Located close to the Pembrokeshire coast and with a population of just over 1600, St Davids is the smallest city in Britain. This post captures a 4 night break where Chris and I ‘glamped’ in a campsite in a shepherds hut just outside of St David’s. Also covered is the 5 mile walk we did, along the Pembrokeshire coast path from Caerfai to Solva.
This trip was spent mostly with friends Yvey, Matt, Russ and Kay Marie. ‘Mostly’ as this was all a bit of a mix and match with each couple/person having their own camping arrangements in terms of sleeping in a caravan or a tent or in our case, the shepherds hut. In addition, Mick and Andrew were there for the first couple of days and Leigh and Dee arrived for our final 2 days!
After several hours of driving through torrential downpours (welcome to Wales) Chris and I finally arrived at our campsite grateful to simply open the door to our warm and dry shepherds hut and not to be putting up the tent in the rain. Details of the shepherds hut are at the end of this post.
For both of us this was our 2nd visit to St David’s, a place where we had spent just a few hours previously when we passed through back in October 2020.
Our itinerary for the trip is below and days 3 and 4 are covered in separate up-and-coming posts:
- Day 1: arrive at the campsite in the afternoon
- Day 2: walk from Caerfai to Solva
- Day 3: walk from Porthgain to Abereiddi and back
- Day 4: walk from Whitesands Bay to Porthmelgan and back
- Day 5: drive home
The Cathedral was built in the 12th century in honour of St David, a 6th century Welsh bishop who since became the patron saint of Wales. This cathedral is the reason for St David’s having the status of ‘city’ and for centuries as a historical place of pilgrimage.
Pembrokeshire National Park
The Pembrokeshire Coast is one of the UK’s 15 national parks, each of which are protected by law. Others include the beautiful Lake District, Snowdonia, the New Forest and the Norfolk Broads, all of which Chris and I have been fortunate to have had many wonderful and memorable visits.
Coast path walk: Caerfai to Solva 5 miles
As we were staying a 10 minute walk from the magnificent 186 mile Pembrokeshire coast path, for our first full day, the 6 of us decided to walk along a small section of it, making our way from Caerfai to Solva.
Each of us walking from our respective campsites (3 next to each other) we met at the small car park on the cliff top overlooking Caerfai beach and turned left onto the coast path towards Solva.
Iron age remnants from past settlements have been found along this part of the windswept coast.
After a sunny start, clouds began to form as we made our way towards Solva. In June the path is awash with pretty wildflowers such as foxgloves, red campion and red valerian.
We followed the majestic coastline above craggy cliffs and hidden caves.
Nestled in a steep valley, surrounded by towering cliffs we reached Solva.
As we were a mile or so from Solva we met Mick and Andrew on the coast path, they had driven to our end destination to meet us there.
We came across a huge hebe plant in the garden of a large house as we got to Solva.
Solva, often cited as ‘the prettiest village in Wales’ is a picturesque rocky inlet which provides a natural harbour for small boats. When the tide is out, they are stranded on the sand until the sea returns.
The walk wasn’t too strenuous and the now group of 8 enjoyed a tasty lunch sitting outside in the courtyard of the Harbour Inn. As the weather was looking rainy, rather than re-tracing our steps and walking back to Caerfai we were grateful to be given a lift by Andrew. Thankfully it didn’t actually rain so we all met up again to explore Caerfai beach.
Caerfai beach
At low tide Caerfai beach consists of a wide expanse of sand. However all of this disappears at high tide when the beach is completely covered by the sea leaving just a few rocks and boulders visible.
In low tide at Caerfai beach you can look inside in a couple of colourful caves.
The first time we went onto Caerfai beach, we saw quite a few jelly fish dotted around on the sand, amidst the pink seaweed.
One unusual feature of Caerfai beach is the dusky pink and purple sandstone, some of which was quarried and used for building St David’s Cathedral.
