Clarach Bay Holiday Village

As well as Clarach South, beach fiends can find Aberystwyth North and Aberystwyth South beaches within a couple of miles. The north beach has donkey rides and children’s entertainment in summer, and Aberystwyth South has The Harbour Trap, popular with (experienced) surfers and Constitution Hill: climb to the café and camera obscura at the top if you’re feeling energetic, or take the Cliff Railway during the summer months for sweeping views over the bay. Aberystwyth itself is a top spot for a day trip: as well as the seafront entertainment there’s the National Library of Wales to browse around, the Aberystwyth Arts Centre for theatre and live music, exhibitions and shows at the Ceredigion Museum, and access to a wealth of local walks and cycle routes including the Parc Penglais Nature Reserve and the Ystwyth Trail cycle path; the nearby Bwlch Nant-yr-Arian Forest Centre is a huge woodland site with activities, a shop and an information centre. There’s loads to keep the littlies amused too: workshops and craft goodies at the Corris Craft Centre near Machynlleth, going underground at the abandoned slate mines with the Corris Mine Explorers, or sailing through the subterranean waterfall at King Arthur’s Labyrinth.