Explore the beautiful Swansea Bay in Wales

We recently travelled down south to the Welsh cultural city on a road trip to explore the beautiful Swansea Bay in Wales. Swansea bay is one of the most beautiful regions in south wales, home to incredible beaches, breathtaking landscapes and the best hiking trails ever. Even as a non-hiker, I found myself loving the thrill of a good hike as we took time to explore the beautiful Swansea Bay in Wales.

The trip to Swansea was organised by Visit Swansea Bay tourism board who organised an impressive itinerary that we were more than happy to follow and add in a few places which we had fancied exploring during our UK staycation. It is always incredible going on a road trip with friends and Caroline from TravelEatSlay and I made use of this incredible opportunity and spent time catching up.

Explore the beautiful Swansea Bay in Wales

Our journey to Swansea bay started from Oxfordshire, a journey of just under 3 hours cutting through the Cotswolds into Cardiff and before we knew it into Swansea. Another 20-minute drive from Swansea city centre we arrived in Mumbles our first stop of the 3-day weekend exploring the Swansea Bay Area thanks to the visit Swansea tourism board who invited us along on this press trip. 

For tips on where to eat whilst in Swansea Bay, we have shared a separate post on every place we ate at and recommend for when you visit the Swansea Bay Area. In the meantime, we have compiled a list of places we visited during our 3-day trip to the south of Wales and places we absolutely adored.

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Mumbles

Did you know that mumbles, a fishing village situated in the western end of Swansea Bay is the birthplace of Catherine Zeta Jones (actress – Zorro) and Ian Hislop (UK comedian)? The village of mumbles sits at the entrance of the Gower Peninsula and in 2018 was voted the best place to live in Wales by the British times. It is easy to see why the village thought to be a community in a city was voted the best place to live because it is lined with an impressive shoreline, beaches, ice cream parlours, cafes, wine bars, pubs and restaurants.

When in Mumbles you need to make sure you visit the following locations as this seaside village is home to some of the best handmade crafts, paintings, ceramics, sculptures and much more.

• Mumbles Pier
• Bracelet Bay
• Limeslade Bay
• Langland Bay
• Ride the land train along the sea front
• Visit Lovespoon gallery
• Visit Gower Gallery
• Shopping

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Penmaen and Three Cliffs Bay

Penmaen is an ancient village buried by the sand and is situated 9 miles west of Swansea and offers the best walking trails to the magnificent three cliffs bay. The name Penmaen means stone top, the village sits on the second highest point on Gower and is thought to be rich in archeological sites. Whilst Penmaen is only a scatter of houses on the A4118, it offers some of the most impressive coastline in Gower.

Three Cliffs Bay is one of the UK’s most beautiful and popular beaches earning its name from the three limestone cliffs by the bay surrounded by sandy beaches dunes and an impressive scenery of the Gower region. The bay has the most picturesque beaches and is popular with climbers but for us non-climbers it is possible to walk under underneath the cliffs through an archway.

One thing I should warn you about is that to get the most of this picturesque beach, you need to hike down (15-minutes walk max) and also climb back up and the hill is the steepest I have ever encountered, it took me 25+ minutes to come back right to the top. 

Llangennith

Our second stop of the day was to our hotel King’s Head Inn in Llangennith, a 17th century 4* inn which is situated 15 minutes walk from Llangennith beach which we unfortunately couldn’t enjoy as the heavens opened and all we could do was admire from our room. Lucky for us, our room was absolutely gorgeous, the bed was comfortable and we had underfloor heating too. The Inn also has a pub were we had our dinner, its really popular with the locals and highly recommend it.

The village of Llangennith is nestled between three slopes and sits at the bottom of the hills, it is considered a popular destination for families and surfers alike. In the heart of the village is the largest church in Gower which is believed to have been built in the 6th century. If you want to enjoy the best views of the village you can hike up as if leaving the village and look back of the quiet but picturesque village with the sea as the backdrop. 

