Getting from London to Pembrokeshire Coastal Path by Train
There are several ways you can reach Pembrokeshire Coastal Path from London – you can drive there, take a bus, or take a train.
The last time I went there, which was just a couple of weeks ago, I took a train.
How to get there by train
The trains to Pembrokeshire (Wales, UK) are running from Paddington Train Station (West London, W2 1HQ). The nearest spot to the coastal path which is still on the train line is a small market town called Haverfordwest. I have chosen this station to travel to for three reasons:
- it is only about 4 miles away from the coast and the Coastal Path
- the public transport from the town to the coast is fairly frequent
- the accommodation there was 3 times cheaper than on the coast itself.
Getting such a good value for money for my accommodation, I decided to stay in Haverfordwest for 4 days.
Firstly I booked the return train ticket online from the website thetrainline.com. The total cost of the return ticket was £87 (about 122 $)
This was the off-peak return ticket and the cheapest available for the dates I was looking for. I got an email from the Trainline company informing me of my train journey is booked and I can print the ticket at any ticket machine in any train station in London. I was emailed the ticket collection reference with info to collect my tickets using the payment card used for the booking from any of the over 1700 stations with a ticket machine. They reminded me that that was my booking confirmation email, and I still need my tickets to travel.
On the day of the departure, we collected our tickets from Paddington and departed by 11:15 train to Cardiff. We arrived at Cardiff Central train station at 13:20 and changed trains to Haverfordwest departing at 13:40, and arriving at our destination at 16:05. The change was easy, just crossing from one platform to another. The whole journey took us just under 5 hours with one change. From the train station in Haverfordwest, we took a taxi to our accommodation, which was about 1 mile away. We tried to book an Uber ride but there were no cars available. The cost of the taxi ride was £3.5o.
Haverfordwest to Pembrokeshire coastal path
Once we arrived, we started organizing a trip to the coast for the following morning. As we were there in April, at the very beginning of tourist season, the buses to the coast were not as frequent as usual.
The following morning we got up and ready, took our daypacks, and walked to the main bus station in the town (about 5 min walk from the train station) to double-check bus timetables and options.
As we planned the next 3 days of hiking along the Coastal Path (check my list of hiking essentials), we decided on the first day to do St Bride’s Bay walk from Newgale to Broad Haven. We took the 9 am bus route 411 from Haverfordwest to Newgale, a small coastal village with just about 20 houses facing the huge and beautiful pebbly beach.
It took about 20 minutes to ride to reach Newgale. The driver stopped right next to the Newgale beach and showed us directions from there. Within seconds we were already on the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coastal Path!
Once we reached Broad Haven, walking for a whole day along the fantastic St Bride’s Bay, we took a 5 pm bus route 311 back to Haverfordwest.
The bus ticket cost us £3.20 and within 15 minutes we were back in the town. The driver was kind enough to stop just for us at the closest point to our accommodation. Later on, we realized that all bus drivers around the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park stop along the road if you wave to them. Very cool and handy!
Following two days we did similar day trips to St David’s and Solva Lower for another two days of wonderful hiking along the Coastal Path. On both occasions, we took again buses on route 411 and it worked very well for us. I can recommend this route to anyone.
Getting back to London
On the day of our departure from Pembrokeshire, we took the 11:20 train from Haverfordwest to Newport where we changed (very easy, as it is the same platform!) for a train to London. We were back home by 16:30. The journey was perfect. I am looking forward to doing it again soon!