Walking the Coastal Paths of Wales

If you love walking, then there is no better place to enjoy spectacular coastal scenery than Wales. We have Britain's only National Coastal Park and three famous Coastal Paths - Anglesey, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. Of these three, Pembrokeshires is the longest (it runs from St Dogmaels in the North to Amroth in the South, a distance of over 180 miles) the most established and the County Council have gone out of there way to ensure that you don't need your car to access it. There are Walkers Buses to almost every part of the path - to get you started in the morning and to pick you up at the end of the day. Ceredigion's 60 miles of Coastal path is the newest and has the virtue of making so many secret coves and beaches accessible for the first time. Anglesey has more beaches on its 125 mile long path than anywhere else in the country. Carmarthenshire is different, in that they also have a Coastal Path, but it does not, as yet, go around the whole County coastline. However, millions have been spent developing the 13 mile long coastal path and cycleway between the National Wetlands Centre, Burry Port and the Millenium Coastal Park.

It is a job to pick out highlights, but in Pembrokeshire the view from Dinas head is probably as spectacular as it gets! In Ceredigion, the path between Aberporth & Tresaith is equally breathtaking and in Anglesey, the path leading to South Stack lighthouse takes some beating! Please feel free to disagree! There are so many spectacular views that it would taken several holidays just to walk the nearly two hundred miles of the Pembrokeshire Coastal path, let alone all three paths and form a rational judgement.

The coastal paths are not always an easy walk. They can involve a fair bit of climbing and if you suffer from vertigo, parts of the clifftop paths are best avoided - especially in a high wind! This extract from Ceredigion summarises the situation "The Ceredigion Coast Path has a number of dramatic cliff top walks. Keep to the path and take care the path in close to the cliff edge in many places" However many of the routes are quite gentle - level almost.

There are a number of guides published by the respective County Councils for you to select the routes that suit you best (Anglesey,Ceredigion,Pembrokeshire)

Perhaps the most important article for you to read before you go walking is the Coastal Path Safety Code

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