3 day trip in South Wales , advice needed.

Rushy

Well-known member
UKGSer Subscriber
Joined
Feb 2, 2003
Messages
13,347
Reaction score
122
Location
Cheshire ....somewhere on my bike
Hiya, looking for a bit of advice.

Me and a buddy apre determined to explore South Wales as it's an area we don't know , over 3 days in September .

I have to plan the route this tiime as he normally does it on our trips .

Day 1 I have a route planned they Shropshire , Hereford and Worcester area then taking in some of the Brecons and down to the Brecon Mountain Railway, up past the 2 reservoirs and Brecon for lunch . We are then going to do the Black Mountain loop before heading west to Haverfordwest . Overnight there and Day 2 exploring some of the roads in the area as per Simon Weirs Bikers Britain book. Overnight in Haverfordwest again.

Day 3 will be the Élan Valley area , lots of choices on how to best head home after there but should be straight forward .

Now here is the question. Are we right to head west after the Black Mountain loop at the end of day 1 and explore the Pembrokeshire coastal area or are we making a mistake by missing out the Rhonda Valley area. There seem to be a hell of a lot of twisties on the map down there. Maybe we should head down there for Day 2 and then head home thru Carmarthenshire , Lampeter and into the Élan Valley ?
 
Hi Rushy,

Really wouldn't bother with the Rhondda as the Bwlch and Rhigos are not that good unless you want to link to the M4 at Port Talbot or Bridgend.

A4069 Llangadog to Upper Brynammon is good.
 
Thanks for that . If we don't go south to the Rhonda then we will be Coming in from Brecon (after doing a bit of a loop to take in the Brecon railway and the 2 reservoirs first) and then taking the A4067 down to Ystradgynlais and the A4068/4069 up to Llandovery. ( the black mountain loop ) .

After that it looks like a mostly fast A road / dual carriageway run to Haverfordwest .We will have done about 350 miles by the time we get there for the night . In Simons book he has 2 loops out of Haverfordwest so as we don't know the area we might as well just do one in the morning (133 miles ) and one in the afternoon (115 miles) .

Last Day will be a run up and around Elan , North Wales and then home for about a 400 mile day .....
 
Don't know the Ride route your taking, but if your by the lakes (Elan valley) try to do the A44 into Aberystwyth. Lovely piece of flowing tarmac. In fact the A44 from Worcester right to Aberystwyth is pretty good.

Have a good un.
 
Hi Rushy,

Really wouldn't bother with the Rhondda as the Bwlch and Rhigos are not that good unless you want to link to the M4 at Port Talbot or Bridgend.


Rhigos road has major roadworks on it and is subject to closures.


A4069 Llangadog to Upper Brynammon is good.

cracking road but unfortunately now has a 40mph limit along its whole length.
 
I believe the Rhigos is open again and the Llangadod to upper Brynammon is a 50 but still nice to ride
 
Sorted out Day 1 and Day 2 but stil not sure about how to fill in Day 3 . Setting off from Haverfordwest we plan to take In some new and interesting roads up to the Elan valley and explore some,of the unclassified roads around that area before heading up North Wales/Shropshire and back home to East Cheshire.

We know quite a lot of the roads around North of Aberystwyth / Llandrindod Wells .

Really looking for a good route from Haverfordwest to the Elan

Was thinking B4329 North onto A487 to Cardigan. Do we take the A487 further up to New Quay before heading inland? We will have already done Cardigan to Carmarthen on the A484 on Day 2.


The B4343 from Lampeter to Tregaron looks like a fun road .

Any suggestions welcome ! :thumb
 
Sorted out Day 1 and Day 2 but stil not sure about how to fill in Day 3 . Setting off from Haverfordwest we plan to take In some new and interesting roads up to the Elan valley and explore some,of the unclassified roads around that area before heading up North Wales/Shropshire and back home to East Cheshire.

We know quite a lot of the roads around North of Aberystwyth / Llandrindod Wells .

Really looking for a good route from Haverfordwest to the Elan

Was thinking B4329 North onto A487 to Cardigan. Do we take the A487 further up to New Quay before heading inland? We will have already done Cardigan to Carmarthen on the A484 on Day 2.


