Manorbier is the next coastal valley west of Tenby, inside Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. In a straight line the castle is 7.29 kilometres from the town centroid, 4.53 miles; the railway station is 6.24 kilometres. Those are not walking times. The privately owned Norman castle sits above a south-westerly surfing beach, with a Grade I church across the stream.
Ranking pages still say the castle is open daily, including Saturdays. The operator’s 2026 notice does not.
Cadw records Gerald of Wales born at the castle in 1146. The operator prints his line as “Manorbier Castle, the pleasantest place in Wales.” The National Park notes the bias. The Norman grant came after 1093, to Odo de Barri. Cadw lists the castle Grade I and scheduled (SAM Pe004); it is not Cadw-run. Cadw Open Doors on Sunday 20 September 2026 is a Cadw programme at a private site for one day. Check Cadw’s page before you travel.
Castle to beach is 0.42 kilometres; castle to church 0.24 kilometres. Cadw puts the 349 drop next to the playground, a two-minute walk to the castle. The station is another matter: the National Park puts it 1 mile north of the village; the Wales Coast Path puts the beach-car-park start about 1.5 miles / 2.4 km from the station. The train does not drop you at the walls.
The Manorbier village page is the place; Manorbier Castle is the attraction. The day trips piece is the wider map.
Transport for Wales’s Manorbier station is SA70 7SN. It is unstaffed: no ticket office, ticket machine, toilets, Wi-Fi or waiting room, only a small platform shelter and a seated area. No CCTV, no help points.
It is step-free Category A. Access is from a narrow road with no pavement. The conductor provides the boarding ramp. Set-down is the station car park, then the platform via the level crossing. Passenger Assist needs two hours; the helpline is 03333 211202, 08:00–20:00 every day. Cycles: three Sheffield stands, six bikes, unsheltered.
National Rail is the live times. The without a car piece is the rest of a week on the same Pembroke Dock branch.
Sunday 20 September 2026 is Open Doors. First Cymru’s current 349 PDF has no Sunday table. The documented public-transport route that day is the train, then the walk down.
The 349 PDF current in mid-September 2026 is Monday to Saturday only. No Sunday table, no fares. From Tenby Upper Park Road westbound: 07:20, 08:25, then 09:30–17:30 hourly, and 18:30. Castle Cottages, the village timing point: 07:41, 08:46, 09:51, then 10:51–17:51 hourly, and 18:51. The 07:20 reaches Castle Cottages in 21 minutes. Those buses also serve St James’ Place; that is not the castle stop. Cadw’s drop next to the playground is the one to aim at.
Eastbound from Castle Cottages the last bus on that PDF is 18:00, 21 minutes to Tenby South Parade Terminus Only. The Haverfordwest 17:25 and 18:25 run only as far as East End. They do not serve Castle Cottages.
Westbound the PDF calls Penally Court Farm, The Green at Lydstep, then Castle Cottages. It does not list a stop at Manorbier railway station. Traveline Cymru and First Bus are the live documents. Check the 349 on the day.
The operator’s visit page in mid-September 2026 printed £6.50 adult, £4.50 child, £20 family, ticket valid for all-day re-entry. Ordinary visits do not pre-book. Groups of 10 or more must pre-book: [email protected] or 01834 870081.
Saturdays are closed from 2 May until Saturday 17 October, except three August dates that have already passed. Still ahead: open Saturday 24 October and Saturday 31 October. Wednesday 30 September closes early, at 14:00.
Visit Pembrokeshire still lists daily hours from mid-March to the end of September. Those clock hours did not appear on the operator visit page in mid-September. Do not plan an autumn Saturday on a tourist-board listing.
Winter close is the trap. The visit page says the castle closes on the 1st of November. The homepage says winter from the 2nd of November. Do not pick one. Read manorbiercastle.co.uk before a November visit.
Cadw’s listing (LB 5976, designated 14 May 1970) is the building: hall about 10.5 × 6.6 m, chapel c.1260, curtain and towers c.1230, a four-storey Round Tower with a wall about 1.5 m. Cadw says it was never seriously besieged; Open Doors copy says it was “never called upon to withstand a siege.” J.R. Cobb worked here c.1880.
