To the anxious wanderers, who want to embark on their first solo road trip adventure to Wales - all my notes for you.
Contents
Introduction
June 2024 had me embarking on my first travelling AND staying solo adventure, and oh my, was it glorious. Well, always accompanied by my trusty companion - Pepper the Working Cocker Spaniel. Although for Pep, working is more about working-from-home than anything else, she is still an excellent guard dog haha.
Anyway, I've always been in owe of people who travel solo and wanted to be THAT person but never really pushed myself to do it and always found reasons not to. I travelled with friends and family, or gone to visit, but was never completely on my own. I mean... I've never really even gone out for dinner on my own, let alone a road trip. When suddenly, I just said to myself, I'm going to go for it, I'm going to book it and go for it.
Disclaimer: For two days in Pembrokeshire, I was fortunate to travel with my friends, which gave me the confidence to continue and go on to my own solo adventure for the rest of the week.
But this is quite an ordinary person's 7-day solo road trip:
no van (just a regular car), no camping (but two gorgeous yet very reasonable places to stay), with three days working the day-to-day job remotely.
So Pep and I travelled through the beautiful Pembrokeshire, followed by Ceredigion and Brecon Beacons. We hope you find our little notes super useful and enjoy all your adventures.
P.S: There are no affiliated or sponsored links here, all resources were purchased or used by me with no discounts or promises of mentions :)
Katia and Pep x
Chapter One: Getting Started, Useful Resources and Booking Your Stay
WHERE WE STAYED
I did my planning a little backwards, I booked my stays first before working out where to visit. But I feel Wales is beautiful everywhere, so no matter which section of Wales you pick, it will be stunning. Travelling alone for the first time, I felt that I need to be comfortable in my surroundings first and foremost, and I wanted to invest into an environment I'd feel safe and could store my IT kit (work, personal, camera etc) rather than lugging it around every day.
For the first two nights, we stayed in the gorgeous Penally Abbey Hotel, Tenby, Pembrokeshire which has a few exceptionally comfortable dog friendly rooms. It felt like a fairly tale, where Pep, my friends and I were completely spoilt by the wonderful team at Penally. Breakfast is included in the stay, and it was incredible. We also splurged a little and booked a dinner meal there one evening, it was divine. There's even a Michelin Star 2023 rating or label on the website and entrance to the restaurant. The rest of the time, food wise, we improvised as we explored local places.
For the remainder of my adventure, I grounded myself at the Treberfedd Farm Eco Cabins, which I booked through Cool Stays, where that link will take you. But I've come to learn that this place is so much more than just the cabins I found. And, having had the tour of the grounds with farmer Jack, I've come to learn the wonderful story of the family and their incredible ventures: Treberfedd Farm Holidays Cottages in Ceredigion, West Wales. It was particularly fun and luxurious to have my own hot tab overlooking the gorgeous valley (as if from the top) which surrounds the farm. The cottages are fitted with all the necessary appliances to self cater, so I balanced the costs by cooking all my breakfasts, lunches and dinners at the farm.
Both locations were approved by Pepper too of course. In both cases, there weren't private gardens where I could let Peps explore off-lead, but it was super quick and easy to let her out for a comfort break. You might laugh that I mention this, but travelling on your own with a pup and being in a new area might well be daunting . So if you're anything like me, then you might just appreciate this mention (imagine a pokey tongue out emoji right now haha!).
USEFUL RESOURCES
I didn't want to watch too many reviews and videos, to keep some mystery to where I was going. For this reason, I purchased only one trustie guide by Robbie Roams Road Trip Wales Guide Book (link to Amazon because that's where I bought mine). I read the guide through and through, and it was insanely valuable on every page.
Few seriously helpful things to mention here too, without which my adventure would not be such easy sailing:
Google Maps works best in Wales, true story! Download offline maps for everything, signal is truly TRULY unreliable. Bring cash and coins, just in case, for parking. I brought £10 in coins and bits, for when card payment wasn't available, and it was all gone by the end of the trip.
Chapter Two: Locations, Locations, Locations - Google Maps Pin Points For Our Trip
Here's a full map of all the locations Pep and I visited on Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/4dS14syQgijmV77SA
Sadly I couldn't work out how to easily imbed a map neatly on this specific page. Here is the list of the places we visited:
Pembrokeshire
Barafundle Bay and Stackpole Quay
Penally Abbey Hotel, Tenby
Tenby Beach, St Catherine's Island
St Govan's Chapel
The Cauldron
Elegug Stacks
Green Bridge of Wales
Freshwater West - to say hello to Dobby
Drove past the Pembrokeshire Castle to the Blue Lagoon
Lily Ponds
You could also add these marvellous locations if you have time:
St Justinian's
Whitesands Bay
Trwyn Porth-gain
Stumble Head and The Lighthouse
Ceredigion
Traeth Mwnt beach
New Quay for dolphin watching
Brecon Beacons
The Four Waterfalls
Pen Y Fan
Castell Carreg Cennen
Chapter Three: Time To Get Packing
Once I mapped the locations, it was time to get all our bits together. So I packed for me and Pep for around 7 days. Though Treberfedd farm (the second location) did have a laundry room, I didn't want to chance it just in case, and brought exactly the right amount of pants haha - very important - that is, 7 for each day of the stay and two extra pairs, who knows why, I have no idea why hahah.
Here are our little infographics of what I packed, but the Robbie Roams book helpfully has a really good itinerary list too.
We did also grab a few non-perishable food bits (just in case) and a pack of big water bottles, and our refill bottles, homely blanket, few extra towels just in case and Pepper's food, of course!
