If you’re a sucker for a charming market town, particularly one that boasts independent boutiques, an artsy atmosphere, and a bakery that’s worth the journey, I have the perfect place for you
If you’re a fan of quaint market towns, especially those that feature independent boutiques, an artsy vibe, and a bakery worth travelling for, then Cardigan (or Aberteifi in Welsh) ticks all these boxes. Nestled on the west coast of Wales, this historic port town is often overlooked, but it truly deserves more recognition.
It’s the gateway to the Teifi Valley and both the Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire coastal paths, making it a perfect base for exploring this breathtaking coastal region. Senior journalist Portia Jones recently visited this beautiful town and it’s safe to say she’ll be back.
Cardigan is the second-largest town in Ceredigion and it’s a cultural hotspot, having transformed from a significant 18th-century Atlantic seaport into a trendy, artistic sanctuary brimming with theatres and galleries.
Portia said: “Cardigan is the second-largest town in Ceredigion. It packs a punch culture-wise, having transcended from a significant 18th-century Atlantic seaport to a swish, artsy enclave with theatres and galleries. It’s fast becoming one of my favourite spots for a weekend break for excellent eats, coastal walks and a spot of culture. As I’m now in my history era, it’s also grabbed my attention with its rich heritage and handsome stone castle. Found on the bend of the River Teifi, Cardigan has a long and varied history.”
Henry VIII bestowed Cardigan with its charter in 1543; by the 18th century, it had emerged as southern Wales’s most significant seaport. It flourished with a thriving herring trade and shipbuilding sector, whilst its merchant vessels carried fish, slate, bricks, tanning bark, grain, and beer, reports the Express.
The town’s rich past is mirrored in its diverse architecture, where Georgian structures can still be found, including the renovated Castle House and authentic 17th-century archways.
Now, it enjoys a lively small-town character with specialist shops, an independent bakery, a renowned hotel, and designated coastal paths that guide you along the breathtaking coastline.
Despite the active community’s many draws, it hasn’t gained the fame of beloved tourist spots like Tenby or the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
This could be down to the Cardigan Bay area remaining one of Wales’s most forgotten coastal regions, tucked between the eye-catching beauty of Pembrokeshire and the Llyn Peninsula. In 2023, Time Out magazine even dubbed its main town, Cardigan, the “most underrated” spot in west Wales.
Here, tourists can experience Wales at its most authentic, hopping between secret bays to spot dolphins, trekking the coastal path and savouring hot fish and chips in charming fishing villages. Ceredigion, with its comparative isolation and the proud, determined spirit of its communities, has long been a stronghold of Welsh language and heritage.
Here, visitors can delve into historic fortresses, shop for regional handicrafts, and savour local cuisine at food festivals.
Cardigan is the main hub in this region and serves as an excellent base for exploring the Ceredigion coast. Known as the birthplace of the Eisteddfod, Wales’s leading cultural festival, the town has always been a hub for storytelling, music, and art.
Wandering through its streets, you’ll find charming cafes, pubs, and a thriving selection of independent shops and businesses.
The beautifully restored Cardigan Castle, the first stone castle built by a Welshman and the site of the inaugural Eisteddfod in 1176, sits at the heart of the town.
This ancient Norman fortress, originally rebuilt in 1244, underwent a £12 million refurbishment in 2015, restoring its status as the town’s crowning glory.
With a history that spans over 900 years, the Castle has weathered numerous fierce power struggles between Wales and England. Today, it stands as a vibrant heritage site featuring a museum, restaurant, open-air concert venue, and Grade II-listed pleasure gardens.
According to Discover Ceredigion, the Castle also holds cultural significance. Lord Rhys hosted the first recorded Eisteddfod, a festival of music and poetry, to celebrate the Castle’s completion.
This competitive arts festival is a uniquely Welsh tradition that thrives locally and wherever Welsh communities are found.
