I visit UK’s ‘best’ seaside town twice a year — always better than I remember | UK | Travel

It’s been named the “best” seaside town in Britain, which for many people used to its cobbled alleys, pristine beaches and iconic colourful seaside homes won’t come as much of a surprise. 

But it took me many years to realise the unique charms of Tenby in Wales, having avoided it for years while misguidedly thinking it just wasn’t worth visiting. 

Now I recognise it’s a one-of-a-kind town and one 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. 

There’s so much to love about Tenby. 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.

But living alongside that history is a modern town that’s bang up-to-date with what modern visitors are looking for. There was a time when Tenby was most famous for the hordes of stag and hen dos that would descend on it for rowdy weekends in outdated pubs and hotels. 

Today, its pubs and restaurants are diverse and revelling instead in the numbers of visitors regularly streaming in. The Harbwr brewery has built itself up from a back alley to owning and running a large pub attached, where several of its beers are of course served from behind the bar (or, in fact, directly from the brewery from the alleyway out back). 

There are restaurants serving barbecued platters cooked on an open fire in front of you, served alongside things like Pembrokeshire potatoes and Tenby beer bread with marmite butter. 

It has no less than four separate beaches all within a few minutes’ walk of the town centre, it’s the launching point for boats to the sanctuary (for people and wildlife) that is Caldey Island and it’s the gateway for the stunning natural beauty of all of Pembrokeshire, which you could spend a lifetime exploring and not come close to seeing all of. 

Having finally woken up to what a special place it is, I visit Tenby in both the summer and late autumn, with family and friends, and as far as I can tell they all feel as enthusiastic about it as I do. I often see friends I went to school with 20 years ago doing the same thing on their social media profiles. I only regret it took me so long to work it out — and that I can’t go more often.  

Beaches

Where else can you can easily access four (yes, four) different beaches on foot from the 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. 

Caldey Island

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. 

Exploring Pembrokeshire

Tenby is just one of the many jewels in Pembrokeshire’s crown. I could go on and on describing how much there is to do there and the information below doesn’t really cover the half of it. 

Firstly, Pembrokeshire is home to an unreasonable amount of beautiful beaches (and that’s not counting the four in Tenby). Barafundle, Whitesands, Freshwater East and Freshwater West can 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. 

Ancient and old landmarks

Pembrokeshire’s long history means it is peppered 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 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’s a wider choice than ever of places to eat in Tenby. You could start with Tap and Tân (tân is Welsh for fire), which is half barbecue joint and half craft beer bar, where the meat is cooked on open flames in front of you as you order, and the beer comes in thirds, halves or pints. In one of Tenby’s oldest and most beautiful buildings, down a centuries-old alley, you’ll find Plantagenet House, which is next to the town’s Tudor merchant house and dates back to medieval times. 

Down Sergeant’s Lane you’ll find the Harbwr Brewery. Not long ago this was an abandoned and overgrown alleyway. But it’s now a gorgeous, cobbled lane where you can order a drink direct from the brewery itself, and sit and people-watch passing walkers. There’s a pub attached, also called Harbwr.

And as you walk down to the harbour, you’ll find a shack selling crab sandwiches and lobster rolls, as well as The Stowaway, an unbelievably cosy place for coffee and cake in the summer and early autumn, hidden underground in an old archway. 

A 20-minute drive west you’ll find the remarkable Paternoster Farm, a restaurant like no other. It’s so well-hidden even Google Maps struggles to find its location on a farm where a former lawyer has been quietly building a reputation for turning out some of the best food in Wales from an old cowshed.

Tenby has a lot of hotels, B&Bs and AirBnbs. There are the standard chain hotels like Premier Inn and Travelodge and lots of independent ones too, many along the seafront. But the true joy in Tenby accommodation is finding a gem of a house or converted apartment on the seafront, which you might find on Booking.com or on Airbnb.

Many of the colourful seafront homes for which Tenby is famous can be rented out. My family stayed in one large flat literally steps from the harbour and beach, while you can hire out entire homes looking out to sea.

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.