Welsh Coach House, Ceredigion

Dyfed. Sleeps up to 10

In an oasis of gracious and glorious living in the fifty acre grounds of the Glaneirw Estate, Welsh Coach House is a unique, stunningly beautiful five bedroom property perfect for family holidays and wonderful celebrations. Welsh Coach House is a beautifully restored former Coach House and Granary situated in its own landscaped private gardens with total privacy and seclusion. On the borders of Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion, this wonderful home is just a five minute drive from the exceptional sandy beaches of Tresaith and Aberporth in Cardigan Bay. Offering a totally unforgettable stay in this hidden corner of Wales, Welsh Coach House is approached by a glorious avenue of beech trees that line the driveway of the wonderfully private Glaneirw Estate. The fully restored Glaneirw Georgian mansion sits in all its glory on the site of the once Eirw Castle with some parts dating back to the 1300’s. The estate is brimming with pasture and woodland, surrounding both the mansion house and Welsh Coach House. The estate managers farm Pedigree Dexter Cattle and rare breed Mangalitsa pigs on the estate and enjoy eggs from their free range chickens. Guests can purchase first class meat and eggs from the farm. The pigs forage in the woodlands and the meat has distinct marbling giving it a rich, flavoursome texture. During the winter, the pigs are fed on apples and pears from the estate orchard.

When you book a holiday in Welsh Coach House, you will quickly get lost in the bird song and country air. If you can bear to leave this lavish house and its beautiful gardens, you will quickly discover gorgeous beaches, a scenic coastal path, dolphin spotting trips, stunning gardens and charming seaside villages. It is the perfect base to explore the Cardigan Bay Heritage coastline and the Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion Coastal Path. Welsh Coach House has been lovingly renovated with a brilliant blend of old and new. It is a period property with style and swagger and the most tasteful of furnishings. With five bedrooms, it is also the perfect place to bridge the gap between generations, to reinvigorate and recharge the batteries in country air. You can invite the grandparents along knowing that there are outstanding entertainment spaces and plenty of quiet corners to disappear off to for a peaceful read and a cup of tea. Within its honey-coloured stone walls and stable doors, you will discover a truly beautiful holiday home decorated in wonderful contemporary colour palettes. Welsh Coach House enjoys a fascinating history with the bell that was used to call staff in around 1871 still in position in Welsh Coach House’s bell tower. A Georgian façade was added and an age of hippy commune became part of its life.

As well as its beautiful five bedrooms, Welsh Coach House offers three elegant bathrooms and a downstairs cloakroom, a fantastic games room, an impressive, slate floored main reception room, a very generous sized modern kitchen and huge, open hallways. The master bedroom suite is a glorious, light and airy space with its sumptuous bed being dressed in luxury Egyptian cotton linen. Each of the bathrooms is a beautifully tiled space with a contemporary freestanding bath as well as a large walk-in shower. Many of the coach house’s original features are intact including huge oak doors, aged terracotta tiles and highly impressive slate floors. Welsh Coast House boasts high ceilings, ornate architraves and characterful wooden beams.

The drawing room is smart and elegant offering the chance to mingle or slide away. Lavish grey sofas sit opposite each other where you can enjoy pre-dinner drinks or family games. The vintage dining table offers elegance and style. The kitchen is a chef’s dream with oversized, excellent black appliances, a huge array of wooden cabinets and a handy breakfast table. It is easy to prepare a holiday feast in such a brilliant space. The games room is fabulous with a full-size table tennis table, dart board and even a beer fridge. There is also a Smart television and a good supply of DVD’s and board games for your entertainment.

The bedrooms are totally luxurious with quality, crisp linens and soft throws and cushions adorning the sumptuous beds. You will deep dive into some serious shut eye wanting to wake early to explore this wondrous estate. The upper bedrooms boast characterful beams and sloping ceilings.

Outside you will discover extensive lawns, an alfresco lounge and dining terrace, gorgeous borders and a Weber barbecue which your barbecue masters will be delighted with, especially when buying quality meats from the farm. Beyond the walled garden is the estate orchard with a mixture of original and recently planted fruit trees and soft fruit bushes which guests are welcome to enjoy when in season.

The delightful holiday resort of Aberporth boasts two fabulous Blue Flag beaches between the rocky headlands of Trecregyn and Fathgarreg and some charming seaside shops, cafes and pubs. On the southern edge of Cardigan Bay, visitors are attracted by its beaches and access to the stunning Wales Coastal Path. There are pleasure boats, sailing boats, kayaks and canoes for hire. You will also enjoy watching the local fishermen unloading crate after crate of giant spider crabs and other seafish. In the 17th and 18th centuries herring were plentiful in Cardigan Bay so Aberporth had at least twenty full time herring smacks. Now it is mainly crab and lobster fishing. You will find rock pools exposed at low tide and the cliff top walks along the Ceredigion coast boast extensive views as far as the Llyn Peninsula. There is a wonderful carving of a leaping dolphin overlooking the beach as bottlenose dolphins are frequently seen close to shore.

The Wales Coast Path, otherwise known as the Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion Coastal Path, is well established with clear signing and spectacular walking, especially from Cardigan to Borth. From Aberporth you may just want to walk along the cliffs to Tresaith or you may want to take the circular walk. There are seaside saunters along the fronts of coastal towns and villages, literary trails such as the Dylan Thomas Trail around New Quay, delightful strolls along country lanes bordered with ancient hedgerows full of wild flowers, invigorating walks across wild headlands enjoying stunning views of the rugged Cardigan Bay coastline, challenging mountain hikes in the remote uplands of the Cambrian Mountains or slow riverside rambles along the Teifi, Aeron Rheidol and Ystwyth valleys. Cardigan Bay has a number of useful little buses if you do not want to drive.

Keen cyclists enjoy the amazing cycle routes around Cardigan Bay. You can hire cycles from New Image Bikes, Cardigan if you do not want to take your own. Those that enjoy active holidays love canoeing along the River Teifi. At 79km, it is one of the longest rivers in Wales, starting at Teifi Pools high up near Tregaron. The section from Llechryd Bridge to the mouth of the river at Poppit Sands is tidal so it makes a wonderful half day canoe trip if there is enough water. You must check the tides though. Surfing is popular in Aberporth, Poppit Sands and Llangrannog. Visitors also enjoy paddleboarding, sailing, waterskiing and wakeboarding. There are some epic sea fishing boat trips available as well as salmon and sea trout in the lower reaches of the Teifi. The Pembrokeshire Anglers Association has fifteen miles of prime salmon, trout and sea trout fishing on the Western Cleddau River while the Nevern River is also popular. Sea bass can be found off Dale Beach, Whitesands and Poppit Sands.

As well as Aberporth beaches, there are some other wonders to visit including the once smugglers cove, Cwmtydu Beach, Llangrannog Beach which enjoys superb coastal scenery, the National Trust’s beautiful Penbryn Beach though there is a bit of a walk to the beach, Tresaith Beach which is named after the River Saith that cascades over the cliffs to the beach with a waterfall, Mwnt Beach, another National Trust jewel with gorgeous cliff top walks, Poppit Sands which is one of the popular beaches with plenty of sand dunes and Newport Sands Beach, another duned wonder.

The islands of Skomer, Skokholm and Ramsey are located a few miles off the Pembrokeshire coast. Managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, the islands are home to puffins, Manx shearwaters, Atlantic grey seals, razorbills, gannets and much more wildlife.