Billy Edwards has a bountiful crop of suggestions for where you can go and what you can do in the great Welsh outdoors for spring activities, from working farm holidays to flower walks, secret sites to cultural days out.
Go on a working farm holiday
ABBEY FARM GLAMPING
Abbey Farm, Rhuddlan, bookings open Fri 29 Mar

If you feel your activities in the Welsh countryside could do with some more glamour this spring, get ready to glamp near cows and sheep on this relatively new site, which opened in 2021. Swapping tents for ‘larch pods’, they feature underfloor heating, an ensuite bathroom, and even a wood-fired hot tub. Rhuddlan Castle, an imposing presence above the River Clwyd, is only a short walk away, too.
Price: £130-£160 per night. Info: abbeyfarmrhuddlan.co.uk
NANTGYNFAEN ORGANIC FARM
Llandysul, Ceredigion, bookings all year round

A homely destination in West Wales with an organic twist. Stay in a farmhouse with its wooden fittings produced onsite, alongside wildlife such as rabbits, owls, and chickens. Respondent in fresh flowers, the farm is dedicated work for its owners. One fun activity could be a walk from Moylegrove down to the New Quay, famous for its bottle-nosed dolphins.
Price: £145 per night. Info: organicfarmwales.co.uk
DOLGELYNEN
Machynlleth, Powys, bookings all year round

A working sheep and dairy farm in Snowdonia, overlooking the river Dyfi – a great place to start a spring hike. Run by a Welsh-speaking family, the emphasis on this quiet farmhouse is tradition, sporting a breakfast with local produce and homemade preserves. Revise your knowledge of the region with an impressive collection of books, maps, and magazines. Milk doesn’t come much fresher.
Price: £50-£80 per night. Info: dolgelynenfarmhouse.co.uk
TREBERFEDD FARM HOLIDAY COTTAGES
Dihewyd, Lampeter, booking all year round

An array of pretty cottages over 20 acres of woodland. It’s a little village, with its very own licensed bar with local brews and a pizza oven. What’s more, it’s run by a wind turbine and solar panels. A country retreat happily suitable for families, too – there’s a playground, climbing wall, and an opportunity to feed the farm’s animals. Perfect spring activities for the whole family.
Price: £124 per night. Info: treberfedd.co.uk
DENMARK FARM
Lampeter, Ceredigion, Sat 25 May-Tue 1 Oct

Sustainable farming techniques first-hand, in a rustic and quiet location. Biodiversity is key at this eco-campsite, based on a conservation centre. They’ve sorted self-guided trails, which take you to a variety of habitats they look after. You can even get your hands dirty yourself with practical workshops. With very little light pollution, the night sky is touted as particularly awe-inspiring.
Price: £14 per night. Info: denmarkfarm.org.uk
Take a flower walk
THE PEMBROKESHIRE COAST PATH
Llanrhian, Pembrokeshire, open all year

The first ever National Trail in Wales, these paths take in rocky coastline perfect for bluebells in May. Start at Porthgain’s dedicated walking car park and you’ll be sure to pass heather, gorse and bracken on the way to Whitesands, a popular surfing beach. Be also on the lookout for thrift: the official (and very pink) county flower.
Info: pembrokeshirecoast.wales
CORS GOCH NATURE RESERVE
Llanbedrgoch, Anglesey, open all year

In the spring, wetlands nature-spotting are pivotal activities at this North Wales Wildlife Trust site. Amongst a shallow valley purified by lime-rich water, you’ll be able to find the rare pale dog violet and marsh gentian. Due to its acidic heathlands, orchids are plentiful. Say hello to several ponies and cattle, which graze the soil for adder’s-tongue fern and green-winged orchid.
Info: northwaleswildlifetrust.org.uk
PAXTON’S TOWER
Llanarthney, Carmarthenshire, open all year

Built in 1811 as a tribute to Admiral Lord Nelson, around this tower is a great view of the Towy Valley and a meadow of “green hay” maintained by Welsh Water. Full of wildflower seeds, in the spring it becomes a rainbow, from cat’s ear to yellow rattle – a semi-parasitic plant which counters grass and upholds a vibrant meadow.
Info: here
ERDDIG
Wrexham, open all year

Behind this expansive estate, one can discover a fully restored 18th-century garden. There’s enough room for daffodils, tulips, evergreen clematis, cherry blossoms, hyacinths and snakeshead fritillary to rub shoulders. It’s home to a rare and historical assortment of apples, pears, plums and apricots, such as the 15th-century Bon Chrétien d’Hiver pear and Edelsborsdorfer, an apple from the following century.
Price: £9.50. Info: here
DINEFWR
Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, open all year

