With Carmarthen hotter than Crete, why not save money and airport stress this summer by staycationing in God's own county? And there's something for everyone here.
You and your loved ones could:
CASTLECATION
Now deep breath in here as you polish that photo lens and pack the cheese and pickle to visit:
And that's just for starters... there's Dryslwyn, Carmarthen and Llandovery Castles if you're still craving more crenellation. You can be queen or king for several days in Carmarthenshire.
CULTURECATION
From the West Wales Museum of Childhood to Dolaucothi Gold Mines, Carmarthenshire has some fascinating and quirky cultural destinations. There's the National Wool Museum near Newcastle Emlyn, the National Coracle Centre at Cenarth and Carmarthen County Museum in Abergwili. Oh - and in case you'd like more - there's the charming Gwili Railway with its heritage train rides and lots on, Kidwelly Industrial Museum and Pendine Museum of Speed. This county rocks, no doubt about it.
Art lovers can get their fix in King Street Carmarthen, home to four art galleries, including a couple of well stocked collectives.
If green culture and gardens are your thing then there's our National Botanic Garden, Aberglasney, Stradey Castle Gardens and Llwyncarreg Garden near Whitland. You can wake up and smell the flowers.
CAN DO CATION
But you may think 'culture's all well and good, but what we want is a slice of the action!'. So for action people Carmarthenshire's got 20 kilometres of Llanelli's Millenium Coastal park with wetlands, visitor centre with activities for kids, cycling, angling and golf. Plus flamingoes.
And if birds rock your boat, then the Bird of Prey centre at the National Botanic, with three flying demonstrations a day, should delight. We're lucky enough to have some Brecon Beacons in Carmarthenshire and the Red Kite Feeding Station is in Llanddeusant, to catch close-up sight of these magnificent birds.
Getting on your bike? Carmarthenshire offer cyclists many routes of varying challenge through wonderful scenery, Here's a list https://www.routeyou.com/en-gb/location/bike/47412030/cycling-in-carmarthenshire-overview-of-all-cycle-routes and you can always visit Carmarthen town's velodrome if you want to cool down by doing a few more laps.
Brechfa mountain trails are said to attract 20,000 mountain bikers a year: http://www.bikebrechfa.co.uk/biketrails.htm
If you fancy something a bit more sedate, you can throw and paint pots at Gwili Pottery.
But what if you're most in touch with your inner cowgirl or boy? Then you can horse ride here:
Or if you'd rather back a horse, than ride one, then Ffoslas Racecourse will give you plenty of opportunity.
For birdwatching, walking, fishing and horseriding Llyn Brianne, the lake near Llandovery is amazingly unspoilt.
CHOW CATION
Finally, what about staycationing around grub?
At the Cenarth Cheese Centre, you can learn about cheesemaking and nibble. Parc Y Bocs, Kidwelly, is a farm shop, garden centre, playground and cafe, run by the Burns family of the pet food fame, much of which is grown on their own farm. You may fancy catching some sewin, our-better-than-salmon Towy fish, in which case you'll need to have a licence https://naturalresources.wales/days-out/things-to-do/fishing/?lang=en And you could forage for some samphire to serve with that, at Llansteffan Beach https://gourmetgremlin.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/a-foray-in-foraging/ ( there are legendary fish and chips on offer there too).
While Carmarthen has a grand selection of independent cafes, bars and restaurants, just outside then Wright's in Llanarthney is extraordinarly good, the Four Seasons cafe in Nantgaredig gets good reviews and the Hangout, just off the A40 outside Llandeilo, is legendary for its brunches. Anyone for nutella and banana croissant ?
We're just scratching the surface here on where to eat great grub in Carmarthenshire - if you've got a recommendiation please pop below or on our facebook page.
Cheers and hope to see you at a local staycation very soon!
Some helpful websites:
http://www.discovercarmarthenshire.com/
http://www.visitcarmarthenshire.co.uk/
http://www.visitwales.com/
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