“MAE’R haul yn gwenu heddi.” Welsh for: “The sun is shining.”
You would be lucky to soak up any rays in the rocky summits of the Brecon Beacons but there are better odds of warmth on the coast.
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Rob Crossan serves up five of the finest Welsh seaside escapes for those planning a break this summer.
LLANDUDNO
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THIS town on the North Wales coast has a more refined feel than most seaside stops. No shops are allowed on the whitewashed Edwardian seafront strip and the bucolic air is even more pronounced if you take the San Francisco-style cable tram (unique in the UK) up to the Great Orme.
This is a vast limestone headland with soaring sea views and a resident population of goats descended from a gift to Queen Victoria from the Shah of Iran.
Fish ’n’ chips and a bed for the night: Enoch’s is a genuine chippy innovator with the option to have your cod or haddock poached in milk with parsley sauce. See enochs.co.uk.
The St George’s Hotel (stgeorgeswales.co.uk, B&B from £175) is the grande dame of Llandudno’s Victorian-era hotels and a retreat of deep carpets, thick bathrobes and pleasingly old-fashioned service.
TENBY
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TWO beaches, high clifftops, narrow streets, an abundance of fishmongers selling the morning catch . . . Tenby ticks all the requirements of the ideal small-scale working seaside town.
There are great views from the windswept peaks of the ruined Norman castle and the 15th-century Tudor Merchant’s House is well worth a visit, dating from a time when Tenby was second in power only to Bristol as a major port on our western coasts.
Fish ’n’ chips and a bed for the night: D Fecci and Sons (Lower Frog St, no website) has been frying since 1935 and uses local fish and potatoes only.
You can even have a wheat-free batter on your fish here. The Broadmead (broadmeadtenby.wales, B&B from £99) is a modern boutique B&B that doesn’t try too hard to be hip but does feature lavish rooms in white and cream, an orangery and complimentary Buck’s Fizz at breakfast.
BARRY ISLAND
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YOU won’t find Nessa in the arcades but regardless of any devotion to TV’s Gavin & Stacey, Barry Island is a wonderfully unpretentious seaside escape within easy reach of Cardiff.
The Pleasure Park promises retro funfair thrills but Whitmore Beach impresses most, a smooth crescent of golden sand with luridly painted beach huts, a climbing wall and some perfectly manicured landscaped gardens.
Fish ’n’ chips and a bed for the night: You will probably have spotted Boofy’s (2 Western Shelter) in the Barry scenes of Gavin & Stacey but it exists in real life too.
Despite a rivalry with O’Shea’s next door, it is regarded as serving the best battered fish in town. You can get tasty gluten-free chips there too. The hotels on Barry itself are no great shakes but the Vale Resort (valeresort.com, B&B from £119) is just 12 miles away in Hensol, boasting a championship-grade golf course and a 17th-century Gothic castle on the same grounds.
ABERSOCH
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THIS dreamy village is Wales’ answer to the Cote d’Azur, a serene getaway loved by the yachting set. It is set on the Llyn Peninsula — essentially, the arm that sticks out from Snowdonia on the map and the epicentre for the Welsh language.
Stroll the two long, golden bays from where you can wakeboard or windsurf and you are guaranteed to hear the native tongue as the predominant first language.
Fish ’n’ chips and a bed for the night: The Creel is in the heart of the village of Bodawen and, unusually, makes its own tartare sauce — perfect for the breaded scampi. It does some gargantuan breakfast baps too.
Porth Tocyn Hotel (porthtocynhotel.co.uk, B&B from £165) is just 15 minutes’ drive from Abersoch and stands in its own grounds, with a heated swimming pool and softly crackling fires in the lounges come the evening.
BARMOUTH
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LAPPED by estuary waters and the sea, Barmouth is the longstanding seaside hub of the Cambrian coastline.
There is a big sandy beach here that never gets overcrowded while old-school attractions such as donkey rides are in place for the peak summer months.
Quirky attractions include the roundhouse used to jail drunken sailors in the 18th century, reportedly built in that shape so the devil couldn’t hide in any corners, and the Last Haul sculpture made from salvaged Italian Carrara marble that sank in a shipwreck here in 1709.
Fish ’n’ chips and a bed for the night: The Harbour Fish Bar (harbourfishbar.co.uk) is one of the few places in the country where you can get cod and chips for under £6.
Expect a queue on sunny days.
Bed in for the night at Llwyndu Farmhouse Hotel (llwyndu-farmhouse.co.uk, B&B from £115) which is currently only offering rooms in their converted 19th-century granary.
Exposed pine beams and the thick stone walls make for a robust and rustic feel, while the farmhouse garden — complete with pond and a rope swing — overlooks the sea;
