- Swansea
- (23)
-
United Kingdom
I love Hobos. It's the only place I've ever been where I can buy vintage clothes, a retro bag, the wrapping paper and a card all at once. It's perfect for little off-the-wall gifts and is a hippy's paradise. The 60s theme decor works excellently and is very inviting. They also do a 10% student discount, which is great for us lot on budgets! If I need to get something unique and a little crazy, this is the only place to go.
hobosswansea.blogspot.com/
214 Oxford street, Swansea, SA1 3BG
+44(0)1792 654586
Google map: bit.ly/sNmpOw
This family-run ice cream parlour, cafe and restaurant is something of an institution and THE place to be seen in The Mumbles.
More than 30 varieties of Italian ice cream are produced each day - I wolfed down a divine selection of three sorbets: lemon, creamy strawberry and raspberry, served with a crisp wafer. There is great coffee and a fine dining menu, chalked up on the blackboard, offering pasta, pizzas, soups, stews and salads.
The cafe is always full and visitors gaze through the vast glass windows at the view of Swansea bay; it's almost like being in Naples on a cloudy day!
www.verdis-cafe.co.uk
Knab Rock, The Mumbles, Swansea SA3 4EN
+44 1792 369 135
Google map: bit.ly/pK8STM
We arrived in Swansea at 11pm, long after everything in Swansea, bar the kebab shops, had closed.
After several days of bland burgers and delicious, but samey fish and chips, Rose Indienne offered a wake-up call to the tired taste buds.
Everything about Rose Indienne breathes class. The service is polite and friendly without being overwhelming. The decor is delightful and the selection of starters contained some spices I had never experienced before. The vegetarian dishes were top-notch and I would dare to recommend this place as the best Indian restaurant in Swansea, maybe in all Wales?
www.roseindienne.co.uk
73-74 St Helen's Road, Swansea SA1 4BG
+44 1792 467 000
Google map: bit.ly/okkSQR
Desperate for an early-morning, wake-up brew, we found this tiny cafe quite by chance on the corner of a back street, ten minutes' walk from Swansea town centre.
It's located in a sweet former cobbler's workshop, and you can still see the gorgeous greeny-yellow stained glass sign reading 'Leonard's, for good boots and shoes' while you're perched on one of the three high, tractor-style metal (but surprisingly comfy!) stools. The coffee maker in the window is an authentic Elektra and there are sweet touches like the cobbler's wooden shoe mould in a frame and the little boot holding the door ajar.
Oh, and did I mention the coffee?
Smooth cappuccinos, rich dark espressos, lethal mocchas...all you could ask for, plus panini, home-made browies and bacon butties.
A real find.
1 King Edward Road, Swansea
+44 7543 439 595
Google map: bit.ly/qW43nF
Caswell Bay near Swansea, or Rest Bay near Porthcawl are the best beaches to learn to surf in south Wales. Caswell is a pretty cove which is not as exposed as Llangennith - the other main beach for beginners on the Gower. Rest Bay picks up a larger swell and is usually the better-shaped wave, though it is more challenging.
Because of the high tidal range in the Bristol Channel, Wales surfing beaches only work on a rising tide, so try to get to these beaches about three to four hours before high tide.
Caswell Bay is near Swansea, Rest Bay is near Porthcawl.
Rhossili beach is in the Gower.
This beach is beautiful and has some secluded coves which you can have all to yourself if you walk further down it.
It is excellent for fishing and on the rocks you can find many different sea foods to eat.
The beach, just like much of the Gower is often often un crowded even during peak season so I would reccommend it over Cornwall any day. It is also easier to get to than Cornwall as it is serviced by a major motorway.
Pitton cross is a really peaceful campsite that overlooks the beach. It doesn't have a great deal of facilities and is more of of a back to basics campsite but for the view alone and the seclusion it is well worth a visit.
The nearest pub is Worms Head hotel. This has some nice traditional pub food and some good local ales on tap.
On the site we got a tipi from tipi rent, it was the envy of the whole site and provided a very relaxing/romantic atmosphere for my wife and I.
Would reccommend the whole experience and would return again this summer.