The final afternoon
Moving forward 4 days and sometimes the best times are the simple impromptu ones… like the last afternoon of our trip where Yvey, Matt, Leigh, Dee and ourselves spent over 3 hours sitting on the beach drinking wine and eating snacks.
By now Russ, Kay Marie, Mick and Andrew had all gone home so we were down to a group of 6. Plus 4 dogs (Ralphy, Cash, Jess and Chino) who played happily on the dog-friendly beach, chasing the ball and looking in rock pools!
On our last afternoon there were no jellyfish on the sand, but we did see a few rock pipits hopping around.
Evenings in St David’s
For our first night 7 of us (Chris, me, Yvey, Matt, Russ, Kay Marie and Mick) had dinner in The Bishops, a large pub popular with holidaymakers. Chris and I both had vegan Thai green curry which was tasty and at £15.50 each the cost was about average.
As we had all had lunch in the Harbour Inn in Solva, the original plan was to have a few drinks and snacks outside one of our camp pitches. However as the weather was showery we spent our second evening having drinks in the Farmers Arms, another St Davids pub popular with locals and finished off again drinking lemoncello shots in the Bishops.
All 10 of us were together on the third evening so we booked a table in the Grove Hotel where Chris and I both had veggie burger and chips. This wouldn’t have been my choice but veggie chilli wasn’t available. The burger was good however, as was the service so I would go back again.
For the last night, we had made no plans so when we eventually dragged ourselves from the beach we tried a food shack near the campsite. Unfortunately it was popular and there was a 30 minute wait so the 6 of us ended up back in the Bishops for dinner where I had a lovely fish pie for a rather pricey £19!
Accommodation
We found our Shepherds hut on AirBnB which was situated on the Glan-y-mor campsite. This was a perfect location being a 10 minute walk in one direction from the pubs, shops and restaurants of St Davids and a 10 minute walk in the other direction to the coast.
With views of St Brides Bay, part of the wider Irish Sea, our small cozy shepherds hut had a comfortable bed complete with bedding, so no need to take sleeping bags!
The kitchen was equipped with a fridge, kettle, microwave and 2 plate plug in electric hob. The owner had left us a packet of Welsh cakes, which are like small flat scones. Outside was a firepit, a table and chairs and a barbeque. There was no running water however we had a tap outside from which we and other campers could fill the kettle.
We had full use of the campsite facilities such as sinks for washing up, a shower block and toilets. Unfortunately there was no shower or toilet in the shepherds hut.
Summary of the shepherd’s hut
The shepherds hut was small and comfortable, and a tad expensive at £90 per night. However it had a fantastic location and as a new experience for us I would definitely recommend a short stay. Whether camping or glamping such outdoor living is always preferable in warm, sunny weather. On the sunny mornings it was lovely to sit outside eating our breakfast. If you don’t fancy glamping, we discovered while we were there that St David’s has a Premier Inn!
Budget
Had we taken our tent and prepared all of our own food this could have been a real budget trip at a fraction of the cost. However this time the focus wasn’t solely on keeping the costs as low as possible. This was about spending time with friends, being easy going and sharing enjoyable meals together. Also, this was Chris’s first holiday of 2025 and he was up for a glamp, rather than a camp!
This is a breakdown of the trip budget:
- Cost of the shepherds hut for 4 days £357.84 (less £75 AirBnB vouchers)
- Petrol £70
- 4 x meals out, drinks and snacks for both of us £254.56
- Car park at Whitesands Bay £6
Total £613.40 for both of us (£306.70 each)
We didn’t want to be too budget conscious and stay in our shepherds hut eating baked beans on toast while the rest enjoyed a pub meal each evening!
Overall summary
We had great fun and lots of laughs as always with our lovely friends. This approach was a change from previous years when we’ve shared one large holiday house, the participants of which changing a little each time. Despite the mix and match of this mini break, the dynamics worked as there was no fixed agenda and, as mentioned, the focus was on sharing an enjoyable time in a fabulous part of the UK.
Next up are two further posts covering more of the breathtaking Pembrokeshire coast path.
frombluetogreen.com 