Vale of Glamorgan
TUCKED between Cardiff and the Bristol Channel, the Vale of Glamorgan mixes sweeping sea cliffs with leafy lanes and handsome towns – a compact slice of south Wales that’s easy to fall for (and easy to reach). It sits immediately west of the capital and even has its own airport at Rhoose, making it a natural base for short breaks and coast-and-country escapes.
The star of the show is the Glamorgan Heritage Coast: 14 miles of dramatic Jurassic cliffs, rock platforms and tucked-away coves running from Aberthaw to Porthcawl. Walk it on the Wales Coast Path for sweeping views to Exmoor and north Devon, passing Dunraven Bay (Southerndown) and the handy Heritage Coast Centre above the sands. Keep an eye out for Nash Point Lighthouse, standing guard over the surf since 1832.
For classic seaside vibes, Barry Island’s Whitmore Bay delivers a broad crescent of golden sand, colourful beach huts and retro funfair rides – plus a dash of TV fame thanks to TV’s Gavin & Stacey.
Penarth, by contrast, is genteel and elegant: a Victorian pier, an Art Deco pavilion with events year-round, and a breezy waterfront that links into the Cardiff Bay Trail across the barrage for traffic-free walking and cycling.
Wildlife and heritage go hand-in-hand at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, a 100-hectare nature reserve with level paths and a reconstructed Medieval Village that brings 14th-Century life to vivid, hands-on reality.
Nearby, the National Trust’s Dyffryn Gardens unfolds in a series of ‘garden rooms’, arboretum and grand vistas – an Edwardian masterpiece in steady bloom across the seasons.
Families love Porthkerry Country Park on Barry’s edge: 220 acres of meadow and woodland running down to a pebble beach, overlooked by the mighty 19th-Century railway viaduct – the perfect backdrop to picnics, kite-flying and easy waymarked trails.
History threads through the Vale’s towns and villages. Llantwit Major is a gateway to the Heritage Coast and home to St Illtud’s, one of Wales’s most storied medieval churches. Just along the coast, St Donat’s Castle (today part of UWC Atlantic) occasionally opens for tours and events – its clifftop setting and layered past are the stuff of legends.
Cowbridge, a chic 13th-Century market town, rewards a leisurely browse with independent boutiques, cafés and delis. It’s also vineyard country: Llanerch pairs rooms and a restaurant with tastings among the vines, while nearby Glyndwr is proudly Wales’s oldest vineyard. Prefer a sharper tipple? Hensol Castle Distillery runs tours and a hands-on gin school in the cellars of a 17th-Century castle.
The Vale combines the best of south Wales in a small radius: coast walks and castle lore, garden days and sandy-toed hours on the beach, foodie towns and vineyard sunsets. Lace up for the Heritage Coast, hop on a train to Barry Island’s prom, linger over lunch in Cowbridge, and end with a pier-top stroll in Penarth. It’s varied, friendly and wonderfully unhurried – exactly the kind of place that keeps you coming back.
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