Mumbles and the Gower are fantastic for little ones. Endless beaches, castles, ice cream and lots of rainy day places in Swansea.
Beaches
Langland Beach Huts
The best beaches for kids are Langland 15-20 min walk or 5-10 min drive or Caswell 10 min drive - both are lovely and have rock pools and safe sandy beaches. There are surf lessons, showers & toilets at Caswell along with 3 cafes. Langland has a couple of places to eat one being the fab Langland Brasserie but pre-book this espeically at weekends. Also wise to check the surf report before heading to these beaches as they can be flat as a pancake or have big waves! Right next to Langland is Rotherslade which is actually the first beach you come to if walking up and over from the cottage. There’s also a cafe here with toilets, rockpools and lovely sand when the tide is out.
Rotherslade Beach
Three Cliffs is a beautiful beach, a 15 minutes drive but a good 20 min walk from Gower Heritage Centre. Kids love it though as it has caves and rock pools and the walk there is interesting with stepping stones, castle and cows!!
Three Cliffs Beach
We also swim/paddleboard from Mumbles when the tide is in… there are a couple of launch places about 5/10 minutes walk from the house or a small beach behind the pier.
Oxwich is a 25/30 minutes drive and has all the watersports - paddleboard hire etc. And a Michelin restaurant if wanted a real treat! Oxwich Beach House gets booked up so pre-book if fancy it. They also do boat trips from here - we saw dolphins in the summer. Gower coast adventures This is an easy beach with kids as you can almost drive up to the sand!
Rhossili & Worms Head is a must too - 35/40 minutes drive world-famous huge sandy beach - great views from the Worms Head Hotel pub garden or the Bay Bistro - a few other places to eat too. Huge National Trust carpark.
Surfing is best on Llangennith which runs into Rhossili - park at the Hill End Campsite which also has a great cafe - loaded fries are yum! The Kings head pub in Llangennith great too.
Another pub on the North of Gower which is great for kids is the Brittania Inn, it has a great beer garden with playground over looking salt marshes and yummy food.Britannia Gower
Land Train
The Swansea Bay Land Train runs along the prom at weekends from May to September.
Lido
The kids Lido is based at Blakpill about 20-30 minute walk along the prom towards Swansea, or there is also a big carpark. There is a cafe and park here and sandy beach in front.
Crazy Golf
A very old fashioned crazy golf course can be found in South gardens - 5-10 minute walk along the prom or Mumbles road.
Tennis
There are free tennis courts just by the new hotel along the front - 5 minutes walk away. Tennis rackets are kept under the stairs in the cottage.
Pier, Arcade & Bowling
Mumbles pier has a popular amusement arcade and is a 20-30 min walk away. There is also a small bowling alley above the arcade. The lifeguard station at the very end of the pier often opens for visitors too and has a small shop. The pier has a couple of places to eat too.
Crabbing & Fishing
You can go crabbing and fishing on the Quay when the tides in - crabbing bucket & net are normally left in our front garden.
Castles
Our nearest castle is Oystermouth, just a 5 minute stroll from the cottage. It often puts stuff on for kids https://swansea.gov.uk/oystermouthcastle
Oystermouth Castle
The next closest castle is Pennard overlooking the famous Three Cliff Beach. Further around the Gower is Weobly Castle that often puts on events and has a pop-up outside cinema in the summer months. Weobly Castle
Ice cream
Joe’s Ice cream & Verdi’s in Mumbles both have delicious ice cream and sundaes etc. Forte’s is another local ice cream kiosk around by Limeslade Bay. The Big Apple ice cream kiosk, a mumbles legend - is based up the steps from the Pier - seasonal.
Pottery Painting
Pottery painting at Craftsea is perfect for a rainy day or they even let you paint outside in the South Gardens.
Kid-Friendly Restaurants
Most local restaurants are very kid friendly but these particularly work well with kids:
Castellamare Restaurant a good 30 min walk either along the front and round or up and over is a great one for kids with playground nearby.
Bistro Pierre is nice and big and has a kids menu. 4 minutes walk away at Oyster Wharf. There’s also Croseo Lounge & Prezzo at Oyster Wharf which are other decent options. Gin & Juice, the rooftop bar above Bistro Pierre, allows children before 9pm - worth a visit for the views! Entrance is next to the Co-op.
Papi’s Pizza - just at the bottom of the hill.
Verdi’s at the Quay of Italian classics. 20 minutes walk - Also a great place for crabbing!
Copperfish - fish and chips at the pier. 25 minutes walk.
Cakes & Ales Fantastic Sunday lunch and a menu to suit all tastes. 5 minute walk. They also have a new sister Fish and Chip shop over the road - Fishcake & Ales.
Parks
There’s a small park at South Gardens in Mumbles - nicely placed next door to a few bars! We recommend Ty Cwrw 5-10 minute walk
There is a park & cafe next to the Lido at Blackpill - a 25 minute walk towards Swansea along the front.
Singleton Park towards Swansea is supposed to be great for kids too. Boating lake and playground. 30-40 minute walk or 5 minute drive
https://www.swansea.gov.uk/article/6973/Singleton-Park
A huge new skatepark is about to be built along the prom towards Swansea - but in the meantime there’s still the old one to skate on.
The Gower Heritage Centre
Lots of things to do with little ones here, animals, playground, tractors and has a homemade cider and an amazing bakery!
15 minutes drive
https://www.littlevalleybakery.com
https://www.gowerheritagecentre.co.uk
Folly Farm
Folly Farm is supposed to be great but further afield - roughly an hour away maybe more.
Zipworld Tower
Fastest zipwire in the world apparently!
45 minutes drive
https://www.zipworld.co.uk/location/tower
National Botanical Gardens of Wales
Lots of space to run around and various activities for kids. Decent cafe with hearty meals. Birds of Prey too!
45 minutes drive
Botanical Gardens
Rainy Days
These are a few rainy day ideas - which I hope you don’t have. We joke that Gower has a microclimate as the weather is always better than it looks! Fingers crossed.
There’s an indoor swimming pool in Swansea with a water park. I’d recommend booking as I think it gets booked up.
Also, the National Waterfront Museum is good for kids - a few restaurants around the Marina too worth going to - El Pescador is very good for seafood. The view at the top of the tower is great - it’s a pub up there - Olive & Grape. Food is a bit rubbish but worth going up to see the view.
Also cinema-wise - there’s an Odeon & Vue in Swansea also an arts cinema [https://cinemaco.co.uk](https://cinemaco.co.uk. The smallest cinema in the world is base at the Gower Heritage centre - you can hire the whole place.
There is a couple of indoor crazy golf & bowling places too in Swansea. Alongwith football golf We not tested any of these yet though!
Plantasia in Swansea is an indoor rainforest with a few animals & interactive bits - it has a family ticket for around £25 if you pre-book.
https://www.plantasiaswansea.co.uk
Founders & Co is a great place to grab food with the kids in Swansea. Street Food kiosks and plenty of space.
The indoor market in Swansea is also worth a visit - lots of stalls and lovely warm welsh cakes.
