12 of the best holiday cottages in Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire’s wide-open horizons, exhilarating coastline and stunning seascapes feel like freedom itself. Renting a cottage here is the perfect tonic for busy bees, with days spent in the fizzing surf, clambering up gorse-clad cliffs and munching on lobster sandwiches in hidden coves that are silent but for the trill of seabirds and crash of waves. From revamped castle stables to revived smokehouses, these 12 hideaways are right in the heart of Britain’s only truly coastal national park, which is gorgeous no matter what mischief the Welsh weather gets up to. Below, the best cottages in Pembrokeshire to book for a blustery seaside escape.
Clydfan Cottage
Thanks to a modern extension, Clydfan cleverly blends traditional Welsh loveliness with a bit of industrial edge. Polished concrete floors, glowing copper lampshades and sleek black cabinetry in the new build meet traditional wooden beams, wobbly stone walls, comfy sofas and cosy rocking chairs in the original half. Wind up the stairs to bed down under a sweet pitched roof, or out to the garden for a sunny reading session on the terrace before a barbecue supper. You’re just a hop and a skip from the high street’s bustling shops, cafés, pubs, and the glorious Pembrokeshire Coastal Path is just moments away. Take note that steep steps mean it’s less suitable for those with mobility issues.
Sleeps: Two
Price: From around £330 for a three-night stay
Wilder Retreats
Less a cottage than a cabin – and an incredible one at that – Wilder Retreats has six steeply pitched A-Frame homes tucked right on the cusp of the rugged and beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, set on a 24-acre stretch the owners are painstakingly rewilding. Inside is modern and luxe, with a cool curving staircase taking you up to a simple mezzanine bedroom that showcases punchy views over the westerly rolling valleys, blooming flowers and wild grasses that stretch right up to St. Brides Bay. Take in the sunset from the bubbling hot tub, then huddle up around the fire for a chinwag about the day’s exploits. Make the most of your time – previous guests have felt a long weekend simply wasn’t long enough.
Sleeps: Two
Price: From around £396 for a two-night stay
Chapel Farm
Ramblers, take note – this characterful stone cottage is set within 40 acres of peaceful private land on the blustery Pembrokeshire coast, and just steps from the glorious views that unfold as you hike the area’s beloved Coastal Path. Out of the window, bucolic farmland scenes give way into wide sweeping views over Newgale beach and St Brides Bay. There’s a spacious farmhouse kitchen ensuring a stay means a taste of the good life, and the crackling log burner in the lounge sits ready to stoke with a basket of logs as the mercury begins to drop. The interiors are pleasingly traditional with warm flagstone floors, rough plastered walls in soothing sage green and a jumble of peppy rag rugs and mismatched furniture. Two bedrooms means there’s room for the kids – and they’ll love the direct beach access, which adds a cherry on top of this already lovely stay.
Sleeps: Four
Price: From around £351 for a three-night stay
Old Grove Bakery
For a quintessential coastal break, bundle into this charming 200-year-old cottage in the heart of St Davids; the UK’s smallest city. It’s perfectly placed for coastal walks, sandy beaches and evenings in friendly local pubs, with a slew of local favourites just metres away. It’s as charming as you like inside, with exposed beams, stone walls and a glowing log burner making for a warm, welcoming base year-round. With a king-size bedroom and bathroom on the ground floor, plus a cosy twin room in the eaves and a galleried reading nook, it’s ideal for small families or couples. Take a book out to the sunny enclosed patio, or head into town for some sightseeing – there’s a private parking spot, but everything’s walkable from here. The place is dog-friendly, albeit for a £25 supplement.
Sleeps: Four
Price: From around £369 for a three-night stay
2. Carren Bach Cottage
Serenely hidden away in a wooded valley a pebble’s throw from the cliff-rimmed cove of Nolton Haven, Carren Bach is a classic Welsh stone building on the face of things. Step inside, however, and the place takes a dramatic dive into more contemporary waters. With its sky-high exposed rafters, the flagstone-floored living area is perfect for parties, while the covered deck and master bedroom gaze wistfully out across the countryside. The interiors are a crafty blend of minimalism and new-wave rustic: white, grey and charcoal shades offset subway tiles, art, cowhides and industrial lighting. And as for the cabin hot tub, it’s got sunset and fizz written all over it.
Sleeps: four
Price: from £200 a night (minimum three nights)
3. Llareggub Beach House, Saundersfoot
An ever-changing play of light on the ocean makes for riveting viewing at this avant-garde beach house with front-row views of Saundersfoot Bay. Super-creative, architecturally on-the-ball owners David and Anjana Devoy have put their playful hallmark on this neo-Sixties upside-down house where miners once holidayed. They’ve added a shot of 21st-century aesthetic, with salvaged driftwood and boho sofas, colourful lime-washed walls and coal-black dairy trays revamped as showers. The deck is glorious, but drag yourself away if you can, to the Cŵlbox for a seafood-shack lunch or to St Bride’s Spa for a dip in its hydrotherapy pool. Outdoor gear can handily be stashed in the boot, dog and surf room.
