Lodges with private hot tubs in Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire is almost all edge, and the national park follows that coast rather than any range of mountains. It takes in the cliffs, the offshore islands and the Preseli Hills inland. The lodges and cottages keep close to it too, so your first call is the stretch you want. It is a wide county and a car helps, but the right base still puts a beach and a stretch of coast path close by.

The Havens, St Brides Bay and St Davids

St Brides Bay takes a wide bite out of the western coast, and the two Havens cluster on its southern arm. Little Haven is a knot of old cottages around a slipway, and Broad Haven next door has the bigger family beach. Newgale and its long shingle bank draw the surfers a little further up, and Solva keeps one of the prettiest harbours in Wales beyond it. Haverfordwest, the county town, sits just inland for the supermarkets and the trains.

This stretch is the most central, and the one with the widest choice of stays. It is the closest you can be to the Marloes peninsula and the island boats, and it reaches the other way through St Davids to the rugged shore around Trefin and Porthgain. It is the all-rounder, and a good first base for almost any hot tub holiday.

The south coast

The south is the sheltered side, where the beaches face Carmarthen Bay and the sea lies calmer. Saundersfoot is the hub, a harbour village with sand in front and the coast path heading both ways out of it. West of Saundersfoot, Manorbier sits on the coast below its castle, with Pembroke a few miles inland below another, and the Stackpole estate and its hidden beaches between them.

This is the easiest coast for families, with gentle sand and the big-name attractions close together for a change from the beach. Most of the stays sit in the quiet lanes behind the resorts, a short drive from the sea.

The wild north

North of St Brides Bay, the coast turns wilder, the villages more Welsh-speaking, with high cliffs and far fewer people. Newport shelters under Carningli at the mouth of the Nevern. Fishguard drops down to a pretty Lower Town harbour, with the Irish ferry sailing from Goodwick next door, while St Dogmaels marks the northern end of the coast path on the Teifi. Strumble Head and Dinas Island give some of the finest cliff walking in Wales.

The quiet, dramatic end suits walkers and rewards a return trip more than a first one built around the busy beaches. The stays here are village cottages in the Preseli foothills and the Teifi valley, some big enough for a group, with the open coast a drive away.

Inland and the Landsker

Inland lies the Landsker line, the old border between the Welsh-speaking north and the English-speaking south. This is greener, quieter country than the coast. Narberth is the draw here, a hill town of independent shops, galleries and some of the best food for miles. The Preseli Hills rise behind it, the highest ground in Pembrokeshire and a world away from the sea, while Cilgerran guards a wooded gorge on the Teifi.

These are self-catering cottages in real countryside, not a holiday-park cabin row, and most are still within half an hour of a beach. For two, you get a genuinely private hot tub break, well away from the summer crowds. It is good value too, when the coast is booked out or you want the hills as much as the sand.

Dog-friendly, and big enough for everyone

Most of the stays take dogs, and Pembrokeshire is made for them, with miles of open coast path to walk. Worth knowing before you book: the busy resort beaches restrict dogs from May to September, but plenty of the quieter coves and the north-coast sands stay open all year. Much of the dog-friendly accommodation comes with an enclosed garden too, somewhere to let the dog loose after a muddy walk.

Bigger groups have the pick of farmhouse-scale cottages, the largest sleeping right up to eighteen. They are built for a gathering: room to spread out, a games room or two, even a cinema room or a pool, hot tub and all. They suit a family celebration or a three-generation week, with space to be together and quiet corners to escape to.

Beaches, boats and the bluestone hills

The coast path ties the whole county together, and you do not have to walk all 186 miles of it to get the best of Pembrokeshire. Pick a section near your base, take a coastal bus out and walk back, and that is the day made. Here is what else a week can hold.