The B4343 from Lampeter to Tregaron looks like a fun road .

Any suggestions welcome ! :thumb

cymystwyth rhayader to devils bridge is scenic!
 
Lampeter to Tregaron A485 is also a good road which runs parallel to the B4343. B4343 is a nice road but not outstanding.

You can catch the remainder of the B4343 from Tregaron to Pontrhydfendigaid and up to Devils Bridge.
 
Me I would do this
Haveafightwest towards Marloes to Dale to Herbrandstone, Milford, Neyland, Pembroke, head towards Tenby (bear left off A4139 at sharp right hander onto The Ridgeway, Tenby, Saundersfoot, coast road to wisemans bridge, Marros, Pendine and onto ,,Laugharne.
St Clears, Carmarthan, Llandeilo (find secret Ice cream shop mmmmm m) Tally (superb Rollacoaster road) B4302 to A482 right towards Llandovery (take small C road to Rhandirmwyn) onto Llyn Brianne reservoir, oh yes. Onto Abergwesyn, Beulah, B4358 to Newbridge on Wye and Rhayader. Smoking run that. May take you 4 hours but a cracker.
A mix of everything sea views and twisties.
 
Haveafightwest :clap:D

Thanks very much for that Allan . We will be doing quite a bit of what you suggested up to Laugharne but in reverse on Day 2 . In fact we are doing a big figure of 8 on Day 2 that covers most of the coast roads then in land and a loop around from Cardigan down to Laugharne and back to HVWest pretty much as per your route.

On Day 3 , the run home, I am Planning on taking in the Lyn BriAnne reservoir after TregArron and then as you suggested on to Beulah from Lllandovery Will type up what I have so far for Day 3 in a bit.

Cheers for the input guys :thumb
 
cymystwyth rhayader to devils bridge is scenic!

Yep, will include that :thumb

Lampeter to Tregaron A485 is also a good road which runs parallel to the B4343. B4343 is a nice road but not outstanding.

You can catch the remainder of the B4343 from Tregaron to Pontrhydfendigaid and up to Devils Bridge.

Ok , Thanks for the info, might switch to the A485 then instead. Cheers :thumb
 
Day 3 route home looks like this

Haverfordwest take B4329 & A487 to Cardigan
Leave Cardigan taking A487 & B4333 to Aberporth (pretty town/beach)
Leave Aberporth and take A487 & A486 to New Quay (might have a look around)

Leave New Quay on B4342 east to Ystrad Aeron then right onto A482 to Lampeter
Just south of the town turn left onto B4343 to Tregaron
At Tregaron turn right (east) onto unclassified road
After approx 4 miles take right fork onto unclassified road to Lyn Brianne Reservoir
After approx 3.5 miles take next right to run down past reservoir to Ystradffin
Then continue on unclassified road to Llandovery ( lunch stop?)

Leave Llandovery on A483 to Beulah
At Beulah turn left onto B4358 then left onto A470 to Rhayader
In Rhayader turn left onto B4518 to Elan Village
Stay on unclassified road thru the valley past the lakes/reservoirs to Devils Bridge

Leave Devils Bridge on A4120 then right onto A44 then A470 to Llanidloes

Leave Llanidloes on B4518 North to Llanbryn - mair then right onto A470 for 2 miles to Talerddig
Turn left ono unclassified road north to Pen-Y-Bont
Then take B4395 to LLanfyllin thenOswestry , Whitchurch , Nantwich and home
 
On the B4329 do a right at Crosswell and head For Blaenffos, turn right off the A478 onto the B4332 to Cenarth Falls http://www.visitpembrokeshire.com/explore-pembrokeshire/towns-and-villages/cenarth/
is a nice detour on the way up to Cardigan. A cracking B road with no surprises.
Love photos stop too at Cenarth. Shame to miss it if never been before.

Am that way from Cardiff on Saturday/Sunday I hope.

Also in Llandovery try here https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...x486fad1bce0759cb:0xccb759d2517d94fa?hl=en-gb
Instead of the West End cafe for a change
 
Thanks Allan, we are going to do Cenarth now on Day when we do a big figure of 8 of some of the better roads in the area.

Thanks for the tip about the cafe in Llandovery .

:thumb
 


Back
Top Bottom