The campsite is Pitton cross (15 miles or so from Swansea.)
www.pittoncross.co.uk/
Pitton Cross Caravan & Camping,
Rhossili, Gower, Swansea, SA3 1PH
Tel : 01792 390 593
I believe the nearest station is Gowerton
The place I got my tipi was www.tipirent.com
Google map: tinyurl.com/yzdj2k4
A beautiful peninsula just west of Swansea in South Wales. Simply breathtaking landscapes and coastal walks. An enchanting place to explore!
To find the best beaches, that is the most remote and unspoilt, go to the west and north sides of the Gower peninsula rather than the south.
From Worms Head to Whiteford Point, Gower, South Wales.
There is a great local food scene going on here, not only restaurants but delis, and loads of local produce markets. Lots of the restaurants only use local produce. Food Passion is a great place to read about it!
Bryngolau old game keeper's cottage, Penrice Estate, Gower: this is home to the most amazing green outdoor activity company.
They have views of Oxwich Bay and they are just down the road from Three Cliffs Bay too. Their fun-loving staff will show you the most remote romantic parts of the Gower, South Wales.
Discover wild ponies, castles, sunsets etc and enjoy bushcrafting, sailing, surfing, beach art etc with internetoutdoors.
They also know all the best places to stay e.g Nicholston Farm overlooking Oxwich Beach, with its superb cafe and great woods or if you really want to push the boat out go and spot otters and drink pimms at Fairyhill Hotel.
Lovely uncrowded beach on the South Gower Coast. One mile walk from the nearest parking or bus stop. Approach down rugged cliff, warm sea and gentle tides - ideal for young children to learn to swim. No shops/pubs, so take your own picnic
Between Caswell and Oxwich bays.
Peaceful, inventive restaurant run by Hare Krishnas. Great food, yoga classes, astrology and aura readings, interesting gift shop but no preaching.
8 Cradock St
Tel: 0871 5292354
www.govindasvegetarianrestaurant.org
Stunning views over Swansea Bay, a 13th century castle, excellent restaurants, waterfront cafes and stylish shops - a little touch of the Riviera in South Wales!
8km from Swansea City center. www.mumbles.co.uk/
A Bohemian-style cafe overlooking Swansea marina - Jazz and Floyd drifting through the sails and masts and out over the bay... Excellent selection of coffees. Also, poetry nights and live music.
Front of National Waterfront Museum, Swansea Marina. www.coffeecesso.com/
Amazingly good value (small) B&B with gorgeously comfy rooms and luxurious bathrooms, friendly hosts and great breakfasts. In a nice area of Swansea. Highly recommended.
2 Mirador Crescent
Uplands
Swansea
SA2 0QX
Tel: 01792 480266
www.christmaspie.co.uk
12th century Cistercian abbey near Neath, approx. 6 miles west of Swansea.
As impressive, in its way, as Tintern Abbey despite the ugly industrial surroundings.
The vaulted undercroft is particularly worth the visit (but you have to ask for the key at the gatehouse as you enter).
And if you can get as far as Skewen (just up the hill) stop in at Cresci's Cafe for the best ice cream in South Wales!
Nearest station is Neath. All buses from Neath to Swansea stop in Neath Abbey.
An oasis of luxury in the heart of Swansea. Very friendly boutique hotel with fantastic food and a buzzy bar. Excellent local nightlife within a few minutes walk. Stylish individual rooms in a historic refurbished building.
www.morganshotel.co.uk Somerset place.swansea sa1 1rr 01792484848
Almost any beach will do but try Three Cliffs Bay for spectacular scenery or Oxwich Bay for miles of perfect, clean sand.
Just go there, the ice cream is well nice!
85 St. Helens Road Swansea West Glamorgan SA1 4BQ
A funked-up glass restaurant on the sea front in Swansea, Wales, run by Italians with Welsh accents and with home-made concoctions like tiramisu and pistachio flavour ice-creams.
This is the most beautiful, friendly, chilled-out place to relax and the staff are young, friendly, and attractive with a startling consistency - moody dark Italians mix with cheerful Welsh blondes as the cherry on top, though, of course, there are many cherries in the ice cream, should you wish.
A favourite among families, sundae-sharing couples and grannies treating themselves, a summer sundae there is divine, and the city lights shimmering over the sea at night make the old city look more magical than it looks close up, that's for sure!
Verdi's Restaurant
Knab Rock, Mumbles, Swansea, Wales, SA3 4EN
tel +44 (01792) 369 135
www.verdis-cafe.co.uk/frameset.htm
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