How to organise a trip to Poppit Sands

Location – 3 miles NW of Cardigan on the W Wales coast on S side of the Teifi estuary.

Poppit Sands is a YHA hostel with fabulous views overlooking the estuary; it’s a stunning location with the chance of seeing seals, dolphins, porpoises and birds such as peregrines, razorbills, shags and choughs. The seals breed in their hundreds on a nearby beach and you can see them well from the cliff-top walk.

The hostel       

08453719037  [email protected]  Cost £10+ / night

OS Map 147                  Grid Ref: SN 144487 

Pleasant with plenty of kitchen space for self-catering.

Large garden but no direct access to the sea.

34 beds (3 rooms with 6 beds, 3 rooms with 4 beds and 2 rooms with 2 beds).

Carparking is a major problem – room for maximally 7 (requiring lots of juggling around) 50 yards up the hill

OR 10 minutes’ walk down the hill from the large free public car park!  This is a real nuisance.

Hostel is accessible all day.

Orange and Vodaphone had good mobile phone coverage.  Coverage for 02 and T-Mobile was patchy at the hostel.

Activities

Superb walks along the coast (starting directly from the hostel - see Poppit Rocket bus below) or in the Mynydd Prescelli  (range of hills to S).

Mountain biking – high quality but not lots of rides; probably a day’s worth.

The sandy beach is huge with lots of space for Frisbees, kites etc. Didn't see surfers, but waves were small.

Plenty of paddling –

River kayaking / canoeing at Heritage Canoes, Cilgerran - heritagecanoes.co.uk    01239 613961

            - 3 miles from Cardigan, 5-10 miles from Poppit Sands

            - £30 / head for 2-2½ hours (a reasonable rate)

            - the river Teifi above the kayak base looks stunning for easy paddling

            - equipment supplied

Sea-kayaking – Adventure Beyond adventurebeyond.co.uk          07787 123761 

            - sea-kayaking launch is at Abereidy 30 miles SW along the coast (a long way; 1 hour?)

            - costs not investigated but probably ~£30 / half-day, all equipment included

St Dogmaels had a historic abbey.

Cardigan town looks pleasant to wander round with castle and perhaps a museum somewhere

Coastal cruises - see leaflets in hostel

Horse riding

Pubs / Restaurants

Nowhere really obvious. A hotel about 1 mile away looked fairly unappealing.

St Dogmaels ~ 2.5 miles away

3 pubs:

- The Ferry (new management in April 09, and they didn't have their act together)

- The Teifi Inn (good beer, very poor food)

- The White Hart (recommended by hostel warden)

Fish & chip shop

Cardigan

- Plenty of pubs/restaurants

Gwbert (~2 miles N of Cardigan, on opposite side of Teifi estuary to the YHA)

- Cliff Hotel - nice spa hotel, with excellent sunset views - food at a wedding breakfast looked good

- Bistro - near Cliff Hotel - nice coffee and good views over Poppit Sands

Shops

Spar in St Dogmaels or Tesco etc. in Cardigan (4 miles)

Getting there / about

Probably about 140 miles (about 3 hours) from Bristol via Carmarthen; mostly good roads.

Poppit Rocket - local bus with routes from Newport to Cardigan and Poppit Sands.  Operates half-hourly most of the year, and is great for coastal walks, as you can leave car in public car park at Poppit Sands.