Nightlife
SWANSEA VALLEY HOLIDAY COTTAGES

PONTARDAWE | NEATH | SWANSEA

If you would like to sample the local nightlife during your holiday at Swansea Valley Holiday Cottages, the three main venues are Pontardawe, Neath or Swansea:

Pontardawe (2 miles from holiday cottages)
Pontardawe has a number of ‘local’ pubs and a club called Paradise. The Pontardawe Inn (The Gwachel to locals) is a great place to go if you want to mix with friendly locals. The pub has a great atmosphere and is a must for music lovers. They have bands every Friday/Saturday and also hold Irish style music sessions. It is also home to the internationally renowned Pontardawe Music Festival.

Neath (5 miles from holiday cottages)
Neath gets very busy at the weekends – the pubs are mainly located around the Parade and get packed with valley commandoes and packs of girls who move from pub to pub to pub to pub before going for a pineapple burger and chips followed by a taxi - both of which are available, yes you've guessed it - on the Parade.

Swansea (10 miles from holiday cottages)
Those of you who have seen the film Twin Town will have already have a good idea of what a night out in Swansea is like – quite an experience and not for the faint hearted. You have two options.

1. Swansea City Centre. Start your evening on Wind Street (pronounced ‘Wine’). Wind Street is the only city centre street to have survived the Second World War bombing and today, all the grand old buildings have been converted to chain pubs such as Weatherspoons, Walkabout, The Square and The Toad. At chucking out time, everyone heads to one of the 14 nightclubs that lie along the legendary Kingsway, a five minute walk away.

2. The Mumbles Mile. Perhaps a safer option would be to stay away from the city centre and do as the students do and flock to the seafront pubs that line the western section of Swansea Bay. The 12 or so pubs that lie between Newton Road and Bracelet Bay make up what is one of the UK’s most famous pub crawls – ‘The Mumbles Mile’. Start at a pub called The White Rose and head towards the pier. The pub that Dylan Thomas used to drink in is now called Dylan’s Tavern and is packed full of Dylan memorabilia. The Antelope and The Nags Head are probably the pick of the pubs. Head back to Bentley’s nightclub (opposite The White Rose) after you have finished the pub crawl.

A return taxi fee from the cottage to Swansea should be in the region of £30. An amusing guide to the nightlife of Swansea may be found at www.aardvarkcymru.co.uk/pubguide.htm