Pembrokehire is a beautiful part of Wales, and the UK and there are so many places to see in Pembrokeshire!
What I love most about this corner of Wales is the variety of places in Pembrokeshire to suit everybody and all of the seasons.
In this Wales travel blog, I’ve given you what I think are the best places to visit in Pembrokeshire and things to do in Pembrokeshire,
And whilst the beaches in Pembrokeshire are one of the areas biggest attractions, there are also so many pretty villages and towns to visit, family and child friendly attractions in Pembrokeshire, places to shop, get afternoon tea, and an endless amount of places to go walking in Pembrokeshire.
I also love Pembrokeshire because so many of it’s best attractions and things to do are close together. You can base yourself in one place for a few days and still explore the whole county if you want to.
Places to visit in Pembrokeshire
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For more posts to help you plan your trip to Pembrokeshire and Wales whether you live here or are visiting as a tourist see:
Pembrokeshire Coastal Path
Before we get into this list of beautiful places to visit in Pembrokeshire, you may know or not know, about Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.
This is a footpath that literally hugs the whole of the Pembrokeshire coast (and continues all around Wales!), you can view the map here.
This means, if you enjoy walking or hiking, you can literally go to any part of the Pembrokeshire Coast and know they’ll be a place to walk and every part of the coastal path I’ve been to has been beautiful.
If you want free things to do in Pembrokeshire walking and exploring the beaches and coves along this footpath is one of the best things to do in Pembrokeshire!
1. Barafundle Bay
I have to start this list of the best places to visit in Pembrokeshire with Barafundle Bay, easily one of the best beaches in Pembrokeshire if not Wales!!
I think what makes Barafundle Bay so great and so appealing is its slightly difficult location!
Read my full post on how to get to Barafundle Bay here but in short, getting to Barafundle Bay requires you to park at Stackpole Quay car park and then walk through 2 fields to get to the bay.
Once there, there are no facilities such as toilets or a cafe.
Barafundle Bay is a soft sandy beach and although it is not one of the biggest beaches in Pembrokeshire by far, it is still a good size in length and depth, even on busy summer days!
It is good for swimming and watersports such as paddle boarding and kayaking. In high season you should be able to hire these at the beach.
For things to do in Pembrokeshire and things to do at Barafundle Bay, popular activities include cliff jumping from Stackpole Quay nearby and kayaking from Stackpole to Barafundle Bay.
2. Bosherston Lilly Ponds
This list of places to visit in Pembrokeshire isn’t all beaches because there are many more things to see in Pembrokeshire than just beaches, like Bosherston Lilly Ponds.
This is a lovely and surprising walking loop from the very small village of Bosherston. From the car park, you are one minute from a beautiful pond and footpath that takes between 1-2 hours to walk around.
Not many people know about the Bosherston Lilly Ponds because they are hidden, so they are definitely a hidden gem in Wales that you need to keep in mind when planning what to do in Pembrokeshire!
Related Post: How To Visit the Bosherston Lilly Ponds in Pembrokeshire!
3. Broad Haven South Beach
I suggest pairing Bosherston Lilly Ponds with Broad Haven South Beach because they are so close together. In fact, you can visit the beach whilst on your loop walk of the Lilly Ponds or visit before or after from the car park entrance.
This beach is a bit hard to find on the map, the best way to find it if you are having difficulty is to look for Trefalen car park or Church Rock which is a unique free-standing rock in the ocean and can be seen from the beach.
It’s one of those beaches in Wales that is great on a sunny day, especially if you’re taking children, but it’s also good for a big winter walk with the dogs and therefore one of the great places to visit in Pembrokeshire all year round.
4. St Govan’s Chapel
If you want to visit more hidden gems in Pembrokeshire, St Govan’s Chapel is a great place to visit!
Although many people do know about St Govan’s Chapel now, you need to know about it to visit it, you won’t just drive or walk past it by accident!
That’s because it’s a chapel hidden down a set of steps that leads out to a hidden bay!
It’s really close to Bosherston Lilly Ponds so you should plan to visit both at one time on your Pembrokeshire itinerary.
Once here, you can also walk along the cliff edge which is part of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, one of the great things to do in Pembrokeshire!
5. Blue Lagoon
If you want somewhere cool to swim in Pembrokeshire, especially in the summer, you have to add the Blue Lagoon to your list of top places to visit in South Wales!
