Ceredigion Coastal Path 4 - Llanrhystud to Aberaeron

With a nice day forecast and the garden not needing any urgent maintenance, we jumped at the opportunity to walk another section of the coastal path. 

Now moving further from home, we have to consider how we are going to get to the start point and return home again. Very kindly, the Welsh Government has provided free buses on certain routes at the weekend so a lot of consideration is going into trying to utilise these services.

For today, we decided to take the car to Llanrhystud and to catch the bus back from Aberaeron to the car.

Heading off out of Llanrhystud we walked down towards the beach, stopping to admire the straight ploughing lines in the adjacent field.

From here the path followed the beach boundary - walking on the stones was not a pleasant experience, but fortunately it did not last long as we were soon diverted back into a field.

The lime kilns just past Llanrhystud came as a surprise, having lived in Aberystwyth for over 40 years, it is good to know that there are still places on the doorstep that offer new things to see!

We got a bit lost in Llanon, the path signs were not very clear, and we ended up retracing our steps up and down the impressive metal stairs from the pebble beach to the upper path.  (For those also walking from Llanrhystud to Aberaeron, you do not climb these unless diverted by the flooded river.)

Another pleasant surprise came in the form of Aberarth village.  Having driven through it along the main road hundreds of times, this was the first time we have actually entered the village itself.

The only thing I could see that stopped it being "idyllic" (as the property programmes say) is the lack of a village pub.

It was another flattish stroll from Aberarth through to Aberaeron, finishing as we started, with a walk along a pebble beach.

As expected it was a relatively easy walk, the only hill we climbed did not prove to be difficult or lengthy:

The final stats from my GPS recorder:

Distance 13.3km
Duration: 3:30
Moving Time: 3:15
Calories: 1267
Ascent: 120 meters