Park at Manorbier Beach Car Park and walk up to the “Secret Entrance”. Postcode SA70 7SY. Dogs on leads; water at the café. The tea room is in the 13th-century Guards Room. Picnics are welcomed. Parking at the castle itself is limited.
Disabled parking at the castle is limited; Cadw says contact the castle first. The operator publishes an Access Statement. Read that. Stairs, towers and battlements are what the tourist board invites you to explore; they are not a verdict that a wheelchair cannot visit.
Visit Pembrokeshire is the page for the sand: dune-backed, a stream at the northern end, south-westerly facing, a favourite surfing beach, very strong currents. Check the tide so you have sand and are not cut off. The National Park notes a drowned forest at low water, woodland drowned 3,000–10,000 years ago, and red sandstone here rather than Stackpole limestone.
Access is a level path to a beachhead platform and seat; the surface can be rough. The last 40 metres has three short gradients up to 1:10. That is the surface. It is not a formally graded accessible path.
The beach car park is a National Park charging park. Charges run 1 March to 31 October inclusive, 9am to 7pm. November to February those parks are free. 30 minutes free, no return within 4 hours. Blue Badge: 60 minutes free then pay, plus an extra hour on a paid ticket. Pay and display or PayByPhone. Overnight sleeping is banned. Read the National Park parking page for the live pounds.
For dogs on the sand, Pembrokeshire County Council’s live beach-dogs page is the current authority.
Cadw lists St James’ Church Grade I (LB 5975), 200 metres south-west of the village, opposite the castle. Coflein puts the churchyard about 110 metres south-east of the castle, separated by a valley. Both can be true; they are different reference points. You walk across the stream.
The church is 12th-century. Cadw records Gerald taking refuge here in 1153. The porch has medieval ceiling paintings; Coflein dates the painted porch around 1500. In 1301 John de Barri granted it to Monkton Priory. Nave about 12.5 × 5.5 m; chancel 5.5 × 5 m, c.1250. The knight’s effigy is John de Barri, who died 1324. Wehnert restored the church 1865–8. The scalloped font is 12th-century. The Wales Coast Path uses the dedication St James the Great.
It is a working church. Try the door, or check locally.
There is no official Tenby-to-Manorbier coast-path time on the Park pages. The walks around Tenby piece is the long coast. Pair this visit with the Park’s own short circuits.
The National Park’s Manorbier walk is 3.4 miles (5.5 km), 2 hours: rugged coast, cliff edge, gradients, inland muddy when wet. Castle, dovecote, burial chamber. Caution: a deep, concealed fissure on Priest’s Nose — keep to public paths. Grid SS063976. The 13th-century dovecote, west of the castle, held about 250 birds; it was restored with the Manorbier Medieval Landscape Group.
The Wales Coast Path St James circular is 3 miles / 5 km, start and finish at the beach car park, church first, optional steep path to Presipe, return via the playground. King’s Quoit sits on the cliff path on the east side of Manorbier Bay. Call it a burial chamber, a cromlech.
The Park’s Lydstep and Skrinkle walk is 1.6 miles (2.7 km), 1 hour. Level clifftop to Lydstep, steep gradients to Skrinkle, livestock. Grid SS085982. The 349 westbound calls The Green at Lydstep after Penally Court Farm if you are pairing the two.
Pedestrian access to Skrinkle beach is closed because of cliff instability. Do not go down. Church Doors, the limestone arch, is visible from the path at the eastern end of Skrinkle Haven.
Lydstep Caverns sit on National Trust land, low tide only. Grey seals may pup in autumn in the caves. Stay on the path. This is the Old Red Sandstone / Carboniferous Limestone boundary.
Cadw Open Doors is Sunday 20 September 2026, 10:00–16:00, free. The organiser is Cadw; check the Open Doors page. That Sunday uses the train, not the 349.
Saturdays at the castle stay closed through 17 October, then open 24 and 31 October. Wednesday 30 September shuts at 14:00. Winter close is 1 November or 2 November depending which operator page you read — check manorbiercastle.co.uk closer to the day.
The last 349 eastbound from Castle Cottages on the current weekday-and-Saturday PDF is 18:00. The last westbound from Tenby Upper Park Road is 18:30. Check First Bus on the day. National Rail is the train.
National Park parking charges run through 31 October. Skrinkle beach stays closed. If you walk east toward Lydstep in the next twelve weeks, seals may be pupping — stay on the path.