Holiday rentals in Aberaeron

Loved for the brightly coloured Georgian houses that sit on its harbour, Aberaeron is a handsome midpoint on West Wales’ dramatic coast. Designed in the early 19th century at the point where the River Aeron meets the sea, it’s a small, cosy town that has retained its grandeur. A walk around its quiet streets and Alban Square takes in cafes, boutiques, and independent shops selling Welsh art and gifts, while gorgeous, hilly landscapes burrow inland. Established restaurants also make Aberaeron a haven for foodies; honey is a speciality here, especially in the famous ice cream sold in the town. Wave-watchers will enjoy the two small beaches tucked away from the town centre: the Aberaeron North and Aberaeron South. Both are popular with windsurfers, body-boarders, and recreational sailors, and if you’re lucky, porpoises and dolphins will swim by you in the summer.

West Wales looks good in wild weather (a raincoat is never missed in your luggage) but summer puts its huge skies, craggy landscapes, and blue seas in the best light. Enjoy long days on Wales’ breathtaking Coast Path, and catch a boat tour, which runs from Aberaeron Harbour from June to September. On the water, you can spot crabs, lobsters, and coastal bird colonies up close, as well as those leaping dolphins and porpoises if you’re lucky. Aberaeron’s quirky summer festivals are also a treat. August brings the Aberaeron Festival of Welsh Ponies and Cobs, with dressage, showjumping, and equine fancy dress events, and the Mackerel Fiesta, which marks the end of the mackerel season with a funeral parade of a seven-metre-long papier-mâché fish, great food, and live music.

Llanerchaeron

Two miles outside town in the peaceful, wooded Aeron Valley, you’ll find this serene, National Trust–owned Georgian villa. An early work of the architect who designed Buckingham Palace and Marble Arch, it includes pleasure grounds, walled gardens, and an ornamental lake. A working farm thrives here too, with Welsh black cattle, rare pigs, sheep, geese, chickens, and doves.

Oriel Aeron Gallery

Located on Market Street, the town’s boutique-, pub-, and cafe-dotted thoroughfare, this cute independent gallery celebrates contemporary, ethical Welsh arts and crafts. It’s not just known for its lively, regular exhibitions, either: Local artists and designers also take personal commissions here.

Dylan Thomas Trail

Available from Aberaeron’s Tourist Information Centre, this trail journeys through a crucial time in the life of Wales’ most beloved poet. Dylan Thomas lived in Aberaeron’s neighbouring town, New Quay, in a gorgeous Jacobean farmhouse in the nearby village of Talsarn, in the 1940s; the tour also takes in his favourite places in Aberaeron itself. Don’t miss the Llanina Sands that he loved, five miles down the Wales Coast Path from Aberaeron. A cemetery lost to the sea nearby was an inspiration for one of his most celebrated plays.