It’s a former slate quarry and now features a big, and deep, lagoon that is popular for coasteering, kayaking and swimming and is part of the National Trust!
The Blue Lagoon is now one of the South Wales Instagram spots you see a lot of online!
6. Church Door Cove
Now for another hidden place in Pembrokeshire and another cool Instagram spot!
You might have seen photos of a huge rectangular gap in the cliff which looks like a door, this is Church Door Cove!
It takes some getting to… as do most of the best places to see in Pembrokeshire.. which is one of the reasons I love Pembrokeshire so much!.
You can read this post on how to get to Church Door Cove, but in short, first, you need to get to Skrinkle Haven Beach, I got to Skrinkle Haven Beach by walking from Manorbier Beach along the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.
It is an amazing 45-minute walk along the coast followed by some steep steps down to the beach and I really recommend this coastal walk in Pembrokeshire!
Next to Skrinkle Haven Beach is Church Door Cove named after the huge gap in the cliff that looks like a door.
These two beaches together are top attractions in Pembrokeshire and secret beaches in Pembrokeshire that make this part of Wales so incredible!
7. Manorbier
Talking of Manorbier Beach, this quickly became my favourite beach in Pembrokeshire after visiting on my walk to Chuch Door Cove and this beach is definitely a favourite with the locals too!
Manorbier Beach is not a huge beach but it has a good-sized sandy area to sit as well as rocks surrounding it. What makes it top of the list of the best beaches in Pembrokeshire to visit for me is the water!
When I went, lots of children and adults were surfing, body boarding and paddle boarding on the gentle waves making it a safe beach for children to swim in Pembrokeshire.
Because of its fairly close proximity to Tenby, Manorbier Beach is one of the best places to visit near Tenby, especially if you want a less commercialised place than the beaches near Tenby!
If the weather isn’t beach weather (the weather in Wales can be temperamental!), Manorbier is a cute little town with a tea room and some nice streets to walk around,
8. Tenby
Pembrokeshire is the top holiday destination in South Wales and Wales overall, and Tenby is the most popular beach and seaside town in Pembrokeshire.
This extremely colourful town has everything you need for a Welsh seaside holiday including Tenby holiday cottages, 3 sand beaches, coastal walks, shops, restaurants and boat tours.
I really recommend visiting Tenby on your Wales holiday because it is such a popular place and so many people love it as one of the best places to visit in Wales.
On that note, it is pretty commercial in places, it can get very busy and prices are much higher than other places in Pembrokeshire.
If you have children and you want a ‘good old British seaside’ holiday or day, Tenby is for you, if you’re looking for more naturally beautiful places to visit in Pembrokeshire, I advise not going.
9. Pembroke Castle
Pembroke town is not somewhere you need to spend much time but whilst travelling through Pembrokeshire but you may find yourself passing through Pembroke on the way to other Pembrokeshire attractions and Pembroke Castle is a nice place to stop on the route.
There are so many castles in Wales and Pembroke Castle is one of the big castles that you can fully walk around so it’s one of the great things to do in Pembrokeshire with kids.
When in Pembroke town you can also take a walk along the river and get lunch or a drink in one of the many pubs close to the castle.
10. Saundersfoot Beach
Saundersfoot is an all-time favourite and one of the best places to visit in Pembrokeshire for its harbour, shops, cafes and restaurants, luckily it has a beautiful golden sand beach too!
The beach has many blue flag areas making it a good and safe beach for swimming, especially for children and it is a dog-friendly beach in Pembrokeshire.
Saundersfoot is on my list of best beaches in Pembrokeshire because of its easy access from South Wales – it’s one of the closest beaches in Pembrokeshire to Swansea & Cardiff and because it’s close to Tenby it’s the best beach near Tenby.
I also love Saundersfoot Beach for its facilities as the town is right by the beach but you can also walk along the beach to find quiet spots and it has a nice seaside charm to it.
11. Narberth
Narberth is a lovely market town in Pembrokeshire and worth a stop if you happen to be driving past it.
Its high street is filled with independent shops and cafes, many of which are colourful Edwardian and Georgian buildings which are really nice to see.
Visit Pembrokeshire say Narberth is the foodie capital of Pembrokeshire and recommend these places to eat!
12. Colby Woodland Garden National Trust
If you’re a National Trust member looking to use your membership, one of the national trust sites in Pembrokeshire is Colby Woodland Garden.
