South Wales is a cracking destination to hire a Campervan for a holiday. It has a stunning coastline with a mix of long sandy beaches and small smugglers’ coves. Indeed, Rhossilli Bay is so good that it is considered to be in the top 10 best beaches in the world! Many of the beaches in south Wales are long, sandy, and often deserted, unlike the south coast of the UK. Pendine Sands is so long that it was used for the land speed record attempt by Malcolm Campbell in 1924. On a clear sunny day, he reached 146mph in his car Blue Bird. Not something we recommend you try in a Campervan when you are in south Wales!
The sandy beaches, the waves, and the surfing all make it a great destination for a campervan trip. Our last trip to South Wales was in May 2019 when we enjoyed some surfing in Rhossili. We were lucky with the weather and had some beautiful clear blue sky days on the beach. Rhossili is about 2 miles long and I think there were less than 150 people on the beach when we were there.
How to get to South Wales in a Campervan
We drove to Wales early on the Saturday morning of the Easter Bank holiday weekend. Travelling from London, the trip out to south Wales is a long drive along the M4 to J47 where you join the A483. From there you take the A4216 on to the A4118 and then through the lanes to the coast and the campsite.
Where we stayed in South Wales
We stayed at Pitton Cross campsite about 2 miles from Rhossili Bay. It’s a nice little farm that has been in family ownership for over 300 years. The facilities are good, the showers are hot and they have a combination of grass and hard standing pitches. We have previously stayed at the Three Cliffs campsite which is only a few miles away. Again another lovely site with good facilities, but not as many flat pitches for campervans. There is a lovely little beach just around the corner from Three Cliffs called Pobbles Bay that great for a picnic. Both sites are only a short walk to the beach where you will find sand, rock pools and caves.
Recommendation of what to see/do when you are there
If you are planning a trip to South Wales, you really must visit Rhossili Bay. The view from the cliff top is simply stunning and there is a café, pub and ice cream shop. If you want to stretch your legs you can walk down to the “Worms Head” which is an outcrop of land that stretches out in to the sea. We walked around the cliff and spent a lovely hour watching seals bobbing up and down in the waves.
I would recommend booking a surfing lesson if you haven’t tried it before. The waves off the Atlantic on to Rhossili are a good size and there are plenty of surf schools that provide tuition.
If you travel a few miles back towards Swansea Oxwich Bay is lovely and the food in the restaurant next to the beach is very good. There is plenty of parking on the beachfront for your campervan. You can hire canoes and surf boards on the beach and we saw people taking a boat trip on a Rib.
A friend of mine recommended Barafudle Bay which is a bit further around the coast. Having looked at his pictures of the beach, it looks like a good recommendation.
