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Best Things To Do On Gower | Outdoor Guide

Want to get as much outdoor time as possible out of your weekend? Try the Gower peninsula

Best view in Wales if not the UK. Seriously, the view towards the three cliffs of the eponymously named bay in Gower is a cracker. That’s potentially closely followed by the view from the cliffs themselves, as I’ve just found out. I’m stood on the very top of the stegosaurus-like spine having just climbed 40m up a gulley in the golden coloured limestone from the beach below. The sun is setting at speed and the tide seems to be moving in at equal pace. Two riders galloping through the shallows cast long shadows along the golden sand, heading westwards along Oxwich Bay, soon to be small silhouettes at the other end of the 4km beach. I catch our climbing guide, Simon of Gower Adventures, paused and taking in the view for a moment as well. Clearly, despite coming out here with groups most days, for him, it’s a view that doesn’t get old.

Head West: London To Gower

I’m stuck in the city these days, in London I’m sorry to say. That place where ‘getting away from it all’ requires training, and experience. I think I’ve just about got it all nailed down now though. The core of my strategy, the technique I’ve honed, is to commit most of my annual leave to one big outdoor trip, like a hike along the length of the Cambrian Way, or the Snowdonia Slate Trail; one of those long escapes where there’s enough time to fully slow down and refocus. Alongside this – and this is a crucial part of it – I’ll also fill up as many weekends as I can with little trips that keep me sane until that big trip comes along. These, shall we say, appetisers, have included many a trip to the South and North Downs, sometimes the New Forest, but I’ve also realised that you can get a bit further. As far as the beautiful Gower peninsula for instance.

The UK’s first area to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Gower is one of Wales’s gems; a place of globally award-winning beaches, vast dune systems, and an interior that mixes moor and ancient woodland. Reached from London in around four hours by car, and a similar time by train and a short bus (head to visitswanseabay.com for useful travel info), it’s perfectly feasible to enjoy a weekend here without having to go through any logistical nightmares (all going well), as I found out.

Setting off from London straight after work, my partner Hannah and I arrived at our room at the King’s Head of Llangennith in reasonable enough time to enjoy a pint of Gower Power, and a good night’s sleep ahead of the next day’s events. There were a number of other activities we were hoping we to try, the climbing at Three Cliffs being just one of them. Just how much could we fit in over two days?

There’s More To Gower Than Beaches Apparently

Early the next morning, before our afternoon of climbing, we’d booked into some lessons in woodlore with Andrew Price of Dryad Bushcraft. If the apocalypse ever arrives, this is the guy you want to be around.

In the few hours we spent on the taster session I probably quadrupled my bushcraft knowledge. Andrew knows a hell of a lot about the woods and how to survive in it. In fact, he took us on a walk to point out some of the different types of plant life on the woodland floor and we only made it about 20 metres. With his infinite knowledge he just had too much to talk about.

One useful little trick Andrew showed us, and I’ll remember this, was how to make your own highly effective tinder igniter. Called char cloth, basically all you need to do is stick a bit of fabric into a tin box with a tiny hole in it, before putting said box into a fire. It’s the same process as making charcoal. We stopped short at the lesson in deer butchery. Something for our next visit perhaps.

The World’s Best Beach?

The next morning, we had just enough time for a little mini adventure on a guided walk led by Dave from Gower Activity Centres. He took us along the headland, right along the tip of Gower to Worm’s Head (you can’t leave Gower without going here to see the iconic view of Rhossili Bay), then up and onto the hilltops which lean right over the beach here.

A couple of years ago, an Australian journalist published an angry article protesting against the inclusion of the beach here – and the absence of any Australian ones – in a travel magazine’s ‘Top 10’ list of the world’s best beaches. Apparently, after being invited by the local tourist board to see Rhossili for himself, he was won over and ate his own words. So there you go, Rhossili = better than Australia apparently.

“I always leave weekends such as this thinking, well that was easier than I thought…”

Off the hill, and back to the car after 6 miles walked, then it was time to make our way back down the M4, to London, to the grind, and that overcrowded train I have to take every day.

I always leave weekends such as this feeling refreshed and thinking, well that was actually much easier to do than I thought. And it’s a reassurance.

We’ve all got these abstract objectives we’re chasing during our week, and it’s only when you break out of your routine that you’re able to take your mind off them and instead focus on some more immediate, clearer and much simpler tasks – like getting to the top of that big old cliff to see what the view is like. After that, those things you’ve been stressing over seem much less significant than they seemed.