Pembrokeshire
and Carmarthenshire
2705 | 3 to 10 June | 8 days | maximum number 12
Wyndcliffe Court, Aberglasney, National Botanic Garden of Wales, Gelli Uchaf, Llwyngarreg, Colby Woodland, Dyffryn Fernant, Upton Castle, Picton Castle, Singleton Botanic, plus a day in St Davids and exploring the coastal island bird sanctuaries…
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Join us for eight days exploring the gardens, landscapes and coast of two of Wales's most beautiful counties. We begin in the Wye Valley and travel west through the mountains and valleys of South Wales to Carmarthenshire, where some of Wales's finest gardens flourish in the mild, wet climate. From here we continue to Pembrokeshire, with its extraordinary coastline, tiny St Davids, offshore islands and a succession of gardens tucked into the countryside.
Carmarthenshire is often called the Garden of Wales, and with good reason. The county has an unusually rich collection of gardens, from the great National Botanic Garden of Wales and the restored medieval garden at Aberglasney to much smaller, personal gardens such as Gelli Uchaf and Llwyngarreg. Pembrokeshire is rather different. Here the landscape is dominated by the sea: rugged cliffs, sheltered coves, broad beaches and windswept headlands, with gardens benefiting from the remarkably mild maritime climate. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is Britain's only coastal national park.
Along the way there will be time for good food and comfortable hotels, visits to country houses and castles, a little Welsh history and literature, and a memorable day in and around St Davids. We shall also take to the water to explore some of the islands which lie off the Pembrokeshire coast. In early June, these are at their most spectacular, with thousands of seabirds nesting on the cliffs.
Prices
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Prices are per person, for the single occupancy of one room
Booking, interest, questions and payments
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Itinerary
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D1 Thursday 3 June
Wyndcliffe Court
Tim will meet you at the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel at 09:30, from where we’ll head west to Wales for our first visit to Wyndcliffe Court, an exceptional Arts and Crafts garden created in the early 1920s by the architect Eric Francis and the garden designer H. Avray Tipping. The garden is laid out on the steeply sloping ground below the house, with terraces and yew topiary, a sunken garden, lily pond and a newer rose garden, designed by Sarah Price, which should be looking particularly good at this time of year.
After lunch we’ll continue west, through some of the most beautiful scenery in South Wales, before arriving at Tŷ Mawr Country Hotel, our home for the next four nights, where we plan to be late afternoon, in good time to settle in before dinner.
Today's driving is about 210 miles/335 km
A landscape of considerable variety
To the north, the Preseli Hills and the rugged coast of Pembrokeshire; inland are rolling farmland and wooded valleys, while the broad River Tywi runs through the heart of Carmarthenshire before reaching the sea. Beyond them lie the uplands and forests which stretch towards the Cambrian Mountains. It is a landscape shaped by both geology and farming, with small fields, hedgerows, stone walls and scattered farms giving way to open moorland and dramatic coastal scenery.
It is also a landscape with a long history. There are prehistoric monuments and Iron Age hillforts throughout the region, while the medieval period left castles, great estates and the remarkable religious centre at St Davids. The peninsula around St Davids is itself a Registered Historic Landscape, with evidence of human occupation stretching back thousands of years and with ancient pilgrimage routes still crossing the countryside.
Carmarthenshire's history is closely bound to the Tywi Valley and to the great estates which developed in its fertile countryside. Pembrokeshire, meanwhile, has always been strongly influenced by the sea. Its harbours, fishing villages and isolated offshore islands are a reminder that this western edge of Wales has never been far removed from the Atlantic. The result is a part of Britain where history and landscape remain unusually visible.
D2 Friday 4 June
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Llandeilo, Aberglasney & the National Botanic Garden of Wales
Every tour needs an hour or so in a local market town, and we’ll begin the day in Llandeilo, an attractive town on the River Tywi, well-known for its independent shops, before exploring Aberglasney, a remarkable garden and one of our favourites in these parts.
Aberglasney is particularly interesting because much of what we see today has been recreated from the remains of a once-important Elizabethan and Jacobean garden. Its celebrated cloister garden, restored walls, pools and intimate planting give it an atmosphere quite unlike anything we’ll see this week.
