A Weekend in Mumbles
Let us take you on a weekend trip to Mumbles. In our 3-day itinerary, you’ll have the chance to explore some of Swansea Bay’s most stunning natural landscapes and experience the coastal village of Mumbles. From coastal walks to castles, pub lunches to night time gin bars, there’s no shortage of things to see and do on a weekend in Mumbles.
Nestled on the southern coast of Wales, is the quaint coastal village of Mumbles. The area is home to picturesque beaches, breathtaking coastal walks, and its very own castle. Mumbles and the Gower Peninsula offers stunning scenery, friendly locals, and plenty to do, whether you’re a nature lover or a city dweller.
Pack your bags, grab your walking boots, and join us for a weekend adventure in Swansea Bay!
Day 1: Arrive in Swansea Bay and Head to Mumbles
Travel to Swansea Bay: Swansea Bay is accessible by public transport and by car. With direct trains running from London Paddington to Swansea, you can reach the city in approximately 3 hours. Swansea Bay and the cute village of Mumbles are accessible in a short, 20-minute bus ride from Swansea city centre.
Lunch at The Green Room: On your first day, after arriving at Swansea train station, head over to The Green Room Bar and Kitchen in Swansea’s new COPR Bay area for lunch. They source their produce locally and aim to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible. There are good vegetarian and vegan options. Their tomato and basil soup of the day was delicious and Luke chowed down on a cracking pesto tofu on sourdough.
Arrive in Mumbles: After lunch, hop on the number 2 or 2C bus along Swansea Bay to reach Mumbles. This cosy village has bucket loads of character and charm, and is quite a contrast to Swansea city’s industrial, urban landscape.
Check-in at The Oyster House: For your accommodation, we highly recommend The Oyster House in Mumbles. This boutique hotel, restaurant and bar is located on the seafront and the rooms have stunning views across Swansea Bay and Mumbles. The tastefully decorated rooms include plush, comfortable beds, rainmaker showers and sliding doors opening out to sea views. Even better, there’s no road between you and the sea! We loved our stay here and the friendly staff took great care of us.
Walk Along the Promenade and Feast on Pub Grub at The Oyster House: Work up an appetite with a walk in the fresh air along the beautiful promenade which leads to Mumbles’ Victorian pier and lighthouse. It’s about an hour walk to the end and back, so perfect for a pre-dinner jaunt. Come back and snuggle into a nook at The Oyster House for an evening meal there.
Day 2: Explore Rhossili Beach and the Gower Peninsula
On your second day, take a bus from Swansea Bus Station to Rhossili on the Gower Peninsula, which is the UK’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This was our favourite activity of our weekend in Swansea Bay. It is honestly unmissable if you’re in this beautiful corner of South Wales!
Hike Worms Head: Spend the morning hiking across the causeway to Worms Head, a long stretch of headland accessible only during low tide. It’s about a 2-hour hike/scramble across a rocky causeway which is exposed when the tide is out. As you approach, there’s a sign signalling the times between which it’s safe to head out.
Once we reached the headland, we were excited to see seals lounging and swimming off the coast. We joined a few other hikers to quietly watch them from the clifftop. Then it was on to the awesome Devil’s Bridge. Its angular opening in the rock is really unique and we’ve not seen a rock formation like it anywhere else.
Lunch at The Lookout Cafe: After the hike, head to the warm and welcoming The Lookout for a hot Gower coffee or Welsh Brew Tea and a chunky roast veggie sandwich. The rosy-cheeked women serving coffee and food are amongst some of the nicest you’ll meet. We snuck a few freshly made Welsh cakes for a snack on the beach later too.
Explore Rhossili Bay: Spend the afternoon exploring Rhossili Bay, which has been voted one of Britain’s Best Beaches for four years running and we can see why. The views from the cliff tops above are stunning and its breadth is majestic. If you’re lucky, you’ll also see wild Welsh ponies up on the cliffs too.
Take the path down onto the beach for a meandering walk across the sand. You’ll also see the historic Helvetia shipwreck from 1887 lodged in the sand. The Gower Peninsula was a smuggling hotspot during the 18th and 19th centuries, and the area has many shipwrecks from unlucky vessels caught on stormy seas.
Fill Your Boots with Pasta and Ice Cream: In the evening, head over Verdi’s Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlour in Mumbles, for big plates of pasta and ice cream sundaes. This is a real family joint with plenty of holidaying and local families filling up on carbs and sweet treats.
Day 3: Discover Oystermouth Castle and the Gower Coast Path
Browse Local Shops in Mumbles: On your final day, take some time to explore Mumbles itself. We had a slow breakfast and enjoyed some local coffee, before we had a browse of the lovely Gower Gallery which is stocked with local arts and crafts inspired by the seascape. The Lovespoon Gallery on the high street has a huge collection of love spoon designs from Wales’ best carvers. Have you heard of love spoons before? Their Welsh gifts given as tokens of love and affection – how sweet is that!
Visit Oystermouth Castle: Built atop a limestone crag, Oystermouth castle sits majestically on a hill overlooking Mumbles and – you guessed it – has the best views over the village and the bay. Take the opportunity to join a guided tour of the castle and learn about its history. Originally built in the 12th century, there’s quite a lot to tell. Our castle guide, Haydn, had some fantastic ghost stories and theories about the castle’s origins and residents over the years. The castle is open from April through to October with special events throughout the year.
Pub Lunch: Mumbles is home to a handful of pubs making it a perfect spot for a pub lunch. The Dark Horse in Mumbles is an independent bar and kitchen. They use locally sourced ingredients and offer a good brunch and lunch menu, including vegetarian and vegan options.
Walk the Gower Coast Path: In the afternoon, take a walk along the Gower Coast Path, part of the Wales Coast Path network. From Mumbles, follow the promenade path to the end. Curve round the hill where the lighthouse is into Bracelet Bay. From here, continue on to Limeslade Bay for ice cream (run and raisin all the way) and then to Langland Bay. For the energetic hiker, carry further on to Caswell Bay.
We headed round to Langland Bay where the heavens opened. We took shelter under a green and white beach hut and watched the surfers in the bay bobbing on the swell. Come summer, the bay makes for a great picnic spot (there are not many cafes in the area). The route from Mumbles to Langland Bay and back took us around 2 hours including a 20-minute stop in Langland.
Hit the Rooftop Gin Bar: Not to be missed in Mumbles is the ultra fun rooftop Gin and Juice. By day, it’s a brunch spot with fantastic views over the bay from an enclosed glass-windowed terrace. By night, it really comes alive as a loud, lively, low-lit bar where you’ll find all of the cool cats. We feasted on a dinner of freshly baked bread and garlic butter, olives, roasted cauliflower and a veggie burger with chips. It was the best meal of our trip!
For drinks, the real highlight is an extensive gin menu that any aficionado would be impressed by. There’s a section dedicated to Welsh gin and we sampled the local Gower gin, which was delicious. I highly recommend the GŴYR Rhosili gin which comes packed with lemon wedges. Beware: a tentative warning about the GWYR Rhosili ‘Dragon Strength’ gin which packs a punch at 60%. This bar is the perfect finish to a weekend in Swansea Bay.
Enjoy your weekend in Mumbles and Swansea Bay!
This is our 3-day itinerary for a perfect weekend in Mumbles and Swansea Bay. Thank you to Visit Swansea Bay who invited us on this press trip to Swansea Bay. Whilst this was a press trip, all opinions expressed are our own.