Sleeps: six
Price: from £200 per night (minimum three night
4. Nantwen
The vision of Daniel (a cellist) and Jemma (a jeweller), Nantwen is so romantic it could be the backdrop for a bodice-ripping period drama. Bump down a potholed track to reach this stone-built fantasy cottage for two, which hunkers on a hillside overlooking wildflower meadows. Remote it may be, but the cool coastal town of Newport and the tide-shifting sands of Parrog beach are just five miles away. Simplicity rules decor-wise, with flattering light illuminating chalk-white walls, oak floors, Welsh wool throws and curving beams. This eco barn conversion hits the rustic sweet spot with a log burner and claw-foot tub, but never strays into twee. By night, huddle by the firepit and spot distant constellations in the starriest of night skies.
Sleeps: two
Price: £395 for a minimum three-night stay
Unique Homestays5. The Cable Hut
Meadows dip down to the dark pencil line of the sea at The Cable Hut in Aberbach, where the first telephone lines were laid across the Atlantic Ocean. More than 100 years later, the setting fired the imagination of a romantic young couple, who made over the space with white metro tiles and slate, hardwood, pops of red, artistically framed maps and references to the cabin’s nautical past. Outside there’s a deliciously secluded garden courtyard, hot tub and chimenea, as well as a sea-facing terrace for spotting dolphins, seals, puffins and choughs. And when a storm rolls in, you can soak in the slipper tub, or rest up in the king-size cast-iron bed and doze off to the sound of the waves.
Sleeps: two
Price: from £895 for a short break
Unique Homestays6. Smokehouse Cottage
Set above the vast surf-lashed beach of Newgale, this former smokery is the coastal dream, whether you’re hitting the waves, go wild swimming in the secret coves at the south end of the bay or plop into the wood-fired hot tub as the sun dips atmospherically behind the cliffs. Cleverly maximising light and space, the reclaimed fisherman’s cottage is simple and coolly modern, full of sunlight and shadow, with oak floors, wrought-iron beds, snow-white linen and the gentlest dusting of dove-grey and ochre. There’s a wood-burner in a glorious inglenook for when the weather turns grim, but otherwise you’ll want to be out on the deck with its wraparound views of St Brides Bay.
Sleeps: four
Price: from £1,495 for a short break
Sea and Slate8. Ty Glas
There’s no better place for an escape act than Ty Glas. Down a rough track between the Preseli Hills – of mysterious standing-stone fame – and the shore, this blue-tinted cottage for two is special. For some, the clincher is the vaulted bedroom and slipper tub, for others it’s the mellow walks in 40 acres of wildflower meadows, lovingly hand-tended by artist owners Neti de Mestre and Hugo Colville. The light is painterly and the styling elegantly dishevelled, with a well-worn leather armchair here and Welsh dresser there, crisp white linen, chunky wood and plenty of books. Here you can read, write, draw and daydream – or watch horses graze from the balcony at sunset.
Sleeps: two
Price: from £100 a night (minimum three nights)
9. Dove’s Cottage
One misplaced step means tumbling straight into the sea at this stone cottage giddily perched above Abercastle’s deep thumbprint of a harbour. The wind, waves and trill of seabirds are the soundtrack at this escape, once a humble taphouse for thirsty sailors. The pared-back design is an easy-on-the-eye mix of whitewashed stone, greys and blues, with copper lamps and a Rayburn for cooking, heating and hot water. It’s tempting to head straight off on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path or down to the beach with a bottle of fizz and Welsh-produce hamper from Coastal Cottages, but linger on the terrace and you might glimpse seals and peregrine falcons.
Sleeps: two
Price: from £1125 for a week
10. Ffynone Bach
Small but extraordinarily tall, this lost-in-the-woods, off-grid cabin for two delivers back-to-nature wilderness with a pinch of Alice in Wonderland. Stroll through ferny forests to the Ffynone Waterfalls, returning for a splash in the hot tub or shower in the handmade willow enclosure followed by a starlit evening around the fire-pit. Out on its lonesome, the lodge tunes into the rhythms of nature, with its main structure fashioned from a single tree and its windows opening onto a leafy canopy. The strum of woodpeckers by day and hoot of owls by night mark the passing of hours. A local-produce hamper provides sustenance, but if you’re hungry for more, pub grub, wood-fired pizzas and real ales are just a merry mile away at the Ffynnone Arms.
Sleeps: two
Price: from £125 a night (minimum four nights)
