I spent three days in the UK’s best seaside town — I have one burning question | UK | Travel

The UK has an abundance of wonderful seaside towns, from the iconic coastal resorts of the north-west and south–east to the beautiful communities in the south-west and Scotland — you can see our pick of the 19 most beautiful villages in the UK here. 

But, for me, one stands apart above all others. Its natural and architectural beauty, the quality of what it has to offer visitors, its beaches and its location as a gateway to one of the most beautiful parts of the UK all make it a must-visit destination. It was also recently named the “best” seaside town in the UK. 

For a long time, I avoided Tenby, on the south-west coast of Wales, mistakenly thinking it wasn’t worth visiting, perhaps due to the feel of slightly faded seaside grandeur and reputation for stag and hen parties it had in the 1990s. I’ve spoken to lots of people who’ve made the same mistake. 

Nothing could, in fact, be further from the truth. The Tenby of 2025 combines to perfection its outstanding natural characteristics, its historic town centre and the need for high quality pubs, restaurants and other facilities to thrive as a seaside town in the modern era. 

It’s truly a one-of-a-kind town which you can visit again and again and never get bored of — in fact, I religiously go there twice a year now and would go a lot more often if I could. 

Its history goes back centuries, so you’ll find much of the town centre built around narrow streets and surrounded by imposing medieval walls. Some of the streets are linked by narrow alleys centuries old, down which you’ll find pubs, restaurants and a Tudor merchant house that has stood for hundreds of years.

This month, I took my two young children, rented an apartment in the town and spent three days in this wonderful place. I’m already booked to return in September! But I’m left with one burning question: how can I persuade the children’s city-dwelling mum to let us all move here? 

Start with breakfast or a coffee and cake in one of the town centre cafes. There are lots to choose from, including No25 Cafe, Caffe Vista or Fuchsia or the Loafley Bakery and Deli. But my favourite is Stowaway, a truly unique spot — it’s tiny and built into an archway under one of Tenby’s famous seafront streets, right above the water. It does coffee and cake and sandwiches. It’s wonderful and so cosy on a blustery day.

After breakfast, the best thing to do in Tenby if the weather permits is hit one of its four (yes, four) beaches. They are all within walking distance of the town centre and each other so if you get bored of one (you won’t) you can just walk to another one. Depending on the tides, some of the beaches break up even more and you can find yourself sitting on what feels like a private beach! Just make sure you watch the tide and can actually get off the beach (there are stone steps leading up to safety in several areas). 

For lunch, try fish and chips at one of Tenby’s excellent chippies, like Fecci’s, or grab a lobster roll or crab sandwich from a small stand in the harbour. 

After lunch, take a boat trip to Caldey Island, where you can enjoy yet another beautiful (and pretty much empty) beach with near-white sand before exploring the gorgeous, peaceful island on foot. There’s an Italianate-style monastery built in 1906 and a 13th century church, as well as lots of largely unpopulated island to explore. 

In the night, hit one of Tenby’s restaurants. Billycan is popular with couples, groups and families and serves food in large portions. Harbwr is a pub run by the brewery of the same name, serving good pub food alongside its own beers. The Hope and Anchor is a gastropub specialising in seafood, or there’s Tap and Tân, half barbecue joint and half craft beer bar, where the meat is cooked on open flames in front of you as you order. There are also plenty of other options, including Indian restaurants.

Where else can you can easily access four different beaches on foot from a town centre within minutes? North and South Beach are large beaches with wide open spaces at low tide (and great waves at high tide). North Beach is distinguished by the jagged rock which rises from its heart. Between those two beaches are the smaller Harbour Beach, where you’ll find the town’s fleet of small fishing boats moored, and Castle Beach, which is sandwiched between two rocky outcrops, one of which is home to a distinctive clifftop fort. 

The section of beach between South Beach and Castle Beach is conveniently interrupted by rocks, so when the tide comes in, it feels like you’ve found yourself on a whole new private beach cut off from the rest. Just make sure you know how to get off when the water comes in — not all the sections have steps leading up from the beach and you don’t want to be trapped!

Caldey Island is a truly remarkable place and one of Britain’s “holy islands”. There has been a monastic presence here for centuries, and their current home is a beautiful, white, Italianate-style monastery built in 1906. You’ll also find the 13th century St Illtyd’s Church. But the true joy of Caldey Island is to be found roaming from one end of the island to the other. En route you’ll pass horses grazing in fields and even a functioning chocolate factory, where you can buy a bar. 

Once you’ve reached the far end of the island, you can gaze out to sea while enjoying the serenity of this island. You can reach Caldey by boat from Tenby. There are regular departures to and from the island from Tenby’s harbour. In fact, once you reach Caldey, you are dropped off at an empty beach of near-white sand that would not look out of place in the Caribbean. With most of the crowds enjoying the beaches back at Tenby, this could be a perfect place to have a beach to yourself.

