Must-see attractions in Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

  • National Botanic Garden of Wales

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Concealed in the rolling Tywi valley countryside, this lavish complex opened in 2000 and is still maturing. Formerly an aristocratic estate, the garden…

  • Dinefwr

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    This idyllic, 324-hectare, beautifully landscaped estate, immediately west of Llandeilo, incorporates a deer park, pasture, woods, an Iron Age fort, the…

  • Worms Head

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    The western extremity of the Gower is guarded by this mile-long promontory, which turns into an island at high tide. Worms Head takes its name from the…

  • Aberglasney Gardens

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Wandering through these formal walled gardens feels a bit like walking into a Jane Austen novel. They date originally from Elizabethan times, have evolved…

  • Dylan Thomas Boathouse

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Dylan Thomas, his wife Caitlin and their three children lived in this cliff-clinging house from 1949 to 1953. It's a beautiful setting, looking out over…

  • Clyne Gardens

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Spanning 20 hectares, these magnificent gardens are particularly impressive in spring, when the azaleas and rhododendrons are at their most spectacular…

  • Llanelli Wetland Centre

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Covering 97 hectares on the northern shore of the Burry Inlet, across from the Gower Peninsula, this is one of Wales' most important habitats for waders…

  • Three Cliffs Bay

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Three Cliffs Bay is named for the pyramid-like, triple-pointed crag pierced by a natural arch that juts out into the water at its eastern point. It's…

  • Arthur's Stone

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    On a fittingly desolate ridge near Reynoldston stands this mysterious neolithic burial chamber capped by a 25-tonne quartz boulder. The view from here is…

  • Parc-le-Breos

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Nestled in a tiny valley between wooded hills, this verdant park contains the Long Cairn, a 5500-year-old burial chamber consisting of a stone entryway, a…

  • Dolaucothi Gold Mines

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Set in a beautiful wooded estate, this is the only known Roman goldmine in the UK. The exhibition and the mining machinery above ground are interesting,…

  • Laugharne Castle

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Built in the 13th century, picturesque Laugharne Castle was converted into a mansion in the 16th century for John Perrot, thought to be the illegitimate…

  • Llandovery Castle

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    The shattered ruin of motte-and-bailey Llandovery Castle looms ineffectually over the town centre. Built in 1100 and then rebuilt in stone in the 1160s,…

  • Castell Newydd Emlyn

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Perched above a languid loop in the River Teifi, this ruined fortress holds the distinction of being the first stone castle to be built by a Welshman…

  • Kidwelly Castle

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Rising above a narrow waterway dotted with gliding swans, this forbidding grey eminence was founded by the Normans in 1106, but most of the system of…

  • National Wool Museum

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    The Cambrian Mills factory, world famous for its high-quality woollen products, closed in 1984 and this surprisingly interesting museum has taken its…

  • Rhossili Down

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Rhossili beach is backed by the steep slopes of this humpbacked, heather-covered ridge (193m), whose updraughts create perfect soaring conditions for hang…

  • Weobley Castle

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    A fascinating view over the salt marshes awaits at this partly ruined late medieval castle, built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Grouped around a…

  • Caws Cenarth

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    One of Wales' most acclaimed organic cheesemakers, Caws Cenarth produces all the well-known Welsh cheeses (Caerphilly, Perl Wen, Perl Las) as well as the…

  • Castle House

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    A couple of solid walls and a few crumbling towers are all that remain of Carmarthen's 12th-century castle, which was largely destroyed in the Civil War…

  • Gower Heritage Centre

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Housed in a restored mill with a working waterwheel, this complex has plenty to keep the kids entertained when the weather drives you off the beaches…

  • National Coracle Centre

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Once a common sight on Welsh rivers, coracles are small, lightweight, round fishing boats. Housed in a 17th-century flour mill, this museum showcases a…

  • Mumbles Pier

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    The Mumbles' mile-long strip of pastel-painted houses, pubs and restaurants comes to a picturesque denouement with a rocky headland, a pretty sandy beach…

  • Oystermouth Castle

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    It wouldn't be Wales without a castle, and sure enough the trendy shops and bars of Newton Rd are guarded broodingly by a majestic ruin. Once the…

  • Carmarthenshire County Museum

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Located in a 13th-century country house, which served as the bishop's palace right up until 1972, this museum is a musty emporium of archaeology,…

  • St Cenydd's Church

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Local hermit Cenydd (pronounced Kenneth) lends his name to both the village and this Norman church, topped with a blunt stone tower. Inside there's a 12th…

  • Pwlldu Bay

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    This shingle beach is backed by a wooded ravine known as Bishopston Valley. There's no road access, but you can walk here from Bishopston village (less…

  • Oriel Myrddin

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Housed in a former art college, this stylish little gallery stages changing exhibitions of contemporary art. The shop sells a nice range of craft and…

  • Oxwich Castle

    Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire

    Set on a hillside above the beach, the stately grey ruin of Oxwich Castle is less a castle and more a sumptuous 16th-century, mock-military Tudor mansion.