Walk 18: Burry Port to Kidwelly

After a lovely sunny walk from Loughor to Burry Port the previous day, the weather was on our side once again for our walk from Burry Port to Kidwelly. This one had some highs and some lows, with some lovely views intermingled with our first experience of Carmarthenshire’s cows!

Although we usually tick our public transport off before we start a walk, as there is a good train service between Burry Port and Kidwelly, we decided to leave our accommodation in Burry Port on foot, walk to Kidwelly, and get the train back at the end of the day.

We started our walk at the finish point of our previous walk – Burry Port Marina, where we continued along the Millennium Coastal Path, a 13-mile Sustrans cycle route from Bynea to Pembrey Country Park, which provided us with nice, easy walking the previous day and offered us the same for the first leg of this walk. As we walked along a gravel track, I enjoyed the sight of the shadows of the flowers at the edge of the path dancing on the track.

After a short distance, we reached the end of the Millennium Coastal Path at Pembrey Country Park. I puffed my way up a small but quite steep mound and back down past a dry ski slope, before we continued along a road which took us onto Cefn Sidan Sands.

Cefn Sidan Sands was the first beach in Wales to achieve blue flag status, and has even been described as one of Europe’s best beaches. The beach was lovely, with views across to Worm’s Head and plenty of people enjoying the sunny day.

We continued along the beach for a short stretch, before spotting a Wales Coast Path sign which took us back inland and around an MOD site, through Pembrey Forest. Bar the loud noises from Pembrey Circuit, this was a nice stretch, with the trees offering some much-appreciated shade.

The final leg of the walk was less pleasant. While I’m a big fan of cows when they’re on the other side of a fence to me, I am a bit fearful of walking through fields of them. And this isn’t unjustified – in fact, somebody was severely injured in this exact spot just last year. We initially had to walk through a small area full of cows grazing. We had to go through the herd, incredibly close to them, and it was very nerve-wracking!

Filled with relief that we had made it out unscathed as we passed through the gate on the other side, we then discovered that the next part of our walk – along a path with marshland below – was also home to lots of cows. We were walking along a raised track and most of the cows were below it, a fair distance away, so this didn’t feel as intense as the previous section, although we did have to carefully walk past a cow who was grazing on the track. Thankfully, we got through unscathed – although I did accidentally step in a cow pat as I was navigating the cow on the path – but it’s so sad to me that not everybody does. I don’t blame the cows – when they hurt people, they are acting out of fear – but I just wish there was more fencing along footpaths to prevent these kinds of tragedies.

Once we’d passed this section, we had a bit of road walking, before turning off onto a path which took us alongside Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal to our end point, Kidwelly Station. The train station was tiny, with just one platform and signage which directs customers to indicate to the train driver if you want a train to stop for you. We had a short wait, so sat at the station and had our lunch, before signalling to the driver and getting on the train, which took us back to our car in Burry Port. Apart from the cows, we had a lovely sunny walking weekend, and were now well and truly in Carmarthenshire!

🥾 Distance: Ten miles.

⭐ Highlight: The beautiful Cefn Sidan Sands.

👎 Less Good: The cows – walking should not be a deadly sport!

🚗 Transport: We walked to Kidwelly and caught a train back to Burry Port.

🛏️ Accommodation: We drove home after this walk.

🌱 Food: We stopped off at Swansea Bay Pop-Up for some food on our way home.

🗺️ Map: This route is featured in the official Carmarthen Bay and Gower guide.

Still not convinced? Read my ten reasons to walk the Wales Coast Path. If you’re ready to start planning your walk, you can find lots of resources to help you on your way here. Please note, I collect a share of the sales from the links on this page.