Just 15 minutes from Tenby by car is Folly Farm, another destination that’s evolved with the times to keep families entertained for hours. You can comfortably spend a day here and not see and do everything, which is exactly what I did with my children. 

Folly Farm is a perfect mix of animals (ranging from lions, rhinos and penguins to goats, pigs and rabbits) and places for the kids to play. There are several excellent, exciting and well-maintained play areas both indoors and outdoors to keep children entertained for hours (and helpfully tire them out ready for bed time). There are also fair rides (which cost extra) and an indoor soft play and arcade. Folly Farm now has new accommodation, from luxury lodges (one overlooks the rhino compound!) to glamping, cottages and touring pitches. In short, Folly Farm is great.

Tenby is just one of the many jewels in Pembrokeshire’s crown. There is so much to see and do here (most of it based on the natural world and great outdoors) and the information below doesn’t come close to covering it all but gives you an idea of what to expect. 

Firstly, Pembrokeshire is home to an unreasonable amount of beautiful beaches (and that’s not counting the four in Tenby). One of them, Barafundle, has just been named the best in the UK and it’s not hard to see why. Whitesands, Freshwater East and Freshwater West can also all claim to be among the finest beaches in the UK. As well as the vast beaches, you’ll find the “grave” of Dobby from Harry Potter at Freshwater West.

You can walk to Barafundle from Bosherston, walking through gorgeous and peaceful lily ponds en route. Also nearby is the wild and exposed St Govan’s Head, home to one of the most remarkable features you’ll find anywhere on Britain’s coast: St Govan’s chapel, built into the very cliff face in the 13th or 14th century, with thunderous waves crashing below. Also in this corner of Pembrokeshire is the Stackpole nature reserve, while further north you’ll find the sparse beauty of the rolling Preseli Hills.

Pembrokeshire has a fascinating history so it’s dotted with man-made landmarks stretching back centuries. Among them are the Pentre Ifan burial chamber, which dates back to Neolithic (New Stone Age) times, when our ancestors buried their dead in tombs such as this.

Pembrokeshire also has several castles, in part due to the existence of the Landsker Line, which once separated the Welsh in the north of the county from the Norman and Flemish settlers in the south. 

Among them is Carew Castle, which stands above the tidal waters where the Carew river meets the waters of the channel. Such is the tidal range here that you can see a vastly different picture depending on the time of day you visit. The castle is great for exploring, the walls around the nearby tidal mill are amazing for crabbing. Just drop in your net and bait and you’re all but guaranteed to pull out a crab. There are two village pubs right next to the castle car park. 

Tenby has loads to offer in terms of food and drink. For breakfast you can choose from town centre cafes like No25 Cafe, Caffe Vista or Fuchsia or the Loafley Bakery and Deli. Stowaway is a unique spot, a tiny underground cafe serving coffee and cake close to the water’s edge. There are plenty of fish and chip shops, among them Fecci’s, Indian restaurants, a pasty shop and you can even grab a lobster roll or crab sandwich from a small stand in the harbour. 

There’s also a wider range of pubs and restaurants serving good food. Billycan is popular with couples, groups and families and serves food in large portions. Harbwr is a pub run by the brewery of the same name, serving good pub food alongside its own beers. The Hope and Anchor is a gastropub specialising in seafood, or there’s Tap and Tân, half barbecue joint and half craft beer bar, where the meat is cooked on open flames in front of you as you order.

Slightly more upmarket and expensive is Plantagenet House, housed in a gorgeous and historic yellow building with a medieval Flemish chimney down an old alley right next to the Tudor merchant house. 

Tenby has a large number of hotels, B&Bs and AirBnbs, many of which line Tenby’s famous clifftops looking out over the sea. One of the most remarkable in terms of its location is the Imperial Hotel which seems to defy physics in the way it rises from the rocks above the water. It literally could not be closer to the cliff edge. Many other hotels look out to sea from their high vantage point and if you walk along the seafront streets in the morning and look up you’ll see loads of guests staring out to sea from their bedroom, presumably reflecting on how lucky they are to be there. 

One of the great things about Tenby is that it is very compact, so even if you’re not lucky enough to bag a place with a sea view, you’ll never be too far away from the water. I rented a small apartment on Booking.com away from the water for £270 for two nights and it took five minutes to walk from the door to the beach.  

There are also the standard chain hotels like Premier Inn and Travelodge and there are also incredible houses or converted apartment on the seafront available on Booking.com or on Airbnb. Some of them are literally a handful of steps from the beach. You can also try holidaycottages.co.uk

It’s always worth thinking about the fact that, like many parts of Wales and the UK, Pembrokeshire does have a serious problem with homes being bought and rented out to visitors, instead of being lived in by the local population.

I don’t really need anyone to tell me that Tenby is one of the UK’s finest seaside towns. But last year it was ranked as the best holiday destination for entertainment. Scoring 7.71 out of 10, it was highlighted for its 13th-century town walls, sandy beaches,  and abundance of pubs and restaurants.