Gower’s Glorious Coast and Moors

There are other walking holiday companies that cover the countryside but we believe we offer the best value for many reasons….

• We specialise in organising guided walking holidays for singles and solo travellers
• We are a small friendly company
• We have a loyal customer base who return again and again (so we must be doing something right) – read our testimonials page on the website
• We offer a lot of flexibility – you can stay extra nights which we are happy to organise for you. We are also very flexible on the walks we provide, adapting to suit walkers and weather conditions
• Our walk leading is second to none. Unlike some other large Walking Companies, we use LOCAL leaders who live in the area and who love their surroundings. They have expert knowledge of everything you need to know to make an area come alive.
• You are safe in our hands – our guides are experts, fully qualified in first aid. Also, because of their local knowledge of the hills, they can respond to any situation that might for example demand cutting short a route. They don’t need to consult maps – they know the hills intimately.
• Our leaders are all easy-going, genuinely sociable people who want to ensure that you have the best time you can with the rest of the group. They make the weekend fun by engaging with all members of a group, and ensuring that everyone feels part of the group experience.
• We give great value for money. Because we recognise that lots of walkers holiday on their own, we have negotiated no single supplement deals with all our hotels to ensure the best possible deal.
• We always use good hotels. 
• We have smaller groups than some of the larger walking companies, because we believe the social experience is much better in a smaller group. People can talk to everyone, especially at dinner where you can all sit on one table in a small group. Our numbers vary from holiday to holiday but an average group size would be 8-12.

How to get to Swansea and the Gower Peninsula

The Gower Peninsula is easily accessible. The closest city is Swansea, on the east side of the peninsula, which has a train, bus station and a ferry port.  From the city of Swansea you will find it easy to reach Gower using local public transport or by car.

By Car: The M4 runs directly to Swansea (exit at junction 42).  

By Coach: Express coaches run direct to Swansea from Central London, Gatwick & Heathrow Airports; West & South Yorkshire; the West Midlands; Bristol Airport and Cardiff.

There is an extensive local bus network serving the whole Swansea Bay area.

By Train: Frequent trains run direct to Swansea from London, Bristol, Manchester and Cardiff; and there are good connections from the West Midlands; North East, South & South West England. For travellers’ arriving by air, there are good rail/air links to Swansea from London Gatwick & Heathrow; Bristol and Cardiff International Airports. 

Use the frequent local buses between the rail and bus stations for Gower bus departures (see below) 

National Rail Enquiries: 

Swansea to Gower, an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’

Gower has its very own quality bus network; take the Gower Explorer to get to Llangennith, Oxwich, Port Eynon and Rhossili; or First Cymru to get to Oystermouth, Mumbles, Bishopston and Pennard. 

Its all about meeting new friends. Each holiday is designed to be a friendly, relaxed and stress free occasion. Talking is as important as walking on Secrethills Walking Holidays. We don’t go in for discos, we may use an event that is taking place in the area we are in to boost the weekends activities – but its good, old fashioned chat that makes our short breaks successful.

“Make new friends that turn into old friends” – that’s our motto.

You might be surprised by what fun you’ll have with people who are older or younger than you during a holiday with us, and that’s exactly the sort of atmosphere we encourage; people find it very rewarding. It doesn’t matter what your reasons for traveling with us are, we’ve had people who are single, divorced or widowed, people who have partners that are unable to travel, and people who can’t holiday with their friends anymore as they’ve all got married themselves. There are people who want to make friends, see sights, and experience something completely new. Whatever your reason, we’ll welcome you with open arms and our friendly hosts will help you to get the most out of your holiday.

Don’t worry if this is the first time you have ventured to join a group holiday – its always a bit daunting – but we will look after you and ensure that you get used to being amongst friends again. Trust us to to get you back into the swing of things.

Oh – by the way – its not a dating agency – over the years we have had people meet and fall in love – but that’s just chance. Our aim is that you make like minded friends – just relax and enjoy.

Just arrive and enjoy.

How to Book

Ascent and descent is likely to be around 400 metres in total – made up of short stretches of around 50 metres ascent and descent at a time on the Wales coast path and Llanmadoc Hill. The ground is undulating, never severe climbing or descending. Much of our walking will take in cliff paths and yes – we will wander down to the beach to walk occasionally. We walk at a steady pace- we do not rush, there is much to see and photograph- we average over a 6 hour walking day about 2.25 miles per hour.

The walks on this trip are rated as Moderate but each day involves a fair amount of ascent and descent. The trip requires a reasonable amount of fitness, ideally with previous hill walking experience.

Exclusions

Although our leaders are well trained and experienced in dealing with different capabilities of our walking clients, if they have any concerns about any clients ability or suitability to undertake safely any walking activity we plan or they feel that participation of an individual may affect the groups safety and cohesion, then they have full permission to exclude that client from an activity.

They will try at all times to provide an alternative suggested activity, though this may involve the client in additional local cost.

We rarely have to enforce this above recommendation, but it is a sensible and necessary protection for the individual client, the group and the leaders.

A selection of walks we may do during your visit- these are examples

Walk 1 -This walk takes us to the 3 peaks of Llanmadoc Hill (186m) Ryers Down (114m) and Hardings Down (152m). We reach Llanmadoc and the village cafe. We then head down the road to Cheriton and onto the Wales Coastal path before heading up to Ryers Down.  From the summit of Ryers Down we continue across open fields before our final summit Hardings Down. The final leg of the walk sees us dropping back down and into Llangennith.

Walk 2 This longer coastal walk starts in the small hamlet of Oxwich Green. We head down to the Wales coastal path and over to Port Eynon where we follow the coast path to Rhossili and then over to Llangennith via Rhossili down. A fantastic walk with amazing views all the way. Good underfoot with lots of ups and downs.

Walk 3 This walk takes us along old drovers routes to the 12c Penard castle before following the Wales coastal path to Pwlldu and along a limestone riverbed to the finish in Kittle.  Again this walk is full of intrigue, folklore, pirates and smugglers tales. Most of the route is good paths but the route up Bishopston valley is rocky and very slippery when wet.

Walk 4– This walk starts from Bracelet bay and follows the Wales coastal to Langland bay, Caswell bay, Brandy cove and finally into Pwlldu bay. From here we head north up Bishopston valley to the finish in Kittle. This is a walk full of intrigue and folklore with tales of pirates and smugglers. The coastal path is good but Bishopston valley is an old limestone river bed so very rocky and slippery when wet.

Walk 5 -This is a spectacular coastal walk along the best parts of the Wales coastal path. We set off from Port Eynon to Rhossili and then to Llangennith over Rhossili down. A great coastal path with numerous ups and downs and endless views.