Wales — Pembrokeshire, coastal walking + beaches
Snowdonia gets the mountains; Pembrokeshire gets the coast, and it’s the part of Wales most first-time visitors skip entirely. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path runs 186 miles around the county’s edge — nobody needs to walk all of it, but even a single day’s stretch near St Davids delivers sea cliffs, wildflowers, and Atlantic grey seals without a single crowd.
St Davids itself is the UK’s smallest city (technically a city by virtue of its cathedral, population under 2,000), built around a 12th-century cathedral tucked into a valley specifically so Viking raiders couldn’t spot it from the sea — a detail that tells you everything about how old this coastline’s story is.
Beach-wise, Barafundle Bay and Broad Haven South regularly rank among the UK’s best despite requiring a short walk in — which is exactly why they’re not overrun.
Sephari’s Outdoors & Country Living collection has the walking boots and wind-shells this coast path earns its reputation for requiring.