How to see the marvels of Swansea for less than one student grant a day
Created | Updated Apr 18, 2002
When I was a student I found all of these places useful, some of these things are more expensive than others but that's what overdrafts are for!
The area that I will cover is limited to Swansea, the nearby village of Mumbles and the Gower Peninsula, all of these can be reached fairly easily by bus or bike if you feel fit, you can also hitchhike but most student hitchhikers just grab a lift off a the nearest friend with a car.
There is a ongoing arguement as to where the centre of the universe is, but I am sure that it is one of these three places.
Swansea Leisure Complex:
If you feel that after a hard days hiking you need to do lots of different things but not actually have to stagger very far in any direction, then this is the place for you. Under one roof there is a 10 screen cinema, ten-pin bowling, an extremely good pizza place (One of the all you can eat places where a group can try and bankrupt the place in one evening) and a surprisingly good botanical garden. All this means that a tired hiker can while away the best parts of a day without ever having to see the sun, so a good day after day.
Maxims, Sketty:
The best fish and chip shop that I have ever found, plus it's cheap and usually relatively quiet, but going out of normal hours is usually best as they will cook everything from scratch and it become even better.
Joe's Ice Cream Parlour:
Only two branches of this exist, one in Swansea and one in Mumbles but it is without dought the best place for Ice creams in the known universe. There is a secret ingredient in the ice-cream which is still a secret as far as I know, but whatever it is it works! I thoroughly recommend going inside and trying an ice-cream sundae or a North Pole, unless you are like me and just have both.
Other places to try:
Swansea University Leisure Centre:
A fair few facilities and cheap even for non-students
Mumbles:
Adapted from a similar French word that came to mind when the French speaker concerned saw the two bulbous lumps of rock that make up the headland. Most famous for the Mumbles mile, a pub crawl for the hard coreending up at Cinderellas nightclub, which is allegedly bad but nobody cares bt the time you get there. (Quick tip: Saturday night is the night that the Student's try it so be ready for it to be packed.)Mumbles is also the home of Joe's Ice Cream Parlour mentioned earlier.
The Gower Peninsula:
This is a place for the healthy outdoor hiker and is probably one of the most picturesque areas I know. The peninsula runs from Mumbles to Rhossili and has a number of sandy coves and beaches to visit, it gets very busy during the summer but there are still places that are quieter if you don't mind the walk. Caswell bay, Oxwich bat and Rhossili are the easiest to get to, but three cliffs bay, Oxwich headland and Brandy cove (Round the corner from Caswell) are usually much quieter, Caswell gets especially packed when the tide comes in and reduces the beach space by 90%
I hope that this mini guide was useful, interesting or at least spelt correctly (I make no claims about the grammar) and check the guide out for more entries by me.
Happy hiking,
John Jessup
The area that I will cover is limited to Swansea, the nearby village of Mumbles and the Gower Peninsula, all of these can be reached fairly easily by bus or bike if you feel fit, you can also hitchhike but most student hitchhikers just grab a lift off a the nearest friend with a car.
There is a ongoing arguement as to where the centre of the universe is, but I am sure that it is one of these three places.
Swansea Leisure Complex:
If you feel that after a hard days hiking you need to do lots of different things but not actually have to stagger very far in any direction, then this is the place for you. Under one roof there is a 10 screen cinema, ten-pin bowling, an extremely good pizza place (One of the all you can eat places where a group can try and bankrupt the place in one evening) and a surprisingly good botanical garden. All this means that a tired hiker can while away the best parts of a day without ever having to see the sun, so a good day after day.
Maxims, Sketty:
The best fish and chip shop that I have ever found, plus it's cheap and usually relatively quiet, but going out of normal hours is usually best as they will cook everything from scratch and it become even better.
Joe's Ice Cream Parlour:
Only two branches of this exist, one in Swansea and one in Mumbles but it is without dought the best place for Ice creams in the known universe. There is a secret ingredient in the ice-cream which is still a secret as far as I know, but whatever it is it works! I thoroughly recommend going inside and trying an ice-cream sundae or a North Pole, unless you are like me and just have both.
Other places to try:
Swansea University Leisure Centre:
A fair few facilities and cheap even for non-students
Mumbles:
Adapted from a similar French word that came to mind when the French speaker concerned saw the two bulbous lumps of rock that make up the headland. Most famous for the Mumbles mile, a pub crawl for the hard coreending up at Cinderellas nightclub, which is allegedly bad but nobody cares bt the time you get there. (Quick tip: Saturday night is the night that the Student's try it so be ready for it to be packed.)Mumbles is also the home of Joe's Ice Cream Parlour mentioned earlier.
The Gower Peninsula:
This is a place for the healthy outdoor hiker and is probably one of the most picturesque areas I know. The peninsula runs from Mumbles to Rhossili and has a number of sandy coves and beaches to visit, it gets very busy during the summer but there are still places that are quieter if you don't mind the walk. Caswell bay, Oxwich bat and Rhossili are the easiest to get to, but three cliffs bay, Oxwich headland and Brandy cove (Round the corner from Caswell) are usually much quieter, Caswell gets especially packed when the tide comes in and reduces the beach space by 90%
I hope that this mini guide was useful, interesting or at least spelt correctly (I make no claims about the grammar) and check the guide out for more entries by me.
Happy hiking,
John Jessup
