South Wales road trip in May – help please?

Hi Folks,

I am planning a 5 day trip with my three boys (8-12 years old) to do some riding and water based activities in May and would welcome some suggestions/recommendations/tips for the following please?

– Uplifts – Bike Park Wales and Dirt Farm
– Riding – hear the Gower is good? any links to some routes?
– Water activities – surfing lessons, SUP’ings (got the kit) and coasteering – who to use/where to go?
– accommodation – looking for a house or apartment with space for bike and kit, not really sure where to stay at the mo?

Rather than cramming a load of stuff in, I would like to have some options so I can pick and choose based on the weather.

Thanks folks:)

The beach at the end of the Gower has surfing and surf hire. Obviously conditions dependent

At the South end of the beach is Worms head. At certain tide states you can walk out to it and scramble to the end. I think my son was that age when we did it.

I’ve never cycled on the Gower but some of the bridleways  look mega hilly

Planning doing a mini tour, South Wales back up to North Wales and home to Manchester. Looking at the Gower as a stop over (we’ll be in a van and or tent. Will take bikes so bridleways for MrsF, but not if hilly SUP will be coming too.

Watching with interest.

Further South West(but SW Wales is lovely) Newgale is a great surfing beach for a beginner like me, and the surf school there is good too.

If on SUPs, then Paddling down the Teifi, through the nature reserve, and out at Poppit Sands is a lovely way to spend half a day. You’d need to sort lift logistics, and time it right with the tide (and wind) though.

What sort of riding are you wanting to do on the Gower? I’ve done quite a bit on bikes and also ridden most of the bridlepaths on horseback — it’s very hilly and hard going, and a large percentage of the routes are impassable on bikes for 9 months of the year as they’re over bottomless bog common land.

If you want more winch-and-plummet gravity style riding then there are a good few trails in Clyne woods (not *quite* Gower but near as damn it). For XC casual stuff the bridleways linking Rhossili and Gennith are nice if the sun is shining and the ground isn’t too wet.

If you want a really big day out I’ve got a 40 mile loop route (4400ft climbing) that goes from Clyne, to Southgate, Llangennith, and Rhossili and then back to Clyne via Pwll Du. It’s all off road/on bridlepaths except short bits and pieces on roads to link them together, probably less than 2 miles on roads in total. I’m not sure the best way to share a GPX file on here though.

For surfing you could try Caswell or Langland (they both have surf schools) but they’re very iffy beaches and strongly rely on the forecast and tide times. Llangennith is much more consistent. If you end up basing yourself on the M4 corridor (rather than in Swansea) then I’d recommend going to Rest Bay in Porthcawl and booking lessons with Porthcawl Surf – Huw and Emma are fantastic coaches.

If you want to go SUPing I’d recommend joining some local FB pages and asking for advice on there – there are some really dangerous beaches on the Gower with nasty rips that’ll take you by surprise (Oxwich, Horton, Pwll Du, Three Cliffs to name a few!) so local knowledge is king there.

For riding you could also make a stop at MV Bike Park if the kids like jumpy flowy stuff!

Thanks @ngnm – will defo seek some more advise on SUP’ing then. Don’t fancy my kids getting caught in a rip tide 🙁

In terms of riding on the gower, was thinking an hour or 2 with say 3/400m or vert with kids in tow. Sweeping view and some nice single track. Maybe not the place for it?

A day or 2 at BPW will probably cover the riding tbf, then spend the rest of the time in or by the water.

There’s so much to ride on Gower that does not involve the implied epics above, ngnm and I must be going to very different places. Gower is a peninsular with Cefn Bryn, a long ridge running along much (but not all) of it. Parking at King Arthur’s stone, the highest point the road reaches will allow you to ride the ridge eastwards towards Penmaen. It’s a really great ride with fantastic views. Down to the pub/ cafe at Gower Heritage centre. Up past the prehistoric stuff and cave in Parc le Breos and back up onto the ridge. One push section. A great ride that is really easily extended if you want. Clyne Woods (as opposed to Clyne Valley cycle path) is full of fun if your kids stick to the marked (red) trail. It’s steep climbing at the start above the ponds but OK after that, I’d happily take competant kids down it. There’s some other more fruity stuff there too.

There’s a load of accommodation possibilities.

DM me for a chat if you want.

Have a look at the Llandysul Paddlers website if you want some organised water based activities and I’d also have a look at Hafod Trails

We found this over summer llys-y-fran

Its tucked out of the way but comfortable for a first time SUP. Big lake to paddlle on.  The have a route around the lake to ride and a pump track of sorts but tbh the water was enough at the time.

We also went to Pembury country park.  You pay a bit more to get in but has access to the beach and activities which are extra.

Let us know how you get on in May

Back in the day I spread a map out on the table and looked for bridleways, join them up with short stretches of road and you have a route. Thats how I found my way round the Gower. There is loads of riding there and no big hills.

There’s so much to ride on Gower that does not involve the implied epics above, ngnm and I must be going to very different places.

+1 I don’t recognise the description, either of the riding or the watersports.

Gower is hilly – it’s Wales so of course it is – but it’s not all that extreme, and there are plenty of routes which aren’t across ‘bottomless bog land’. There isn’t actually much bog on Gower, but it does rain a lot so of course it gets wet. But, it’s not boggy upland Wales and there are always bail out options. Without knowing how far the three boys can ride, or how competent they are, it’s not easy to suggest routes but the route around Rhosilli Down, with views across Worms Head, is gorgeous.

there are some really dangerous beaches on the Gower with nasty rips that’ll take you by surprise (Oxwich, Horton, Pwll Du, Three Cliffs to name a few!) so local knowledge is king there.

Yes, like anywhere, there are dangerous beaches so local knowledge is best asked for, but Oxwich is pretty much the safest beach in the world. Oxwich Point makes it wind and tide sheltered normally, and it’s so shallow that if you were blown half a mile from shore you could simply step off the SUP and walk back. I’ve never heard any mention of  a rip at Oxwich, unlike the well known one further up the same bay at Three Cliffs. Having said that, I’ve SUP’ed down the river into Three Cliffs without any problems at all, other than cattle in the river below the castle. I’ve also SUP’ed from Caswell around the cliffs to Pwll Du with no problems. I’m not sure that Pwll Du is big enough to have a problem with rips – it is a tiny bay.

For surfing you could try Caswell or Langland (they both have surf schools) but they’re very iffy beaches and strongly rely on the forecast and tide times. Llangennith is much more consistent.

The obvious reason why Caswell and Langland have surf schools based there is that they are decent places to learn to surf, and easier to get to than ‘gennith. For beginners, in the white water, they are just as good as Llangennith, although they can get busier simply because of their location. I tend to avoid that side of Gower on sunny, warm days. Some roads become clogged with parked cars belonging to people who can’t get into the car parks, but that’s because they are spectacular places.