Exploring Tenby & Pembroke Castle

12/02/2017

natural childhood


At this time of the year its easy to feel the drag of winter and I always find January and February especially long months and I think if it's possible getting away even just for a few hours can do you a world of good. Last month we decided to bundle the kids in the car and head to Tenby in West Wales for a night, it's one of our favourite places and when the sun is out it's a truly spectacular place to be.

It's only around a 2hr drive and we booked ourselves in at the Premier Inn, we have actually stayed at this one before when I was 38weeks pregnant with my youngest, it was our last trip as a family of three and even since then has had a special place in our heart. The hotel is pretty new to the area, about 2yrs old, the other options are mainly B&B's which are not always the best option when you have two young children running around. It's also located right in the centre of town and close to both of the beaches and all the cafes and restaurants.


camouflage

colourful houses

cute door


Once we arrived we had a quick coffee in our room before heading down to castle beach for an afternoon of building sandcastles - yes its the middle of winter but the sun was out and provided us with the most beautiful sunset. There are also a few caves on the beach which we enjoyed exploring. What I love most about Tenby is all the colourful and individual houses that look out across the bay and have become somewhat iconic for this area, you cannot help but feel happy passing pink and blue pastel houses. 



sunset

West Wales


We stayed on the beach until the sun had sunk below the horizon and then we made our way back to the hotel and some much needed food after a busy day. After food we headed to bed as it was forecast for another sunny day and we wanted to make the most of our time here. We woke up early, filled up on breakfast and decided to spend a few more hours on the beach before heading over to Pembroke Castle which was only about 20mins away.


hipster dad

Tenby beach

Tenby beach


We knew it was only going to be a quick little getaway but with such stunning views and clear blue waters it was hard to say goodbye although we were all keen to tick off another castle on our list of ones still yet to explore. It was pretty easy to get from Tenby to Pembroke and as soon as we had a glimpse of the castle which lies right in the middle of the town, we were all eager to see what was inside.


Welsh castle

Castle interior

Welsh Castle


Pembroke Castle is really impressive and stands on a site that has been occupied since the Roman times. There are loads of rooms to explore and turrets to climb and the staff in the shop where you pay to enter are really friendly and informative. My eldest and I climbed right to the top of one of the turrets where a flag was flying and it was surprisingly very high and gave us a great view of Pembroke Town and the farming land further afield. My youngest also really enjoyed running around in the castle grounds and there is also some stairs going deep below the castle where there is cave called Wogan Cavern and they have found flint tools from the Middle Ages here.


Pembroke castle

Patagonia jacket


Even though our mini break was a rather quick one it really did us a lot of good to reconnect and slow down after the busy Christmas period. We love spending as much time outdoors as possible so the long hours on the beach were bliss for us. We have a few more mini breaks like this lined up over the next few months and cannot wait.  Check out the vlog and see what we got up too





Country Kids

23 comments:

  1. It looks lovely in Tenby! Such a great time of year to go away as well.

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  2. Sounds like you had a fab time. I can't wait till my little one is big enough to go exploring castles and beautiful beaches!

    Becca

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  3. Oh so lovely, we didn't make it to Tenby last Summer and I missed it. We had visited the previous two years and stayed just outside at Lydstep Beach. Fingers crossed we will get to go again this year, the children love Folly Farm and we really want to go to Pembroke Castle.

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  4. I love Tenby - it's so hard to get to from here though if you don't drive.

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  5. The weather looks perfect - almost can't believe that it's England - and the sea looks so blue! Looks like you had a great day out in spite of the cold!

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  6. This seems to be the perfect weekend trip. Both the town and the castle are beautiful! So bad we do not have castles around here. #MondayEscapes

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  7. love the colourful houses! and a castle is always a bonus:)

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  8. There's something very special about West Wales. I agree about the drag of winter in February, I can't wait for Spring. This looked like a perfect mini-break.

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  9. Oh it does look lovely there, it's definitely somewhere on my list! :)

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  10. Tenby looks "lush" as the locals would say! What a fab place to have a night away. Your pictures are fantastic and really do it justice!
    #MondayEscapes

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  11. Lovely photos as always Laura. You're making me want to head back to the coast soon xx

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  12. What a fab little trip. Getting out of the normal daily routine and going somewhere a bit special is so refreshing. The castle and beach look like topic choices for places to go and let the kids run free. Thanks for linking up with #MondayEscapes

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  13. Sounds like a fab mini break Laura. Pembroke Castle looks really interesting, we are reviewing Bluestone soon so i will make sure we find the time to go and check it out for ourselves! Thanks for linking up to #MondayEscapes

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  14. I love Tenby, its one of my favourite seaside towns. The colour of the buildings dotted around the town is just beautiful. We visited Pembroke Castle last year and loved it. The giant map of Wales in the centre of the castle was great, and the children loved it.

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  15. It looks like a wonderful place to explore, I love the row of colourful houses!

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  16. We had an afternoon in Tenby on our recent trip to Wales and I loved it - my first visit but the February sun came out a bit for us as well and lit up the gorgeous buildings. Those colours always make me smile. Wish we had had chance to go to Pembroke Castle but i shall put that on my list as i would love yo go bavk to Tenby. #countrykids

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  17. It just looks so stunning there. I'd love to explore Tenby and the surrounding area. I was a small child the last time I was in South Wales. Looks like you had a great adventure #CountryKids

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  18. Mini breaks are great fun. We try and fit a couple in each year and somewhere not too far to drive is perfect. I've heard lots of great things about Tenby so I can see why you were drawn here. Wow you were lucky with the weather, what glorious photos down on the beach, such a treat to stay till the sun set and then not have to travel. I'm always a sucker for castles, Pembroke castle looks well worth a visit. Well done for climbing up to the top, I bet the view was amazing on such a clear day.

    Thank you for sharing your winter break at #CountryKids

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  19. The castle looks great and what a lovely place to escape to for a refresh! Mini breaks are so good for the soul #countrykidsfun

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  20. Your photos are absolutely stunning. Tenby is such a lovely place, and you have really captured its beauty.
    #countrykids

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  21. We visited tenby last year when I was pregnant with our second! I would love to go back and think all the different coloured houses are so pretty. Looks like thexweatherxwas perfect for you! Stopping by from #CountryKids

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  22. Oh my son would love that castle! It looks so beautiful there too

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  23. Lovely to read this as we are off to this area in a few weeks and Pembroke Castle is on our list!

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Lovely comments

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