What? A picnic at St Davids Bishop’s Palace and afternoon exploring the rugged local coastline

Where? St Davids, Pembrokeshire

Cadw site to see: St Davids Bishop’s Palace

Most ‘Instagrammable’ spot: the entire palace is bursting at the seams with Instagram-friendly spots, but firm favourites include the exquisite Bishop’s Hall Porch complete with its medieval Gothic steps and the iconic wheel window, located in the east wall of the spectacular great hall.

Now a ruin, St Davids Bishop’s Palace still retains signs of its former grandeur. Its lavish architectural decorations and striking chequerboard stonework are all testament to the wealth and status of the site and its former residents. Boasting a prime location within Britain’s smallest city, St Davids, the peaceful site is the perfect place to enjoy a midday picnic. 

Head down to the Bishop’s Palace to enjoy your picnic on one of the site’s several picnic benches — which are embedded with family board games. When exploring the site, keep an eye out for the beautifully designed wheel window in the east gable and make sure you climb to the top of the central courtyard stairwell to secure an impressive view of St David’s Cathedral — the final resting place of Wales’s beloved patron saint, Saint David.

Walk off your lunch by taking a forty-five minute stroll to one of the most beautiful beaches in the UK, Whitesands Bay. Or, if the children fancy an afternoon on the water, walk along the Pembrokeshire coast for a further twenty minutes until you reach St Justinian Lifeboat Station. Here you can jump on board a vessel for an exhilarating Voyages of Discovery boat trip to Ramsey Island.

A protected haven for wildlife, Ramsey Island also boasts dramatic sea caves, narrow rocky gorges and 400ft cliffs, some of which are among the highest in Wales! If you’re lucky, you may even spot a family of seals hauled up on the island beaches.