Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 0845 371 9135;
www.yha.org.uk
; dm/r from £10/32)
Worth special mention for its spectacular loc-
ation, this former lifeboat station is as close as you can get to the sea without sleeping on
the beach itself. Cosier than your average youth hostel, its attractive lounge has sea views
and is well stocked with board games.
Culver House
( 01792-720300;
www.culverhousehotel.co.uk
; Port Eynon; apt from £99; )
A welcome change
from B&Bs, this 19th-century house offers eight modern self-contained apartments with
TVs that double as computers, plus dishwashers, laundry facilities and continental break-
fasts delivered daily to your fridge.
APARTMENT
££
TOP OF CHAPTER
Rhossili
Saving the best for last, the Gower Peninsula ends spectacularly with the 3 miles of
golden sand that edges
Rhossili Bay
. Facing nearly due west towards the very bottom of Ire-
land, this is one of Wales' best and most popular surfing beaches. Indeed, it was recently
voted Britain's Best Beach and 10th best in the world. Access to the beach is via a path
next to the Worms Head Hotel, across from the NT car park in Rhossili village. When the
surf's up, swimming can be dangerous.
The beach is backed by the steep slopes of
Rhossili Down
(193m), a humpbacked, heather-
covered ridge whose updraughts create perfect soaring conditions for hang-gliders and
paragliders. On the summit are numerous Iron Age earthworks, a burial chamber called
Sweyne's Howe and the remains of a WWII radar station. At its foot, behind the beach, is
the Warren, the sand-buried remains of an old village. At low tide the stark, ghostly ribs of
the
Helvetica,
a Norwegian barque wrecked in a storm in 1887, protrude from the sand in
the middle of the beach.
The southern extremity of the bay is guarded by
Worms Head
(from the Old English
wurm,
meaning 'dragon' - the rocks present a snaking, Loch Ness monster profile). There
is a four-hour window of opportunity (two hours either side of low tide) when you can
walk out across a causeway and along the narrow crest of the Outer Head to the furthest
point of land. There are seals around the rocks, and the cliffs are thick with razorbills,
guillemots, kittiwakes, fulmars and puffins during nesting season (April to July).