Portia said: “After stomping the castle grounds, I always head for my favourite cafe spot – Crwst. This swish Cardigan cafe and deli has garnered a cult following for its banging brunch and bakery items and has also caught the eye of food writers.Founded by husband and wife Osian and Catrin Jones, it is a swish 80-seater cardigan cafe and deli that attracts customers from miles around. Five years ago, a married couple decided to pack in their jobs and make a living out of what they loved doing the most: baking and drinking coffee. Crwst is the happy, bricks-and-mortar result of this foodie journey.”
Following their 2018 debut, this enterprising couple has expanded their operation and culinary brand, securing a second location at Poppit Sands at the beginning of the Pembrokeshire coastal trail, where they offer Crwst’s most sought-after pastries, frozen treats and beverages.
The Cardigan establishment remains consistently crowded after earning recognition in the Good Food Guide. Visitors flock there for its delectable meals and freshly prepared baked items, featuring sourdough breads, brioche donuts, and cinnamon spirals.
The Cardigan venue also presents an appetising brunch selection with offerings spanning from harissa halloumi sandwiches to pancake towers and Turkish-style eggs, earning rave critiques from culinary journalists.
Portia’s recommendation is the french toast. She said: “My personal favourite, though, is the rum and Banana French Toast, loaded with brule banana streaky bacon and topped with creamy Barti Rum Caramel ice cream. It’s sweet and salty goodness with a lovely rum kick, which is exactly what you want at 10 a.m.”
Beyond baked goods, there’s a wealth of dining options in and around the town, as The Financial Times has hailed Ceredigion as a ‘hotbed of culinary wizardry’.
The piece highlighted the vast range of top-quality dining establishments on offer throughout the county and the food scene surrounding Cardigan town. This encompasses bakeries such as Crwst and Bara Menyn, the Brat supperclub at Ffrorest Ffarm, Caws Teifi, and Llys Meddyg, situated just across the border in Newport, Pembrokeshire.
Retail therapy represents another key attraction of the region. Whilst it’s not an enormous scene, Cardigan features a modest collection of shops and boutiques selling crafts, surf gear, and books.
The majority of stores and enterprises are positioned along or just off High Street and further up on Pendre, with numerous shops at Black Lion Mews off the main thoroughfare.
Cardigan’s indoor market serves as the retail focal point, housed in the historic Guildhall building. Initially functioning as the town’s meat and dairy marketplace, the two-storey market hall now operates as a thriving shopping destination for residents and visitors alike.
Featuring over 50 stalls operated by independent local merchants, it provides a remarkable selection of goods and gifts. Despite its quaint size, Cardigan is a hub of artistic activity, boasting two theatres and a plethora of music venues dotted around the town, including the Castle grounds.
Theatr Mwldan Arts Centre, nestled in the heart of Cardigan, is an impressive cinema complex with three fully digital screens, making it the only truly independent multiplex in Wales.
The centre also accommodates a gallery and café, and serves as the headquarters for Gwyl Fawr, the town’s Eisteddfod, which hosts a variety of concerts and competitions in music, literature, and dance.
In addition to Mwldan, St Mary’s, a Grade II-listed church dating back to the 12th century, serves as the main venue for the November Other Voices festival concerts, featuring contemporary Welsh musicians of international acclaim. A medley of smaller venues, from cellar bars to art galleries and bakeries, contribute to the vibrant atmosphere along the festival’s music trail around town.
Nearby, Small World is an eco-conscious theatre company that creates giant puppets, public events, and art commissions. This wildly inventive, near-zero-carbon space hosts family-friendly events such as children’s theatre shows featuring live music and puppetry.
For a truly unforgettable experience, Cardigan Castle hosts a variety of performances. The Castle’s breathtaking surroundings provide the perfect backdrop for choirs, bands, opera performances, and concerts.
Beyond the town, there’s a wealth of exploration opportunities as Cardigan Bay stretches over 129 miles, from Bardsey Island off the Llyn Peninsula in the north to the rugged headland of Strumble Head in the south. It’s home to Europe’s largest dolphin population and its nutrient-rich waters serve as a haven for wildlife, including seals and seabirds.
