I am quite impressed that the Welsh have a word for accessible. This is almost as impressive as their word for microwave which is ‘poppety ping’, but I digress. We spent a week exploring South Wales in early September and found lots of places to go and things to see which are just fine for a wheelchair user.

Seaside and Beaches

One of my favourite things to do on holiday is to amble along the beach dipping a toe in the water and gazing out to sea, so it has always been a sadness that this is well nigh impossible in a wheelchair, without investing in a cumbersome all-terrain vehicle which needs to be transported to the beach, and rather detracts from the spontaneity. So it is a great joy that beach wheelchairs for hire seem to be springing up at seaside resorts all over the place, both in the UK and in Europe.

They are available at Saundersfoot

which is a pleasant laid-back sort of a seaside town with lots of parking in a big car park on the seafront. We had good crab sandwiches from a stall in the harbour and a decent pint of SA Brains at The Old Chemist Inn overlooking the bay, where staff were very welcoming to Hal.  Saundersfoot also has plenty tarmac surfaces to the water’s edge along the harbourside,  and an accessible sensory garden. Beach wheelchairs may be hired in advance: more information here.

Tenby is much busier, and much hillier, and parking is tricky, but don’t let that put you off because it’s a charming town with lots to explore. There’s an accessible bus from the car park in the lower town, but the car park at the south beach is probably best for wheelchair users. There’s an accessible path or boardwalk down to the sand, and quite a few mobility scooters were in evidence. Beach wheelchairs may be hired from here. If I am honest, I think there’s more that Tenby could do to encourage the purple pound, but I still liked it!

(Also that walk along the south beach is so worth it, if only for the MASSIVE dead jellyfish littering the shore – I felt much better about wimping out of swimming after seeing them).