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10 Days Pembrokeshire - London

tearendt

10+ Posts
My wife and I have a destination wedding next June at Manorbier Castle in Pembrokeshire Wales. We could use some help with a possible itinerary to include both areas. We would be flying from Chicago to London to start. It is a long way off but I'd like to get a general idea where to start.... Maybe arrive London 2 nights....drive/train to Pembrokeshire area for 4 nights....and back to London for the remaining nights and sights. We may also be bringing an 18 year old grand daughter for a graduation present. We recently returned from driving in Ireland for two weeks....so we are use to small roads and autos. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Tim
 
What a wonderful trip you have planned! My family lives in Wales and we visit fairly often. Driving in Wales is quite easy...there are some small roads as you found in Ireland, but the highways are quite nice for getting places more quickly. Our last trip was in July, 2016. We rent our car at Heathrow from Sixt.
I am guessing it will take you anywhere from 5-7 hours to drive from Heathrow to Manorbier, depending on the route you take. I have not taken the train to Wales since the early 70's, so others will have to give you imput on that.
I have never been to Manorbier, but the castle looks lovely! Good luck with your planning!
 
I guess it's a choice of whether you'd want to drive straight away and for a long distance, or to 'let the train take the strain' (as their old adverts used to say). Some options

Option 1. Take the car straight from Heathrow on arrival and drive straight to Wales
Option 1a. Take the car straight from Heathrow on arrival and take a slow meander to Wales with an overnight stop or three
These two options present themselves on the return journey as well

Option 2. Arrive & stay in London, then hire car at heathrow, driving to/from Wales (i.e. if you have the car, I would avoid breaking the holiday up with two separate London stays)

Option 3. Arrive at Heathrow, take Heathrow express to Paddington & change trains there to go straight to Wales. Hire car and return in Wales, taking train back to London & when leaving take Heathrow express from Paddington ot the airport.
Option 3a. Arrive at Heathrow, as above, but put the London leg first

Personally I'd go for option 3 or 3a to allow for jet-lagged / airport & airplane induced grogginess. However if wanting to do a road trip to Pembrokeshire, then I'd choose option 2 for the same reason. Although big cities are not ideal for getting over jet lag, it's less stressful to be strolling around than driving in built-up traffic when groggy from the flight.

p.s. If driving back from Wales, you probably don't want to do the whole journey on the same day you fly back, so Windsor/Eton is my regular suggestion of somewhere really close to Heathrow, but with genuine charm / interest.
 
You won't want a car in London. Unless you are wanting to amble your way down to SW Wales making lots of stops on the way, it makes sense to use the train and then rent a car once you get to Pembrokeshire.
 
Thanks all for the tips and and advice. I'm looking at Ian's option 3 above. Arrive Heathrow in the morning....express to Paddington...... train to Cardiff (2 hrs)..... possibly stay the night in Cardiff (to alleviate jet-lag). Rent car in Cardiff and drive to Manorbier (2 hrs) the next day for 4 nights near the wedding site. Return by the reverse method.... and spend 4 nights and 3 full days in London.
Tim
 
Sounds like a good choice. One note...having driven in Wales quite a bit, it may take you slightly longer than 2 hours to drive from Cardiff to Manorbier. It always seems to take us longer than we think to get from one place to the other. And, if you have the time, I highly recommend you stop along this drive and visit the Gower and Worm's Head - spectacular scenery (see below). Although, to be honest, the entire coast of Wales has stunning scenery!
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Pembrokeshire is a lovely area and distances aren’t too far so you should be able to see quite a bit in your four days with a bit of careful planning.

If you are in the Cardiff area, Cardiff Castle and the nearby fairy tale Castell Coch are definitely worth visiting. They are a wonderful example of high Victorian Gothic work with their elaborately painted interiors. Seen from a distance. you can almost imagine Sleeping Beauty is still asleep in Castell Coch.

Between Cardiff and Manorbier is the lovely ruined Carreg Cennan Castle set high on the hillside. Don’t miss the underground passageway running down the inside of the cliff face.

On the coast is the tiny village of Laugharne which was the home of Dylan Thomas who used Laugharne for the setting of 'Under Milk Wood'.

Do try and visit the tiny city of St Davids with its cathedral and ruined bishop’s palace.
You can do a boat trip to Ramsey Island from here, or even a whale and dolphin watching trip. The scenery seen from the sea is absolutely stunning.

Whitesands Beach is one of the most beautiful stretches of sand in Pembrokeshire.

If you like walking, the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path offers some very good walking. For a short walk, the stretch from Whitesands to St David’s Head is excellent as is the stretch from Porthgain to Arbereiddy.There are details of both of these here.
June is a lovely time to do this as the coastal flowers will be at their best. It is almost like walking through someone’s private rock garden (sorry no photos as that was in our pre-digital days...)
 
Eleanor..... I really appreciate the above input.... will try to incorporate all of it on our drive,
Tim
 
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Eleanor...I also think Castle Coch is worth a visit, but my favorite castle by far near Cardiff is Caerphilly Castle (less than 10 miles from Cardiff) - the largest Castle in Wales built in the 13th century. Castle Coch and Caerphilly Castle are very close to one another (maybe 5 miles apart), so could easily be seen together.
Cardiff Castle is also interesting - the only one I have seen in Wales with an actual castle keep!
The first picture is Caerphilly Castle...the second is the castle keep at Cardiff Castle.
If you have time for a meal in Cardiff, my favorite restaurant is The Potted Pig on High Street...very close to Cardiff Castle.
 
I'd also agree that Caerphilly Castle is worth visiting. I loved the collapsing tower. Cromwell tried to blow up the castle to stop it being used again, but this tower defeated his best attempts.... nearly 400 years later it is still defying everything.
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One of the problems is there are so many good places it is difficult to know where to start - or stop....
 
Trip is coming together nicely. Norwegian Air just posted some great fares Chicago to Gatwick for next Spring. We were able to book Economy+ for $638 round trip leaving a day earlier. We arrive at 5:00 Am. Question I have would be either to stay near Paddington that day....or train to Wales for 2 nights before our car ride to Manorbier? Is Cardiff an ideal place to spend 2 nights or is there another town more suited for our route toward Pembrokeshire?
 
Cardiff is a good place. It's convenient by train, there is a wide choice of accommodation and also plenty to do and see in the city and surrounding area.
 

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