Chapter Four: Pembrokeshire - few snippets
DAY 1 - BARAFUNDLE AND STACKPOLE
On the first day, Pep and I stopped over at Stackpole Car Park, it was a little spenny and it got a little busy quickly towards peak afternoon.
DAY 1 CONTINUED - TENBY BEACH, ST CATHERINE'S ISLAND AND TOWN WALKING
Because we parked up with Penally Abbey Hotel where we stayed, it was an easy walk to the beach. In fact, it was one the most beautiful and relaxing days. Pep loved playing catch on the beach, where so many dogs could just run around free. It was glorious!
DAY 2 - A DAY OF EXPLORING PEMBROKESHIRE, A DRIVE THROUGH
DAY 3 - LILY PONDS TRAILS
Bosherston Lily Ponds trail- this amazing location was suggested by my dear friend, and it was outstanding. We visited early June when the water lilies were magnificent but worth a visit out of season too, I am sure it would look just as incredible.
Though I downloaded an offline google map, at first we struggled to get to the ponds and got absolutely side tracked. I suggest you head to the National Trust Car Park at SA71 5DN but if you are suddenly take to a farm without proper road service, perhaps do not proceed and follow the sign posting to Boherston and then Lily Ponds. The car park will look like a car park straight away , if that makes sense. Though signal was questionable for the pay by phone map, and I was really lucky to have enough coins (cash not accepted) for the pay and display car park (from memory it was something like £3.50 for 3 hours).
For a short walk, we headed down the hill from the bathrooms in the car park (handy!) turning right at the junction. This marvellous walk takes you to the Broad Haven beach which is literally heaven on earth. You can follow the coast back and make a circular walk back to the cark park. It is around 1 mile of circular walking but with stopping to wonder and perch to marvel at the views we made it around in an hour and a half.
But it is actually possible to do a longer walk, keep going and join the Lily Ponds with Broad Haven beach, and keep walking along the coast to the Stackpole head, then the Barafundle Bay and Stackpole Quay, where there will await a fabulous café for a recharge. Not something we did because I visited these locations the day before, but I think it's around 10 miles all around, so a full day kind of adventure.
Chapter Five: Brecon Beacons
The Four Waterfalls, Brecon Beacons - When In The Waterfall Country
One of the most stunning walks of the trip! After a long week of walking in Wales, and having previously hiked in my wonderful (and flat!) home county hahah, my body wasn't quite prepared for the steep stairs and inclines.
Car parking wise, I perched at Gwaun Hepste, which cost £5 for the day (no overnight stay) and the machine only took card. There were other car parks available but my offline google map only showed me this one at the time, and to be honest we were not disappointed. Though this car park was furthest away from the actual waterfalls and felt quieter, there were lots of spaces.
Pep and I, therefore, started on the red trail. I had the OS Map handy for vague directions, but signal was patchy at best and to be honest I should have just trusted the system more. There were good labels and frequent posts with arrows and maps for you to check where you are.
However, be warned, the waterfalls could not be seen from the main trails! For each waterfall, we had to climb down stoney stairs, which was rather fun (going down) but if you are not an experienced hiker, I'd say walking sticks would be super helpful. And plenty of water, especially on a warm day, and when you need to climb back up to return to the main trail. As challenging as this walks sounds, it was absolutely worth it but given I had already done a day full of hiking before I arrived here, I found this a little more challenging than I should have.
Our top tips: This location deserves your full attention. If I was to do this experience again, I would set out to spend the day here starting from the morning. I'd explore every single waterwall and stay plenty of time to take a gazillion more photos. I'd bring a solid packed lunch and plenty of water, letting Pep have a longer paddle in the quieter, safer water in between the waterfall locations.
Most importantly, the single best blog for any adventurer if travelling to the Four Waterfalls for the first time, for me, is The Four Waterfalls Walk, Brecon Beacons: A Complete Guide – Wandering Welsh Girl. This tells you absolutely everything you need to know and makes incredible recommendations.
Please do also search the location, parking and any other updates before you head out to avoid any snags on your journey.
Pen Y Fan, Brecon Beacons - The Highest Peak in South Wales
On a Friday, late and kind of a drizzly morning, and during school time, our particular wasn't too busy but nicely buzzing with people of various hiking abilities.
The relatively New car park for Pen y Fan | Brecon Beacons | National Trust at Pont ar Daf had many spaces and a great restroom (important feature on a longer hike!), for a flat fee of £7.50 per vehicle. There was enough signal to use the Pay By Phone parking app to pay but otherwise it was cash only.
The route we followed (free link to OS Maps here) was fairly short, and given the weather was rather poor, allowing for fewer stops in between, we made it all the way up and down in approximately 3 hours or so. Would recommend this route as one of the easiest hikes to Pen Y Fan.
We started with our backs to the restroom (and the main road). We headed up and away from the car park and a little to the right. Didn't really need an offline map from that point either, as the path is super easy and clearly labelled.
The path to the top, to me, was fairly steep (but not too painful!) with few flat breaks in between, so even Pepper was grateful for a stop every few steps for obligatory capturing of the landscape.
Corn Du (~873m) and Cribyn (~795m) peaks were so beautiful to photograph, as we approached Pen Y Fan (886m). These peaks could have been easily added to extend the walk, which we could see many walkers chose at the time, but just as many returned with us having reached Pen Y Fan.
On a rainy day, the weather however, was quite changeable and moody, especially right at the top. Didn't stop any of us from an obligatory selfie by the circular stone cairn.
Our top tips: For this particular route and from this car park, the adventure was fairly easy so I could've packed even lighter. For some reason the coat I took was just too heavy. I'd say, a thermal layer, a fleece and a thin waterproof jacket just in case, would have been plenty for June (in 2024, the oddest summer month surely?!).
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