For those with a passion for wildlife, this is considered Europe’s top spot for dolphin sightings, especially when skimming across the waves on an adrenaline-pumping RIB excursion through the bay’s choppy waters.
You can book a reasonably priced Bay Explorer boat trip with local experts, ‘A Bay to Remember’. Setting off from nearby St Dogmaels, this hour-long adventure takes you along the coastline on high-speed RHIBs, where your seasoned captain will be on the lookout for wildlife.
This was one of Portia’s favourite wildlife expeditions, and she managed to snap numerous breathtaking photos of seals and seabirds.
As you speed across the waves, you’re likely to see herring gulls and razorbills flying overhead and perched on rocky ledges. Your vessel will also sail past Mwnt, a sandy cove that’s one of Ceredigion’s best spots for dolphin encounters, so keep your eyes peeled for those distinctive dorsal fins slicing through the water.
These rapid boat trips also reach secluded, pebble-strewn bays where Atlantic grey seals lounge contentedly on the rocks. These year-round inhabitants are readily recognisable thanks to their distinctive heads.
Their scientific name actually translates to “sea pig with a hooked nose.”
The Ceredigion Coast Path, a 60-mile section of the 870-mile Wales Coast Path, represents a walker’s paradise. It provides some of the most varied terrain and vistas along the entire route, from gentle dunes and sandy bays to dramatic cliffs and exposed promontories.
This waymarked trail can be split into seven achievable segments, each concluding in a town or village offering lodging and transport links.
You can also opt to complete the entire route over a week or pick shorter segments, such as New Quay to Aberaeron or the 11.7-mile section from Cardigan to Aberporth.
Remarkable highlights en route include the striking Mwnt headland, Birds Rock’s avian life, the tidal island of Ynys Lochtyn, and the expansive Ynyslas dunes.
Wildlife encounters are common; watch for bottlenose dolphins, seals, and even porpoises along the stone-scattered cliffs and inlets.
The path starts in Cardigan at its southern terminus, where the Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire Coast Paths meet. This ancient town, formerly the biggest port on Wales’s western shore, gives its name to Cardigan Bay.
A bronze otter sculpture, positioned beside a harbourside wall bearing verse by local author Ceri Wyn Jones, signals the official beginning of the route. As you leave the town, the route takes you along the north bank of the River Teifi, past farmland and the likely location of the original wooden Cardigan Castle, hastily built to control river and sea access.
The journey carries on past the Cardigan Golf Club and the Victorian-era Cliff Hotel, once part of a grand scheme to turn this coastline into a rival for Brighton.
From there, it’s a picturesque clifftop stroll towards Aberporth, offering expansive sea views and a coastline dotted with caves, sea stacks, and rock formations bearing intriguing local names like Hatling Bigni, Pen Peles, and Pencestyll. These rocky landmarks were once vital reference points for sailors navigating this wild stretch of coast.
Planning a weekend stay?
The town and surrounding area offer a range of accommodations, including hotels, B&Bs, cottages, and campsites. You can compare prices and book on Airbnb and booking.com..
Portia’s top hotel choice is conveniently situated right in the town centre. Tucked away on the riverside in Cardigan, The Albion Aberteifi blends nautical charm with maritime design.
Just four months after its grand opening, The Times and The Sunday Times named it the Best Place to Stay in Wales 2023. This stylish spot is the latest venture from the team behind Forest.
Each en-suite room is reminiscent of a captain’s cabin, featuring reclaimed wood-panelled walls, 150 year old oak floors, Welsh wool blankets, bespoke furniture, and river views from every window. Breakfast is served in the relaxed resident lounge, where you can also enjoy evening cocktails and daytime coffee and cake.
Yr Odyn restaurant, famed for its weekend dining in the guest lounge, is soon moving to a stunning new riverside location nearby. Just across the river, a short walk will lead you to fforest’s Pizzatipi and the cosy Smwglin pub.