Colby is a hidden valley but also a 900-acre estate full of woodland, farmland and walking trails.
As with many National Trust sites, it has facilities to make your visit more comfortable like a tea room, car park and toilets.
I think National Trust sites are great places to take children because of their facilities yet they offer so much freedom to roam and explore, so for places to visit in Pembrokeshire with children, this is a lovely option.
Have you thought about becoming a National Trust Member?
Being a National Trust Member creates a big saving for you and encourages you to get outside all year round because you’ve already paid for your day out!
Click here to look into the National Trust Annual Membership and give your family a whole years worth of days out in Manchester!
13. Oakwood Theme Park
This is Wales biggest theme park and therefore the biggest of the Pembrokeshire tourist attractions. From my many experiences there as a teenager, a really good theme park too!
If you want to do something a bit different or it is not beach weather, you can have fun at Oakwood theme park!
14. Blue Lagoon Water Park
Looking for more activities in Pembrokeshire or perhaps indoor places to visit in Pembrokeshire? Next to Oakwood Theme Park is the Blue Lagoon Water Park.
A huge site offering an indoor subtropical swimming pool with a lazy river, flumes, slides and more.
As with Oakwood, this is one of the places to visit near Haverfordwest if you are looking in this direction.
15. Ramsey Island
Ramsey Island is one of the beautiful spots in Pembrokeshire! You can see and visit Ramsey Island on a boat trip like this. I booked this whilst in St David’s which is the closest city.
In the right season you can spot whales and dolphins from the boat and I believe all year round you’ll get to see seals which is what I saw. It’s a great day out in Pembrokeshire for children and adults!
16. St David’s
St Davids’s is in the very Western tip of Pembrokeshire and people tend to visit for 2 reasons.
One is to go to Ramsey Island as mentioned above in this list of places to visit in Pembrokeshire. The other is to visit St David’s Cathedral which is truly impressive!
St David’s Cathedral is easily one of the best things to see in Pembrokeshire, especially if you’re not in Pembrokeshire to only visit the beaches and seaside towns.
St David’s is a city but it’s the smallest city in Britain so expect town vibes and it is a nice town to walk through, get some lunch in at one of the nice cafes and visit it’s independent shops.
17. Green Bridge
For more natural coastal rock formations to visit in Pembrokeshire, add Green Bridge of Wales to your list!
Here’s a guide to how to visit the Green Bridge in Pembrokeshire because it’s the most iconic attractions in Pembrokeshire to visit and will give you chance to see more of the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coastal Path as you do have to walk to it!
18. Manor Wildlife Park
As well as natural attractions and beaches in Pembrokeshire, there are many family attractions in Pembrokeshire to help you have a educational, fun filled day out.
Manor Wildlife Park is a 52-acre zoo with large animal enclosures which you can walk through and see a close-up view of the animals.
A great place for families to visit in Pembrokeshire to keep the kids entertained. It’s also a great childrens inside attraction in Pembrokeshire if the weather isn’t that great and you don’t want to be on the beach!
19. Tenby Dinosaur Park
If you have a dinosaur obsessed child and looking for more things to in Pembrokeshire and things to do near Tenby, head to Tenby Dinosaur Park!
This is one of the attractions near Tenby and is just down the road from Manor Wildlife Park so you could pair them together.
Tenby Dinosaur Park offers rides, adventure nets, activities and a guided walking safari so plenty to keep kids busy and perfect for what to do in Pembrokeshire with children.
20. Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo
A final Pembrokeshire family attraction is Folly Farm. A family favourite aimed at slightly younger childen.
If the beach has become too much for you, children can visit animals in the zoo and on the farm, as well as riding on fairground rides aimed at young children and play areas.
I hope these places to visit in Pembrokeshire have helped you plan your Pembrokeshire trip!
- For more of my posts on Wales see:
- 48 Places To Visit in Wales To See Beautiful Places in Wales!
- Visiting Wales By Train! 10 Best Places To Visit in Wales by Train!
- How To Spend 3 Days in Wales! Perfect 3 Day Wales Itinerary!
- BEST Wales Itinerary! How To Spend 1 Week in Wales!
- 15 BEST Beaches in Pembrokeshire To Visit & A Map!
- 16 GREAT Day Trips From Cardiff In Wales & England!