Check out the UK’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, visit one of the top three beaches in Britain (according to Trip Advisor users), the oldest and newest museums in Wales and the birthplace of Dylan Thomas….you can only do these things here in Swansea Bay…amongst a whole host of other things of course! Download the checklist here.
You can squeeze it all into a few days – or stay a bit longer, do them at your own pace and tick them off as you go. And if you still have some left, come back again and finish them off!
Build a sandcastle, go surfing, kayaking, coasteering or just sit and read a book. Rhossili Bay was also voted the eleventh best in Europe. We don’t like to brag – we invite you to come and judge for yourself.
Come and see where Swansea’s most famous writer and poet was born (in the front bedroom to be exact!), and the place that played a huge part in shaping the style and output of Dylan Thomas. Enjoy a guided tour, an evening meal or stay the night at 5, Cwmdonkin Drive.
They’re next door to each other. Explore Swansea Museum, described by Dylan Thomas as ‘a museum that should be in a museum’, get a glimpse of Swansea life, past present and future…and meet an Egyptian mummy! Or head next door to the National Waterfront Museum for high tech interactive displays bringing Wales’ history of industry and innovation to life.
If you leave Swansea without having a Joe’s ice cream, you’ve certainly missed out! A secret recipe originating from Italy in the late 1800’s, Joe’s ice cream has been a firm favourite amongst residents and visitors to Swansea Bay for a very, very long time! Taste it, you’ll soon see why!
Surf it, walk it, paint it, explore it. Enjoy it. Beautiful scenery and unspoilt countryside. We invite you to share our love for Gower. Walk the Gower Coast Path – 39 miles of footpath around the Gower Coast or try the 35 mile long Gower Way. It’s split into three sections so you don’t have to do it all at once!
Have a bite to eat and enjoy the sweeping views across Swansea Bay towards Mumbles from the Grape and Olive. Or sit ‘city side’ and enjoy a 107m high dining experience with 360 degree views across the City.
Absorb the lively match day atmosphere at the Liberty Stadium, watching the Swans play against some of the world’s top football players. The Swans are still holding their own after their fourth season in the Premier League.
Enjoy this unique exhibition at the Dylan Thomas Centre. You can hear some of the world’s most well-known voices reading lines from famous Dylan Thomas works; the voices of Prince Charles and Richard Burton are among those to feature. Also included are new interactive touch-screen displays that focus on Dylan’s technique, explore the notebooks he wrote in Swansea between the ages of 15 and 19, and cast a light on the circumstances surrounding his death in New York City in 1953.
Located on Whiteford Sands, Whiteford Lighthouse is a prominent landmark on North Gower. The walk out to the lighthouse takes quite a while and it appears never to get any closer! Please don’t forget to check the tides before you set off.
Walk the five mile sweep of Swansea Bay (along Swansea Promenade) the route that the first passenger railway in the world, the Swansea to Mumbles Train once took on its first trip in 1807. It later moved from horse power to steam locomotion, and finally converted to electric trams before closing in January 1960, in favour of motor buses. At the time of the railway’s closure, it had been the world’s longest serving railway and it still holds the record for the highest number of forms of traction of any railway in the world.
The front end of car no. 7 was saved for preservation at Swansea Museum. It was initially restored in the early 1970s and is now on display in the Tram Shed alongside the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea’s Maritime Quarter.
All finished? Well done! Let us know how you got on, leave a comment below!
