Ceredigion Coastal Path 1 – Aberystwyth to Llanrhystud

This summer we set ourselves the goal of walking the Ceredigion Coastal Path.  Not on consecutive days, but over the course of the summer as the temperamental Welsh weather permits.  

Conveniently, the official website lists the walk over seven stages . . . so when Sarah’s university friend Samantha chose a fantastic weekend weather-wise to visit, it seemed like a good opportunity to kick start part 1 of the 60 mile walk.  

We settled on Aberystwyth to Llanrhystyud as none of us had done this before and it seemed to offer an interesting challenge – we were not disappointed!  

Having parked the car at Tanybwlch, we loaded up our rucksacks and headed off towards the daunting Alltwen hill:

The climb itself was not as formidable as we were expecting (helped perhaps by a couple of sturdy Leki walking poles purchased to help Sarah up the hills!)  Having got to the top we all agreed it was easier to climb than it would have been to descend – walking poles or no walking poles!

The view from the top did not disappoint, and in the absence of a café serving cake, it was a satisfactory reward for the effort.

I’d like to say that this was the lion's share of climbing along the walk, but from the GPS profile below you can see this was not the case, however it was by far the steepest climb.

Carrying on along the coast we came to the remote location of Ffos Lâs. It is pleasing to see that someone is taking the time and effort to restore it.  

(We think this was the house where Mathias had his caravan on Hinterland, the detective 'Welsh noir' drama filmed around Aberystwyth.)

Next stop was near Monk's Cave where we had a bite to eat and Samantha was able to refuel on tea!  I visited Monk's Cave over 20 years ago and remember being able to walk down to the sea.  This photo (found online) was taken 11 years ago - no sign of this feature can be seen today, it appears coastal erosion has taken its toll and the only way down now would be to abseil!

It was a surprise to come across the Penderi Cliffs nature reserve. 

On this occasion we did not enter the reserve to see the hanging oaks - maybe next time as it certainly looks an interesting place to visit and it will give us an excuse to do the walk again!

Sarah didn’t take too kindly to these narrow exposed paths with the steep drops, although the local sheep didn't seem to mind too much.

The stunning views along the way (and probably the thought of a refreshing cider in the Black Lion, Llanrhystud) kept both Sarah and Samantha motivated and moving along though!

Towards the end of the walk, the wind started to pick up and it clouded over, but this did not take away from the enjoyment of the day.  

Journeys end, the caravan site at Llanrhystuyd and the long awaited pub – which sadly we never got to visit due to bus times.

When we arrived back in Aberystwyth, not to be robbed of their cider reward, Sarah and Samantha headed to the Ship and Castle, while I walked back to Tanybwlch to collect the car.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable first stage to our Coastal Path walk and one which we we may well revisit.

The final stats from my GPS recorder:

Distance 16.7km (10.4 miles)

Duration: 6:00

Moving Time: 4:30 (I spent a lot of time waiting for Sarah and Samantha to catch up!)

Calories: 2240

Ascent: 605 meters