Tenby for a Holiday

Why would hubby and I want to stay in a Tenby Self Catering Cottage next spring? Well, we both have birthdays quite close together, one near the end of March and the other at the beginning of April. It’s good to take a holiday around that time and go away somewhere, so we can both feel we’ve treated each other close to our special days.

Tenby is a place I’ve driven past a few times on the way to Pembroke for the ferries for Ireland, but I’ve never followed the signpost into the town. People say it is a popular and beautiful seaside resort. When an opportunity came up on PayPerPost, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and find out what the area has to offer.

If you are a regular here you will know that the sea is important to me, so I first looked at the beach areas. Tenby boasts four separate beaches – South Beach, Castle beach, Harbour Beach and North Beach. From Easter through to October, boat trips go from the harbour to Caldey Island which only about 2 miles away. Cistercian monks s till live here in their abbey above a village with a green and a Post Office which is also a museum.

We might be too early in the year for that, and for warm, lazy days on the beach or swimming in the sea, but we can always take a 351 bus from Tenby to Saundersfoot and walk the 4 and a half miles back on the coast path.

If we book our Tenby self catering cottage at Celtic Haven at Lydstep, just outside Tenby, we’ll have golf courses close by, plus wild cliffs and a rocky shoreline. Only a mile away is Manorbier, with its own beach and a magnificent example of a 12th century castle also open to the public from Easter onwards. Another castle, at nearby Carew, together with a tidal mill, will definitely be open when we can get there. And Pembroke Castle is under ten miles away.

At the weekend we might be joined by some younger members of our family and visit some of the other Tenby attractions. If they don’t fancy the town’s Museum and Art Gallery, we could try out the Great Wedlock Dinosaur Park or the Silent World Aquarium & Reptile House. We could even check out the quad bikes at Ritec Valley Buggies.

I’m getting more enthusiastic about staying in a Tenby self catering cottage by the minute. All I have to do is persuade hubby. I don’t think it will cost as much as visiting the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. But if we don't make it in March, I'll definitely find time for a Short Break Wales.