After lunch we visit the National Botanic Garden of Wales, set in the beautiful Tywi Valley. The gardens combine historic landscape with modern horticulture and are particularly well known for the Great Glasshouse, designed by Lord Foster, which houses one of the world's largest collections of Mediterranean plants under glass.
We shall dine this evening at Y Polyn, a well-regarded restaurant in the Carmarthenshire countryside, before returning to Tŷ Mawr.
Today's driving is about 50 miles/80 km
D3 Saturday 5 June
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Cae Hir, Llanerchaeron & Gelli Uchaf
We head north-west today, beginning with a morning visit to Cae Hir Gardens, where we shall stop for coffee and cake. This is a very different sort of garden: informal, exuberant and full of personality, having evolved over many years around a farmhouse rather than being created as part of a grand estate.
We continue to Llanerchaeron, an unusually complete 18th-century Welsh estate designed by John Nash. The house, gardens, farm buildings and surrounding landscape survive remarkably well, giving us an opportunity to see not simply a garden but a complete country estate as it once functioned.
Our final visit is to Gelli Uchaf, a much smaller and intensely personal garden. It is one of those places which demonstrates why we enjoy including private gardens in our tours: the garden has its own character and atmosphere and is quite unlike the larger gardens we visit elsewhere during the week.
We shall finish the day with dinner at a village pub in Brechfa, before returning to Tŷ Mawr.
Today's driving is about 60 miles/95 km
D4 Sunday 6 June
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Llwyngarreg, Colby Woodland Garden & Laugharne
This morning we visit Llwyngarreg Garden, a four-acre garden on the border between Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. It is an informal plantsman's garden, combining woodland, meadow, water and a wide range of interesting plants.
We continue to Colby Woodland Garden, where the garden occupies a sheltered wooded valley above the Pembrokeshire coast. June is a particularly attractive time to visit, with the woodland gardens and more open areas beginning their summer display.
Late this afternoon we shall drive to Laugharne, the small estuary town so closely associated with the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. We shall visit the Dylan Thomas Boathouse, his home and workplace during the final years of his life, overlooking the Taf estuary. It is an evocative place, and the surrounding landscape provides an opportunity to understand something of the setting which inspired his later work.
There will be time to explore Laugharne and have supper here before returning to Brechfa.
Today's driving is about 90 miles/145 km
The islands…
…off the Pembrokeshire coast are among the great wildlife spectacles of Wales. Ramsey, Skomer and Grassholm, together with the smaller islands and rocks, form a chain of wild outposts exposed to the full force of the Atlantic. Each has its own character, but together they provide an extraordinary sanctuary for seabirds and marine wildlife.
In June the cliffs are crowded with nesting birds. Guillemots, razorbills and fulmars occupy the ledges, while puffins may be seen around Skomer and the smaller islands. Grassholm, further offshore, supports an extraordinary colony of gannets. Around Ramsey, Atlantic grey seals are resident throughout the year, while the strong currents of Ramsey Sound attract harbour porpoises and occasionally dolphins.
The islands also have a fascinating human history. They have been used by fishermen, monks and lighthouse keepers, while the surrounding waters have always been a challenging place for shipping. Today their importance is primarily as wildlife sanctuaries, protected from the pressures of the mainland. A boat trip gives us a chance to appreciate both their beauty and their extraordinary position at the very edge of Wales.
Our boat operator currently offers a choice of voyages including a two-hour Skomer voyage, a Ramsey Island voyage and longer trips taking in several of the offshore islands and looking for dolphins. All are weather dependent, so we shall choose the most appropriate voyage for the conditions.
D5 Monday 7 June
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Dyffryn Fernant & Melin Tregwynt
We leave Tŷ Mawr this morning and travel west towards Pembrokeshire, with a first visit to Dyffryn Fernant, a garden created in a secluded valley close to the coast. The garden makes particularly good use of its natural setting, with woodland, streams and an informal style of planting.
We continue to Melin Tregwynt, a traditional woollen mill whose history stretches back centuries. We shall have lunch here and see the weaving, an opportunity to encounter another aspect of the traditional rural economy of this part of Wales.
This afternoon we continue to our new home, Crug Glas, a country house and working farm near St Davids. We shall stay here for the final three nights of the tour.
Dinner will be at Crug Glas.
Today's driving is about 70 miles/110 km
D6 Tuesday 8 June
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St Davids & Boat Trip
Today is devoted to the western tip of Pembrokeshire.
