Cardigan Travel Guide

  Cardigan High Street
by Krumlovgirl
  • Cardigan High Street
      Cardigan High Street
    by Krumlovgirl
  • Cardigan
      Cardigan
    by Krumlovgirl
  • Cream tea
      Cream tea
    by Krumlovgirl
  • Mr Spincat and the rising river
      Mr Spincat and the rising river
    by Spincat
  • Floods outside Newcastle Emlyn
      Floods outside Newcastle Emlyn
    by Spincat

Explore Cardigan

Things to Do  

New Quay: the Dylan Thomas trail

New Quay: the Dylan Thomas trail, Cardigan

 Spincat Says:  Dylan Thomas only lived in New Quay between 1944-45, but the town makes much of this year in his life. 'The Dylan Thomas New Quay Trail' takes you through some of the places in the town associated with him, including, of course, a good many pubs. The town is said to be the... 

Cardigan bay - legends of a sunken land

Cardigan bay - legends of a sunken land, Cardigan

 Spincat Says:  The lovely bay sweeps for over 40 miles - a wild place, not over-developed by tourism.There is a local story of a an land lost to sea: land now under the waters of the bay. The story of the 'Sunken Hundred'. They say you can hear the church bells of a lost village ringing... 

What is there to do in Cardigan?

What is there to do in Cardigan?, Cardigan

 Spincat Says:  Cardigan is a friendly town on the Teifi estuary, full of attractive Georgian and Victorian buildings; there is a lot to see including this otter statue, the river and..umm.. a castle mound dating back to C11th. (OK, Ok, maybe that should be 'quite a lot to see'!) There's a... 

Beaches: Tresaith

Beaches: Tresaith, Cardigan

 Spincat Says:  A very early and very happy memory is of beach. A kind platonic ideal of how a beach should be - soft demerara sand, rock pools with bright coloured creatures, really salty sea and energetic strips of seaweed twining round my legs. It is named after the River Saith that... 

Hotels  

The Gwbert Hotel

 1 Review and 123 Opinions  I stayed at the Gwbert hotel with my husband the hotel was great the staff where very friendly and... 

Hotel Penrallt

 155 Opinions

Hotels  

"Under the Thatch": Stay in a Romany caravan

"Under the Thatch": Stay in a Romany caravan, Cardigan

 Spincat Says:  This charming vardo (Romany caravan) with accompanying cabin, is available to rent all year round from the amazing Under the Thatch company They restores old cottages and unusual buildings in an imaginative and clever way - clever, because they make these places comfortable... 

Restaurants  

Castle Cafe

Castle Cafe, Cardigan

 Krumlovgirl Says:  We had a cream tea at the Castle Café and aside from being very reasonably priced, it was also extremely good. For 1.95 GBP I got two scones piled high with strawberry jam and cream and a pot of tea for 1. It took both of us to eat my scones. The dining area is small and... 

Wishing Well Restaurant

Wishing Well Restaurant, Cardigan

 Krumlovgirl Says:  The Wishing Well Restaurant is located within the Rhyd Country House B & B. Please read my review on it for a more detailed look. We were first taken into the parlor, where we were given a menu and were able to order drinks. For a three course menu the price was 25 GBP per... 

The Teifi Blu (Cardigan): A sinking ship!

The Teifi Blu (Cardigan): A sinking ship!, Cardigan

 ashie1 Says:  Our meal was of a very poor standard. The soup was watery and had little substance and the main dishes were minimal with a king prawn dish for four persons consisting of one prawn!. There were no hot plates and the dishes were cold which contributed to the food being served... 

Nightlife  

Ivy Bush: 'Cheeky Vimto' in Newcastle Emlyn
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3.5 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

Spincat 165 reviews
pubs in Newcastle Emlyn - from NE website

What is a Cheeky Vimto?

Well, to understand that you have to know who Charlotte Church is - I'd be interested to know if her fame has spread round the world!

I hate the cult of the celebrity but if there's an article anywhere about Charlotte Church I can't pass it by. And she is said to drink this 'cocktail' :
- Pour 1 shot of Port into a pint glass with ice, top up with 1 bottle of Blue WKD (a nasty alcopop),

You can sample this local delicacy in Newcastle Emlyn.

Anyway, Newcastle Emlyn is a very nice Welsh market town with some great pubs and a wonderful Indian restaurant. The Ivy Bush probably doesn't go in for Cheeky Vimtos as it had a comfortable, real ale atmosphere and a really snug bar + good pool table. There are plenty of other pubs in town where you can sample them ... Yes, I have had too many of these...

Dress Code: The Ivy Bush was comfortable, slightly hippy - other pubs more the smart/casual look

Updated Apr 4, 2011

Address: Oh come on...

Related to:
 Beer Tasting
 Budget Travel

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Shopping  

Somerfield: Somerfield supermarket, Cardigan
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3.5 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

Spincat 165 reviews

As we were 'going back to nature' by staying in the vardo, I was determined that we were going to eat the 'Produce of the Land and Sea'. I read that there were restaurants serving simple local seafood, shops specialising in organic produce, local sheep cheese, a Honey Farm that created wonderful delicacies.. and no doubt lots of wild produce too. I imagined myself gathering nettles and edible funghi in the woods and on the hillside. I forgot that it was going to be November.

We arrived in Cardigan in the gathering dusk, damp, cold and tired. The road behind us had been swept away by rain and wind.
We did actually sample some delicious local produce: a really reviving bowl of Cawl (Welsh vegetable soup) in the Black Lion Hotel in Cardigan High St. After that we retreated to Somerfield Supermarket. Here, my husband got increasingly worried, as I kept saying: "We need to get really simple things that don't take a lot of preparation". He was beginning to get the idea - we weren't going somewhere with 'facilities'.

What to buy: What special items should you shop for in Cardigan?
Well, there is a handy supermarket!

You can also buy surfer gear; there is a great looking covered market for the organic cheeses we didn't buy (it was shutting up by the time we got there). Also a shop called "Gandalf's Garden".

And a fancy dress shop - there seems to be one in every Welsh town of any size at all. Why?

What to pay: The supermarket is very reasonably priced.

Updated Jan 9, 2007

Website: http://www.thehoneyfarm.co.uk

Related to:
 Backpacking
 Budget Travel

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Off The Beaten Path  

A short trip to the Preselli Hills

A short trip to the Preselli Hills, Cardigan

 Spincat Says:  This makes for a good excursion (about 30-40 minutes by car) from the Cardigan area. On a wet, scrappy November day the hills looked a strange russett colour with indigo views. The bluestones of Stonehenge come from here: they are thought to have been hewn from the tor of... 

Castell Henllys

Castell Henllys, Cardigan

 illumina Says:  Hillforts occur in great numbers in West Wales. These are often smaller than the great hillforts of southern England, but there are many more of them. The best-known, and the most extensively excavated, is Castell Henllys, where Harold Mytum has not only excavated most of... 

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Map of Cardigan