the UK – we stopped for a while and took in the view.
We found a footpath which cut straight down from the campsite back to where we parked the car, without going back via. the beach. From there we headed off to our hotel for the night.
Rhossili Bay
Rhossili is almost always featured in those “Top 20 beaches in the World” articles, so whilst it was so close, we had to check it out. It’s right on the West of the peninsula, so took a good 45 minutes to drive from Swansea (without traffic!) the sun was shining though and it was a pleasant drive. We parked in the National Trust car park; members free (members still need to scan their card to get a free ticket from the machine – I almost missed this!), non-members £5 for the day. The car park is huge but it was starting to get full by 11am. There are toilets close to the car park and a handful of cafes / restaurants in the village.
We headed down to the beach first (it’s a good 10 minute walk down a gravel path – not suitable for wheelchairs or anyone who has difficulty walking). The view on the way down is just amazing! Such a huge scene to take in – so wild looking and unspoilt by development.
We spent hours on the beach – collecting shells (never seen so many razor clams or oysters!) and exploring the rock pools. We’d eaten all of our leftover breakfast snacks and decided to head back up for a late lunch in the village.
At the time of visiting, in Wales, only outdoor eating was permitted. We opted for the Bay Bistro which has a lovely view of the sea and had lots of picnic tables set out under a marquee in the garden.
After lunch it had started to become a bit overcast and looked like it was threatening to rain. I really wanted to see the sunflower fields before we left though, so we headed over there back through the car park.
The fields opened at the end of July – a little later than previous years as the National Trust were not able to plant due to the pandemic, a local farmer bought the neighbouring fields and planted his own sunflowers! Also this year there are 3 different colours! They were probably only about 20% in bloom when we visited and could do with another week or so before they are at their best. They were still lovely and we had fun walking through the fields. One of the fields is set out like a bit of a maze and the other is a pick your own field, where you pay £1.50 per stem on your way out.
When we got back to the car it was actually raining and I was pretty tired upon arriving back at the hotel after an hour and a half and lots of traffic en route!
Mumbles
The rain continued overnight and was still persisting at 10am when we packed the car and checked out of the hotel. However BBC weather assured me that it would stop soon, so feeling optimistic we set off on the short drive to Mumbles. Half an hour later we were parked at one of the car parks leading up to the pier – Southend car park – I think it was £6 for the day.
The playgrounds in Wales have only just opened back up again, so I had a coffee from one of the shops overlooking the park whilst Sophie had some overdue climbing time. We spotted a mini golf next to the park, which Sophie loves, so couldn’t pass this one up!
It was edging towards midday and I hoped to make it up the hill to Bracelet Bay and a restaurant I’d been recommended for lunch – Castellamare. We had a brief walk along the beach and checked out the pier before following the coast around the corner to the next bay. Lunch was lovely; pasta – Sophie’s favourite. Great service and very impressive set up of tables with glass between them outside overlooking the lighthouse and beach.
We were really hoping to see some seals as I’d read this was one of the best areas in the Gower to spot them – so we decided to walk a bit of the coast path, passing Limeslade Bay to Langland Bay (about a mile away). Sadly, no luck! But it was still a nice walk and the sun had made an appearance! We spent a short while checking out some rock pools at Langland before getting an ice cream and then taking a short cut back over the headland to the car.
…and that concludes our trip! I’ve realised the Gower is a lot closer to home than I thought and can see ourselves becoming frequent visitors!