August Cottage Holidays in Wales
Summer holidays in Pembrokeshire will give you memories you'll never want to forget
August is the ultimate time of year for a cottage holiday in Wales and it’s easy to see why. The days mainly consist of dry sunny warm weather and with the abundance of wonderful Welsh beaches we have here in Pembrokeshire, there really is no better place to spend this month.
Of course, summer holidays are the main event of August with schools out for the entire month so you’ll see families flock in their multitudes to the Pembrokeshire coastline with the plan of spending their week-long breaks sunning themselves on the beach.
During this summer month, we also have the chance to attend some epic annual events. There’s the three-day Pembrokeshire County Show, Aberjazz Music Festival, the Cardigan River and Food Festival, Caldey Swim and the Edge Festival.
Coastal Cottages Wales Cottage Holidays in August
Create unforgettable memories with a summer holiday in Pembrokeshire. Sun, sand, sea - this Welsh county has everything you could want and more!
Pembrokeshire Summer Holidays
Everyone knows that summer holidays are mostly associated with beach breaks. After all, what better place to bask in the sunshine than on soft golden sands with the hypnotic sound of the waves flowing? Here Pembrokeshire, you can relax in the knowledge that many of our beaches are so fantastic, they are award-winning. Yes, beaches across our coastline are often awarded the Blue Flag Award and/or the Seaside Award acknowledging them as beautifully clean spaces with superb facilities and great water quality.
So what should you do when you visit these Pembrokeshire beaches? Well, the possibilities are endless! Bring along your picnic blanket for a spot of sunbathing (responsibly with sun cream always) and an alfresco lunch, or pack up a bag with all of the beach games you can carry. Enjoy a game of catch on the dog-friendly beaches, have a friendly game of rounders or see how far you can throw a frisbee.
Spend your mornings paddling in the shore with your toddlers or challenge the children to a sandcastle competition to see who can build the biggest. If you need something a little more adventurous, try your hand at any of the many watersports the locals adore. Can you successfully ride the waves or steer a power kite as you surf? Work those arm muscles as you kayak, leap from rocks as you go coasteering or strap on your oxygen tank as you dive to the underworld paradise.
Take a break from the beach in favour of an adrenaline-fuelled day and take the whole family to Oakwood Theme Park for a day of rides and family fun. Expect exhilarating rollercoasters, splashy water slides, ghoulish rides and calmer, more child-friendly adventures too.
The wooden rollercoaster, Megafobia, has been a favourite at Oakwood for over 20 years whilst Vertigo is the tallest swing in the UK. Chase your pals through the Witch Hunt maze, brave the 100 ft drop on Drenched, scream “Arrr” on board the swinging Pirate Ship and take a leisure paddle on the Boat Lake. Go for a spin on the Dizzy Disk, toboggan downhill on the Bobsleigh and take the little ones for a visit to Neverland at Tink’s Flying School.
If beaches and rollercoasters aren’t quite your style, perhaps you’d prefer a day out at Carew Castle? Take a free tour around the fascinating historical fortress originally built by Gerald de Windsor around the late 11th Century and enjoy a walk around the 23-acre millpond towards the only restored tidal mill in Wales.
Explore the wonderful wildlife at Carew Castle, a recognised Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), where you might spot bats, owls, blue tits and shelducks to name a few. During the summer months, this National Park Authority-run castle is known for hosting family activities and even outdoor theatre - you might be able to catch an open-air performance of Shakespeare.
The Pembrokeshire County Show
No matter the weather, locals, farmers and holidaymakers attend this event in their crowds making it easily one of the areas most popular events with attendance numbers of more than 100,000 year on year. Run by the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Society, the Pembrokeshire County Show takes place Tuesday to Thursday in mid-August at the Haverfordwest County Showground.
Cemented in the Pembrokeshire calendar for many years, the Pembrokeshire County Show has taken place at its current location since 1959 and celebrates Pembrokeshire’s long-standing agricultural industry. At the show, you will discover farming machinery of all shapes and sizes on show alongside livestock, shopping stalls and fairground rides.
Three show rings offer the chance to watch show jumping, stunt shows, dressage, prize cow competitions and vintage tractor runs, as well as rugby sessions where you children can join in and receive top tips from the Scarlets. The Food Hall houses local companies and food vendors offering delicious snacks, hand-made ice cream, freshly cooked turkey rolls and more. There is also an arts and crafts hanger showcasing materials made by members of the local Young Farmers Clubs along with live music and radio stations on stage throughout, as well as dog agility shows for the canines.
The Edge Festival
A relatively new addition, the Edge Festival has quickly become a must-visit event during the summer season. Taking place in the stunning harbourside village of Solva just a short drive from St Davids, the Edge Festival usually runs during the first weekend of August and is a celebration with something to suit all.
This weekend-long festival hosts live entertainment with many local bands taking to the stage, recent years have even seen a Battle of the Bands take place. Incorporating art, literature and outdoor activities; the volunteer-led Edge Festival has been known to organise football competitions, a sea swim from the harbour, poetry recitals and storytelling in previous years.
Browse the food and drink stalls for delicious delicacies from the local region and let the little ones play on the bouncy castles. Make sure to take a stroll through the harbour during your visit and take in the pretty views of the boats moored in the port.
Caldey Swim
Brought to us by the same team who organises the Tenby Boxing Day Swim on North Beach, the Caldey Swim is a challenging open water swim from Tenby to the nearby island of Caldey. It takes place on a Saturday in the middle of August, always with a back-up date scheduled in case the conditions are unsuitable.
Records show that there has been sea swimming off and on from Tenby shores to Caldey for the last century or so, but the Caldey Swim as we know it today was revived by the Tenby Sea Swimming Association in 2013.
Nowadays this event is used as a charity fundraising, raising money for the Tenby RNLI and Tenby Surf Link which play a vital role in the local town. It is a 2.5-mile swim which has attracted 70+ participants in recent years with funds of £3000 raised.
Cardigan River and Food Festival
Founded over twenty years ago, the Cardigan River and Food Festival combines the popular summer event of a food festival with a celebration of the old river industries Cardigan was once famous for. This one-day event takes place on a Saturday in late August when the weather is glorious and the season is well underway.
A jam-packed day, you can expect over 50 producer stalls and street food vendors offering mouth-watering refreshments plus cookery demonstrations, kitchen workshops and chef talks. A schedule of river activities is at the heart of the festival with canoe rides, kayaking tours, RNLI demonstrations and duck races. You will even get to see a coracle race using the spherical-shaped boats frequently used in the area for fishing.
The Cardigan River and Food Festival is a great family-friendly event with live entertainment from a professional DJ, dance groups and local bands as well as a fun-filled party for the children, recently held at Cardigan Castle in the centre of the town.
Aberjazz Music Festival
How to spend August Bank Holiday in Pembrokeshire? At the Aberjazz Music Festival of course. For more than 15 years now, the waterside village of Fishguard in north Pembrokeshire has hosted an annual music festival dedicated to celebrating jazz and blues music.
Each year during August’s long weekend, Fishguard becomes awash with musicians and live entertainment as every-day establishments across the town are converted into idyllic music venues for five days of intimate performances. Places like the café Ffwrn, the bar Peppers and the local cinema-house Theatr Gwaun have each hosted gigs in previous years with jazz duos, blues bands and musical quartets playing.
A highpoint of the weekend has to be the Aberjazz Parade throughout the streets of Fishguard where a procession of performers marches to the Fishguard Town Hall playing their brass instruments creating a melody of jazz to fill the air.