The first parkland National Nature Reserve in Wales features some of the oldest trees in Britain, dating to over 400 years old. It’s well-known locally for its bluebell display on Rookery Ridge, and the herd of fallow deer which roam the park. Fungi fans are spoilt for choice, with beefsteak fungus, entoloma and hygrocybe to be found.
Price: £9. Info: here
Discover a secret sites
FOREST OF BORTH
Borth, Ceredigion

A decade ago, an ancient petrified forest was discovered as tree stumps and plants under this beach. It has since been theorised as Cantre’r Gwaelod: a Welsh Atlantis.
Info: here
PENTRE IFAN
Nevern, Pembrokeshire

This is a ‘dolmen’ – these 17-foot stones are the bare bones of a burial chamber made during Neolithic times, dated 3500 BC and likely even a thousand years older than Stonehenge. Spooky!
Info: here
LLANGERNYW YEW
Conwy

This ancient tree, 4,000-5,000 years old, is associated with a ghostly spirit called Angelystor; every Halloween, it speaks a prophecy foretelling the names of parishioners destined to die.
Info: here
ASH DOME

A ring of 22 ash trees planted in 1977 by sculptor David Nash as conceptual work. Details of its location, beyond being somewhere in north Wales, is a total secret.
Info: theashproject.org.uk
LLYN BARFOG
Tywyn, Gwynedd

Meaning ‘the bearded lake’ because of the thick vegetation around its edges, this small tarn is where King Arthur once battled a monster called the Afanc, as legend has it.
Info: here
MAEN LLIA
Brecon Beacons, Powys

A 12ft, diamond-shaped Bronze Age monolith of a stone. If you’re passing by and you hear a cock crow, the stone is alleged to drink in the River Nedd.
Info: here
CULVER HOLE
Gower Peninsula

A large cave built in the 13th century and sealed behind a 60ft stone wall. Its use is often touted as a secret tunnel for pirates and smugglers.
Info: atlasobscura.com
LONGWOOD WOODLAND THEATRE
Lampeter, Ceredigion

An outdoor stage constructed by timber in 2003, which has interestingly been reclaimed by nature since the pandemic. You can also find some atmospheric angels and spirits carved into the trees.
Info: here
CARN GOEDOG
Eglwyswrw, Pembrokeshire

Modern chemical analysis has discovered the small bluestones in Stonehenge originate from this rocky outcrop, once a Neolithic quarry site. How they got to Wiltshire is a total mystery!
Info: here
CASTELL ABERLLEINIOG
Beaumaris, Anglesey

Built in the late 11th century, this Norman fortress was once submerged by the Lleiniog woodland and a lagoon for trading ships. It has since been carefully restored by local archaeologists.
Info: here
Cultural days out for the whole family
LAMBING & LAMBCAM
National Museum Of History, St Fagans, Fri 1-Fri 22 Mar

When spring arrives, this farming team springs into action. Throughout the month are hands-on experience days caring for pregnant sheep and their lambs, not to mention a #Lambcam online livestream.
Tickets: £150. Info: Lambing / LambCam
DOLAUCOTHI WALKING TOURS & MINE YARD EXPERIENCE
Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire, from Wed 20 Mar

The only known Roman goldmine in the UK, the National Trust organises tours through Dolaucothi. In operation again in the 18th and 19th centuries, it’s two archaeological trips in one.
Tickets: £6-£12. Info: here
THE BIG SCIENCE PROJECT: THE CHEMISTRY OF DYEING WOOL
National Wool Museum, Llandysul, Carmarthenshire, Tue 26 Mar

An educational event which endeavours to teach its visitors the rich history of dyeing wool. With microscopes, modelling kits and red cabbage juice dye, it’s a novel introduction to chemical processes.
Tickets: FREE. Info: here
THE SPLENDIFEROUS SCIENCE OF ROALD DAHL
National Waterfront Museum, Swansea, Sat 6 Apr

Literature and chemistry combine as BBC Bitesize presenter Jon Chase examines the science behind the beloved children’s author and his often outlandish fiction. What would you need to fly a peach?
Tickets: £6.50. Info: here
A TASTE OF WALES: SPRING FESTIVAL
National Botanic Gardens, Carmarthenshire, Sat 27 + Sun 28 Apr

The garden will play host to a range of stalls, sporting food and drink, local arts and crafts, as well as live music, a dog agility course and circus lessons.
Tickets: £16.85. Info: here
words BILLY EDWARDS