FISHGUARD is in the middle of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and is a convenient stop on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path National Trail between Newport and Pwll Deri.  Unlike other towns it has not become a ‘tourist town’, with crowds and high prices; it’s a real town with real culture. The area is far enough from the cities to remain uncrowded and unspoilt. Special walkers’ buses, free Internet, cinema/theatre, pubs, 2 supermarkets, restaurants, last invasion tapestry 1797, Folk Festival, Music Festival.

Lower Fishguard has a quaint harbour which served as the celluloid village ‘Llareggub’ in the 1971 blockbuster movie of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood (starring Richard Burton) and also provided the Moby Dick film set
(starring Gregory Peck).

GOODWICK ...pronounced GOODICK..., has a beach and houses the ferry to Ireland and the railway station. It has a separate identity from Fishguard, with shops, pubs, restaurants and its own library and Post Office.
The first successful flight from Britain to Ireland was made from Goodwick's Harbour Village on 22 April 1912 by Denys Corbett Wilson, flying a Bleriot XI. The flight lasted one hour 40 minutes, with landfall near Enniscorthy, Ireland

Around Fishguard you will find some of the most rugged untamed coastline in Britain. In particular Strumble Head, the nearest point to Ireland, has incredibly dramatic views. 

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is most famous for the 186-mile (300km) Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
The Park runs along a coastline riddled with rugged cliffs, superb sandy beaches, rocky coves and tiny fishing villages – there’s some gorgeous scenery and spectacular coastal walks.

Inland, the historic Preseli Hills hide ancient trade routes, hill forts, standing stones and burial chambers, The Bronze Age Road, Pentre Ifan Burial Chamber, Celtic Cross on Carn Ingli (1,020 ft). Highlights also include the beautiful Gwaun Valley (the best example of a glaciated valley in the UK), Bessie’s pub (Dyffryn Arms – ask a local!), one of the last retreats of the otter and a place where the small farming community still lives by the Georgian Calendar. The only place in Britain with an excuse for two new year celebrations! 

Offshore are the islands of Skomer, Skokholm, Ramsay and Grassholm, which are inhabited by colonies of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, gannets and grey seals. There are organised trips to the islands throughout the summer season.

For more views of the countryside around Fishguard, go to:
www.bluestonephotographics.co.uk

Other sites worth visiting include St David’s Cathedral (Britain’s smallest city) and the Bishops Palace, Newgale Beach, Whitesands Beach, Superb Coastline, Carew Castle and Tidal Mill, Drovers Roads, Celtic Crosses, seal, dolphin, and bird-watching, including puffins and Red Kites, Churches and Abbeys, ancient forts, dolmens, hills, cairns, Castell Henllys Iron Age Fort.

Available are kids activities, farm visits, Adventure parks, Folly Farm, Llys-y-Fran reservoir & country park, Clerkhill Adventure Farm, Oakwood (Wales’ only theme park), and National Trust properties.

If you’ve seen it all, you can take the Stena Line ferry to Rosslare in Ireland from Fishguard Harbour in Goodwick.
The whole area is an activity-lover’s paradise, with a choice of hiking, pony trekking, surfing, windsurfing, diving, kayaking, swimming and fishing opportunities.

 

www.pembrokeshireonline.co.uk