We begin in St Davids, Britain's smallest city and one of the most remarkable settlements in Wales. Despite its modest size, it has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries. The 12th-century cathedral stands in a sheltered valley beside the River Alun, while the remains of the medieval Bishop's Palace lie immediately alongside it.
There will be time to explore the city independently, visit the cathedral and do some shopping, with lunch in St Davids.
In the afternoon we shall head down to the coast for a RIB boat trip around the offshore islands. The precise voyage will depend on conditions and the most suitable trip available, but the intention is to experience the remarkable wildlife of this coast from the sea.
After returning to land we shall drive north to Porthgain, a tiny former industrial harbour, where we shall stop at The Shed for what may well be the best fish and chips in this part of Britain. The restaurant specialises in locally caught fish and seafood and has become something of a Pembrokeshire institution.
Today's driving is about 25 miles/40 km
D7 Wednesday 9 June
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Upton Castle & Picton Castle
Our final full day begins with a visit to Upton Castle, a fascinating house and garden tucked away in the Pembrokeshire countryside. The garden combines woodland, formal planting and views towards the water, and has the relaxed atmosphere of a much-loved private garden.
We then continue to Picton Castle, where we shall have lunch before spending the afternoon exploring the castle and gardens.
Picton is an appropriate garden with which to finish the tour. The castle dates from the medieval period, while the surrounding gardens extend over some 40 acres and include woodland, formal areas, a walled garden, collections of unusual trees and shrubs and more naturalistic planting.
After a full week of travelling, today should be pleasantly unhurried, with plenty of time to enjoy both the house and gardens before returning to Crug Glas for a relaxed final evening and dinner.
Today's driving is about 80 miles/130 km
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D8 Thursday 10 June
Singleton Botanical Gardens
After breakfast, we begin our journey east towards Heathrow, but with one final garden visit.
We shall stop at Singleton Botanical Gardens in Swansea, a pleasant and rather unexpected garden within Singleton Park. The botanical gardens were established as an educational collection in the 1920s and today contain a varied collection of plants, herbaceous borders and glasshouses.
It will make a gentle conclusion to the tour before we continue east, with a further break during the journey, arriving at the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel later in the afternoon.
Where the tour ends.
Today's driving is about 260 miles/415 km
Onward travel
Please let us know if you are staying in Britain and don't wish to return to Heathrow/Edinburgh Airport/Glasgow with the rest of the group. We will assist you, if we can, in getting to your next destination.
Maps and additional information
Tour area map
Additional information
Sleeping
We are using x hotels.
The first hotel
Dining
We are dining at
Picnics
Other attractions
Besides the gardens described in the itinerary, we hope to visit…
Bedrooms & upgrades
Ordinarily, we book standard rooms (however so described by the hotel) for all our customers, and these rooms may vary, in size and features, from room to room within the hotel.
Single travellers
Single travellers will have their own room, typically a small double room or, occasionally, a twin room.
Upgrades
If you would like to upgrade your room, please look at the hotel’s website and then contact us with your request.
Do not contact the hotel directly.
Group at Chygurno, Cornwall
Joining instructions
The meeting arrangements are set out in Day 1 of the itinerary, above, and will be confirmed by email 13 weeks before the tour starts.
Meeting points
The Sheraton Heathrow Hotel is on Colnbrook Bypass, on the northern edge of Heathrow Airport. Click here to see its location in Google Maps.
The Hampton by Hilton Edinburgh Airport is on Almond Avenue, just south of the terminal. Click here to see its location in Google Maps.
The hotels we use as meeting points are chosen for their location, the ease of access for the minibus and because they afford our customers, whether staying there or not, a comfortable and secure place to wait.
It is not because we endorse the hotel.
Accuracy & faithfulness
When describing the tour, we try to be as accurate as possible, and when we undertake the tour, we try to be faithful to the itinerary.
However, changes do occur, either necessarily or unavoidably, and we ask for your understanding when this happens.
Useful links
Click here for some useful links.
These links are to notable tourism, heritage, horticultural and cultural organisations, and travel and transport authorities.
Please let us know if any links are dysfunctional.
Acknowledgements
Finally, we would like to acknowledge the assistance of the many guidebooks and websites we use in planning our tours.
Thank you.