Page 290 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

will take you upstream
to the Solva Woollen
Mill (%01437-721112; www. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE:
solvawoollenmill.co.uk; Middle ST DAVID’S DAY
Mill; h9.30am-5.30pm Mon- St David’s Day is to the Welsh what St Patrick’s Day
Fri Oct-Jun, 9.30am-5.30pm
Mon-Sat, 2-5.30pm Sun Jul- is to the Irish – a day to celebrate one’s essential
Welshiness, albeit somewhat more soberly than
Sep), which is the oldest
working mill of its kind their Celtic brethren from across the way. If you’re
in Wales on 1 March, there’s no better place to be
in Pembrokeshire.
than the saint’s own city, St Davids. All around the
4 p289 cathedral a host of golden daffodils explodes into
flower seemingly right on cue; people pin leek,
The Drive » You really can’t daffodil or red dragon badges to their lapels; the
go wrong on the 3-mile drive to
St Davids. Just continue west. streets are strung with flags bearing the black and
gold St David’s cross; and cawl (a traditional soupy
stew) is consumed in industrial qualities. Of course,
TRIP HIGHLIGHT the focus of more solemn events is the cathedral,
a St Davids where the saint’s remains lie in a recently restored
A city only by dint of its shrine, a replica of one which was destroyed during
prestigious cathedral, the Reformation.
pretty St Davids feels
more like a small town there’s a treasury and surf you’re after, head to
or an oversized village. historic library hidden broad, beautiful White-
Yet this little settlement within. Right next to the sands Bay (Porth Mawr).
looms large in the Welsh cathedral are the ruins Also not to be missed
consciousness as the of a spectacular medieval is Oriel y Parc (Landscape
hometown of its patron bishop’s palace (Cadw; Gallery; %01437-720392;
saint. www.cadw.gov.wales; adult/ www.orielyparc.co.uk; cnr High
GREAT BRITAIN 21 WEST WALES: SWANSEA TO ST DAvIDS
Fascinating St
Davids Cathedral (www. child £3.50/2.65; h9.30am- St & Caerfai Rd; h10am-
5pm Mar-Oct, 10am-4pm
4pm), an architecturally
stdavidscathedral.org.uk; Nov-Feb). interesting visitor centre
suggested donation £3, tours St David was born at and art gallery showcas-
£4; h8.30am-6pm Mon-Sat, St Non’s Bay, a ruggedly ing landscape paintings
12.45-5.30pm Sun) stands on beautiful section of coast from the collection of the
the site of the saint’s own with a holy well and a National Museum Wales.
6th-century religious set- cute little chapel, a short
tlement. Wonderful stone walk from the centre of 4 p289
and wooden carvings town. If it’s a swim or
decorate the interior, and

288