A big 10 out of 10 for the Coast Path
An indication to me whether a long distance walk has been a good one can be judged by the number of photos that I take, the scenery and weather plays a big part in this. At the end of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path I had taken over 430 photos in 9 days, which told it's own story. The weather obviously helped but with scenery like I saw everyday, I had to capture what I saw. I just use a normal cheap digital camera so the photos don't look "professional" and maybe one day I shall splash out and buy a good one and learn how to use it but hopefully you'll enjoy them.
As I travelled by train to the start of the walk at Amroth, I was looking forward to it but I wondered if after a couple of days of seeing rock formations, cliffs, bays and beaches I would get bored and start thinking that it was far too many days of coastal walking. I'm pleased to say that I thought that this walk was a fantastic National Trail.
I have walked along the coast on other walks but this one felt different, The small bays and beaches were beautiful and clean and I could have sat at some of them for hours if I wasn't just passing through. The paths were in very good condition with hardly any traces of mud and obviously well looked after. Everyone I met was pleasant and quite a few people were doing the same walk so it was nice to chat in the evening. At no point was I just wanting the walk to be over with so that I could get home, infact I was sad to finish at St. Dogmaels and I wish I had the time to have continued and done more of the Wales Coast Path, it was strange to get home and not hear the sound of the sea as it had been on the left hand side of me for the past 9 days and 186+ miles.
As I travelled home on the train, I tried to think of good and bad things about the Pembrokeshire Coast Path but there were far too many good things to find a favourite. I loved the high cliffs, the rock formations, the sandy bays, the fact the sea seemed bluer than on the East Coast, the lovely sandy beaches that were so quiet, the lovely people that I met during my trip, and seeing seals, there were so many good things about this walk and only 1 little bad thing.
The only negative thing about this walk would maybe be the 8 mile road stretch between Bosherton and Freshwater West avoiding the Firing Range. I'm not a big fan of road walking when carrying a rucksack and it's not like you were passing through little villages where you could stop for a bite to eat or a drink before moving on, there were just a few small villages with nothing and you can't see the coast so it got a bit tedious. Luckily though, there isn't too much road walking on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and this is the only bit where you don't see the coast.
I would certainly recommend this walk, in either direction but maybe take a couple days extra to enjoy it more. I would like to return one day to walk it again in the opposite direction but as I got home and back into a normal boring routine, my mind started to think about what walk I would like to do next.....