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Rhossili Bay + Worm’s Head

Located in the southwestern tip of the Gower Peninsula, Rhossili Bay is a multi-award-winning and considered one of the best beaches in Britain and is an area of outstanding natural beauty. When it comes to ranking, it ranked 3rd best in Europe and 9th best in the world, it’s quite an achievement and it’s easy to see why.

Our visit to Rhossili Bay fell on the most beautiful of autumn days, the weather was perfect for lounging on the beach and the tide was low to cross to worms head. When the tide is low you can walk from Rhossilli bay all the way to Llangennith a good 4-miles stretch. It is also possible to walk across to Worms Head which is an incredible experience but you need to inform coastguard office.

If you intend to visit the area, there is a bistro (Bay Bistro Gower) were we had lunch and offers unparalleled views of the bay as well as the causeway cafe where you can get hot drinks and ice cream. The Rhossili Bay Area is part of the national trust so members can part free of charge (print the ticket by scanning your membership card) and non-members pay for the duration of their visit.

Oxwich Beach 

Oxwich Beach is a dog-friendly beach with no lifeguard covering an expanse area with sand dunes, salt marsh, a couple of shops and out to the sea. Though we visited on a windy day, it was beautiful weather, many surfers and paddleboarders came out to explain and it was a lovely experience. Oxwich beach is not too far from three cliffs bay (driving) and has plenty of parking (£4 all day).

Bracelet Bay + Limeslade Bay

Both bracelet bay and Limeslade bay are located in Mumbles and offer some of the best sceneries in the South of Wales. Bracelet Bay is stony whilst Limeslade bay has a little more sand than pebbles where you can relax and catch some waves. What I loved about Bracelet bay is that you got incredible views of the Mumbles pier, its surrounded by limestone cliffs and though has more pebbles than sand, you can still picnic there.

Limeslade bay is a little cove situated west of Bracelet bay and its most rugged and pebbled but still a beautiful part of the Gower Peninsula. Parking for this bay is next to Bracelet bay so we parked there and walked to Limeslade bay as its an easy 5-minute walk.

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Langland Bay

Langland Bay is a surfer’s paradise and the most popular coastal destinations and holiday resorts in Gower. It is also a family-friendly beach with a cliff walk-off which we chose to admire but not attempt that leads to Caswell Bay. We found that the beach was most popular with families and the beach huts made the area look even more inviting. We spend a number of hours soaking up on vitamin D before autumn well and truly hits us hard.

If you are looking to visit this area, note there are several parking spots but they do get filled up pretty quickly. The parking behind most of the beach huts you have to pay around £6 per day (accurate at the time of post Sep-2020). The beach is pretty relaxed and families gather in numbers.

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Glynn Vivian Art Gallery Swansea

Founded in 1911 by the bequest of Richard Glynn Vivian, Glynn Vivian is a public gallery that houses a collection of artworks collected by Richard himself throughout his travels. Richard ( an avid traveller and pugs obsessor) was a mad ahead of his own time when his father died and he inherited part of the famous Swansea copper works, he chose to travel than join the family business.

Throughout his travels, he became a collector and most of his collects are so pocket items that he could easily transport but also impressive pieces from all over the world. I loved the various collections of ceramics china which in its own way tells a story. The Glynn Vivian also hosts various exhibition programmes inviting local artists to share their work and also had a lively learning programme. There are a few exhibitions currently on display with my favourite being ‘the Tyranny of Consciousness‘ by Charles Atlas.

Being able to explore the beautiful Swansea Bay in Wales made a great end to our summer staycations. Our visit could not have been more timely as the area is now under local lockdown. I am not sure when the local lockdown will end but for those within the Swansea Bay Area are more than welcome to exploring some of the sites we visited during our UK staycation to Wales.

Disclosure: We were guests of Visit Swansea Bay Tourism board, all opinions shared are our own.