Carmarthenshire is often referred to as the “Garden of Wales”. It’s a place of wild rolling foothills peppered with medieval castles, ancient forests, golden coastlines and rugged mountains. Dylan Thomas loved it to the point of inspiration, and his relationship with the countryside draws many of the region’s visitors today — It’s hard to read his work without needing to see the landscape for yourself! The best places to stay in Carmarthenshire range from picturesque B&Bs to converted country mansions, as well as Dylan Thomas’s old favoured watering hole, Browns Hotel.
If Thomas has drawn you here, his boathouse, overlooking Carmarthen Bay, is the perfect place to start. His manuscripts, notes, and boiled sweets are all still here! After that you might want to explore the colourful seaside villages radiating out from the bay.
Inland Carmarthenshire offers a scattering of charming Welsh towns and villages, ancient forests and woodlands, and wetlands, leading towards the mountainous bulk of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Walkers will pass numerous ruined castles on hill crests, but we especially recommend Carneg Cenmen Castle in Trapp, and the castles of Laugharne, Llansteffan and Kidwelly, which all have magnificently fading medieval and Norman architecture. There’ll be an opportunity to canoe or kayak the rapids of the River Teifi en route, or explore the wetlands.
Almost all the recommendations on our list of the best places to stay in Carmarthenshire are well priced. But the only reason this region isn’t more popular, and thus more expensive, is that visitors must be keeping quiet about it on their return, because Dylan Thomas was definitely on to something!