Market Towns, Houses & Gardens

If you just want a gentle day out exploring, there’s a number of market towns, houses and gardens to visit nearby.

Newcastle Emlyn (10 mins) is small but perfectly formed with an old stone bridge, ruined castle in a horseshoe bend in the river, independent shops, cafés and delis.

Cardigan (30 mins) is a historic port town on the estuary of the Teifi. There’s a long pastel coloured high street to explore with trendy cafes and interesting shops. The castle hosts an arts centre and the quayside has a number of good restaurants. Cardigan can easily be combined with a trip to the beach at Poppit Sands or call in at St Dogmaels on the estuary with its old abbey and a good pub at The Ferry Inn.

Aberaeron (30 mins) is a handsome and colourful Georgian shipbuilding town with some great restaurants, cafes, independent shops and places to stop off for ice cream. After admiring the brightly painted architecture for a while, you can walk along the sea wall or go rock-pooling on the beach.

The National Trust property at Llanerchaeron, just outside Aberaeron, makes for a great day out. It’s still a historic working farm with lots of animals to meet, but also has fine walled gardens, lakes and woodland walks. The house was designed by John Nash who went on to design Buckingham Palace, The Royal Crescent in Bath and Brighton Pavilion. The historic kitchens, cellars, salt house and brewery really bring to life what life on the estate would have been like a century or two ago. An interesting side note is that the same family that once owned Henfryn Farm and the surrounding land had their main residence at Llanerchaeron. Look out for the large salmon in the hallway which was caught in the gorge on the farm!

Aberglasny in the Tywi Valley (40 mins) is a once lost and one-of-a-kind Elizabethan Cloister Garden that has been lovingly restored to its former glory with 10 acres of landscaped gardens, pools, parapets, cloisters and arches, and a ‘plantsman’s paradise’ of rare and unusual species.

The National Botanic Garden of Wales (35 mins) features the world’s largest single span glasshouse housing plants from Mediterranean climate regions, an indoor waterfall and fish ponds. There is also a tropical glasshouse, extensive walled gardens and parkland to explore.