Saundersfoot

Saundersfoot sits on Carmarthen Bay on the south Pembrokeshire coast, a couple of miles north of Tenby and roughly ten miles south of Narberth. It began life as a working port, built to ship coal out from the small collieries that once worked the hills behind the village, and the harbour that still anchors the place today was constructed in the 1830s for exactly that purpose. The coal trade is long gone, but the stone harbour walls, the old tramway tunnels cut through the cliffs, and the terraces of former colliers' cottages climbing the hill above the bay all still carry the marks of that industrial past.

What Saundersfoot became instead, from the late nineteenth century onwards, was a seaside resort, and it remains one of the more straightforwardly traditional examples on the Welsh coast. The wide, gently shelving sand of the main beach, backed by a low sea wall and a run of cafés, gift shops and ice cream parlours, is the kind of beach built for a full day out with children: rock pools at the northern end, safe swimming through most states of the tide, and enough space that even a busy August Saturday rarely feels overcrowded. The working harbour, with its bobbing yachts and small fishing boats, adds a genuine sense of purpose that some prettified resort towns lack.

Saundersfoot's real advantage is its position within the wider Pembrokeshire coast. Tenby's walled old town and three beaches are a short drive or a scenic coastal walk away through old railway tunnels, the Pembrokeshire Coast Path runs directly through the village in both directions, and the whole of south Pembrokeshire, from Manorbier Castle to the Milford Haven waterway, sits within easy day-trip range. It is a village that works equally well as a quiet base for walkers and a lively one for families, without needing to be much more than what it already is: a well-kept, unpretentious Welsh seaside village with a good beach and a harbour worth walking around.

Top things to do in Saundersfoot

The village and its immediate surroundings offer plenty for a few days, from the beach itself to the wider coast path.

• Saundersfoot Harbour is the heart of the village, a stone-walled port built for the coal trade in the 1830s and now home to yachts, small fishing boats and sea safari trips, with cafés and restaurants lining the quay.
• Saundersfoot Beach is a Blue Flag, sand beach that holds the tide well, making it a reliable choice for swimming, sandcastles and rock pooling right through the day.
• The Pembrokeshire Coast Path passes directly through Saundersfoot, with a particularly good stretch running north through old railway tunnels to the quieter sands of Wisemans Bridge and Amroth.
• Glen Beach, a smaller, more sheltered cove just south of the harbour, is popular for rock pooling and tends to stay quieter than the main beach even in peak season.
• The Saundersfoot Crabbing Centre, on the harbour, hires out crabbing lines and buckets, a fixture of family holidays here for generations.
• Boat trips from the harbour run seasonal sea safaris and fishing charters out into Carmarthen Bay, with a decent chance of spotting seals, dolphins or seabirds depending on the season.
• Tenby, two miles south along the coast road or the coast path, adds a walled medieval old town, three further beaches and a boat trip out to Caldey Island to a Saundersfoot stay.
• Colby Woodland Garden, a National Trust valley garden a few miles inland near Amroth, makes a good half-day out among rhododendrons, bluebells and woodland walks.

Getting to Saundersfoot

Saundersfoot has its own railway station, on the branch line that continues on to Tenby and Pembroke Dock, though services are limited and most visitors travelling any distance will change trains along the way. From London Paddington, the journey typically runs via Swansea, taking around five hours in total; Great Western Railway covers the London to Swansea leg, with Transport for Wales services continuing on down the branch line to Saundersfoot and Tenby. Travellers from the Midlands or the north are usually better routed via Cardiff or Swansea as well.

By road, the most direct approach is the M4 to Carmarthen, then the A477 and A478 down through Kilgetty to Saundersfoot; the drive from the Severn Bridge takes roughly two hours in typical traffic, longer on a peak summer Saturday when the whole of south Pembrokeshire is changing over. Car parking in the village itself is limited in high season, with the main harbour car park and Coppet Hall car park both filling early on fine days; several of the larger hotels and holiday parks offer their own parking for guests.

There is no ferry service running directly from Saundersfoot, but Pembroke Dock, around fifteen miles to the west, is the terminal for the Irish Ferries route to Rosslare, a useful option for visitors travelling on to or from Ireland. The nearest airport of any size is Cardiff, roughly seventy-five miles east, with Bristol a similar distance for visitors approaching from England.

Best time to visit Saundersfoot

Spring brings out the village gradually, with cafés and guest houses reopening after the winter and the coast path at its best for walking before the summer crowds and the bracken along the clifftops grow too high. It is a good season for a quieter look at the beach and harbour.

Summer is Saundersfoot at its busiest, and the reason most visitors come: long days on the sand, the harbour full of boats and paddleboarders, and a genuinely lively atmosphere along the beachfront cafés and restaurants. Accommodation books up well ahead for July and August, particularly around the school holidays.

Autumn is a good compromise season, with milder crowds, still-decent weather most years, and the annual Saundersfoot Carnival often falling in late summer or early autumn, bringing a burst of local activity to the village before things quieten down for winter.

Winter is quiet, with many seasonal businesses closed or on reduced hours, but the village keeps its core pubs and a handful of cafés open, and the harbour and coast path are both worth a bracing walk on a clear, cold day. Saundersfoot's New Year's Day Swim, when hundreds of hardy locals and visitors take to the winter sea in fancy dress, is one of the best-known events on the Pembrokeshire calendar.

Where to stay in Saundersfoot

St Brides Hill, rising directly above the harbour and beach, is the village's premier address, home to its largest hotel and several guest houses, all within a short walk of the sand and the shops. It suits visitors who want sea views and to be able to walk everywhere without a car.

The village centre itself, around the harbour and the streets running back from the beach, has a cluster of smaller hotels and guest houses, generally more affordable than the clifftop properties and just as close to the action, a good fit for a straightforward beach-based family holiday.

For a quieter stay with a car, the countryside inland towards Stepaside and Wisemans Bridge, and along the A478 towards Tenby, holds a scatter of guest houses and holiday parks set back from the busiest part of the village, useful for visitors who want easy access to both Saundersfoot and Tenby without paying premium harbourside rates.

Food and drink in Saundersfoot

Seafood, unsurprisingly, is the local speciality: crab and lobster landed at the harbour turn up on menus around the village, alongside the wider Pembrokeshire staples of laverbread, cockles and Welsh lamb. The harbourfront itself is where most of the village's cafés, chip shops and restaurants cluster, making the most of the view over the boats and out into the bay.

A handful of more ambitious restaurants have built strong local reputations in recent years, including a well-regarded fine dining restaurant attached to the village's clifftop spa hotel, serving seasonal Welsh menus with sea views. Traditional pubs serve Welsh ales within easy walking distance of the beach, and a local deli on the harbour stocks Pembrokeshire cheeses, meats and other produce for anyone self-catering nearby. In summer, the beachfront ice cream parlours and fish and chip shops are as much a part of a Saundersfoot day as the sand itself, and the village's carnival and harbour festivals through the season usually bring food stalls and local produce out onto the quay.