National Trust - Dinefwr — Attraction in Llandeilo

One of my favourite places for a day out. The grounds at Dinefwr are stunning and there is so much space to explore that it never feels to crowded. The addition of the picnic benches out the front of the house since COVID works out so well as you can get your takeaway food and enjoy the beautiful scenery as you look out over the carefully designed views! We once took our cake round the back to the house garden, and sat by a table with views of the deer park for quite a while- we felt like we were living a period drama!

Particularly recommend the deer park- walk quietly if you want to see some! The pond is also a lovely spot and although I don't have much interest in castles, the walk up is always worth it for the views. The woodland around the grounds is beautiful, and great to provide a bit more of a sheltered walk on a rainy day. We don't have a dog but there were loads there and I imagine it is a great place for a dog walk- particularly now there's outside café seating.

Parking is only £5 and considering that's a flat rate for the day, is well worth it.

The café has always been great for cream teas. They've managed COVID adaptations well so if you are nervous about that then it's a good place to go. All food (even the cream teas!) are pre-packaged for takeaway and you collect from a cafe front they've set up in the doors. It's very well thought out. I haven't eaten anything there pre-covid except the cream teas, but thoughts on lunch post-covid was that it wasn't anything particularly spectacular but was not unpleasant either. Prices were fairly average- can't remember them exactly. Having said that, there are plenty of great picnic spots there if you want to take your own!

School visits/children: Have done a couple of trips with schools in my time as well. There are good toilet facilities and we were given use of a external building to ourselves to leave bags and have lunch- this had toilets nearby and a play park just outside it that I don't think was open to public. I think that was the children's favourite bit!

The tour guide when we saw the house was fantastic- really welcoming and clearly knew her stuff. I found her interesting to listen to and most of children engaged well with her. Having said that, I wouldn't say the house was particularly worth visiting unless you have a keen interest in that kind of thing. Have been to a few national trust type properties and the house itself was not the most interesting for me.

I have done pond-dipping with the children there too. Again, the member of staff running it was excellent with the children and knew her stuff. Unlike other places I've been with schools, you do not take your findings into a 'classroom', but stay outside and I think I preferred that as it was nice for them to be outside the whole time. They found plenty of interesting wildlife and were given laminated identification sheets. If you're taking school children here, this is the activity I'd recommend the most.

The children enjoyed exploring the castle- it is relatively in tact (for a castle) so has lots of hidden places to explore and narrow staircases to climb. There are plenty of railings put in so anxiety of falling children is eased! The children did find the hill up to the castle a struggle to climb so make sure any children you're taking up there have good footwear and plenty of water- and be prepared for some complaining! After the steepest hill there is a woodland area where we stopped to do some den building which they loved, and they started a game of hide and seek-tag which is was a good spot for.

Overall would definitely recommend for a peaceful day of walking, a school visit, or a...

Magnificently Picturesque National Trust Parkland Property near Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire. The site itself is fairly vast with an array of different walks and trails to do and there is also a couple of interesting places to go such as Dinefwr Castle and Newton House to visit both of which are brilliant buildings. Newton House is interesting internally with a variety of interesting paintings to view and some of which in the upstairs area of the house you can see some ghostly sides to them, which is quite scary and eerie. There is a series of interesting informative displays about the history of the house and how people used the estate around it. In the basement area of Newton House there is the Servant Quarters where you can learn about the servants and butlers that lived there and see how they lived there and you can see some very interesting & intriguing items. There is a lovely formal garden to the rear of Newton House where there is some lovely flowers borders on show with the roses that have flowered. The Parkland area is magnificent and very picturesque with vast swathes of wonderful woodland and also rare White Park Cattle which are great emblem of the property. The Parkland offers a series of great walks where you through the Deer Park where you have the opportunity to spot a Deer and also the Parkland has trails to Dinefwr Castle which sits out beautifully on the edge of the hillside. The walk is quite hilly in places but once you head to the top is really worth it as you marvel at the brilliant ruins and ponder how well the ruins are fairly well intact. Dinefwr Castle has a some informative interesting information display boards detailing the history of the site and there are parts of the Castle that you can climb such as The Main Keep and the Walls where you marvel at the breathtakingly picturesque panoramic views of the Towy Valley which carves itself beautifully through the valley. There is a car park charge of £5, which is free for NT Members and there is a cafe in Newton House selling a variety of delicious food and drink at reasonable prices and there is a very small selection of gifts in the main foyer of Newton House which are priced very reasonably. Overall this a fabulous and magnificent day out where you can enjoy the walks and climbing the Castle where you marvel at the breathtaking views of...

We really lucked out with the weather but perhaps 27° / 28° was a tadge on the warm side for this slightly overweight/unfit 50+ year old. But if I can make it round the park, so can you.

You won't be disappointed either. The park has plenty to offer of all ages. The walk to the castle is steep in places, but plenty of seats are provided along the way to allow you to "admire the view". The castle is more than a bunch of ruins. It has been tastefully restored in places to allow access to the ramparts and some of the towers.

After the castle, you can take a walk down to the old pump house next to the bottom lake from which you can cross into the deer park. Fallow deer 🦌 are notoriously shy but again we were lucky in that a large herd of juvenile stags were sat in the middle of the park in clear view.

Unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions, the house was closed but even walking round the outside gives an idea of how grand it must be.

Talking of COVID-19, social distancing was practiced by most visitors. The toilets were open and suitable cleaning materials were provided. They appeared to be regularly cleaned and checked despite the park being busy. With the right picnic and weather, you could quite happily spend the whole day in the park. You could visit the park on multiple occasions and still not see everything it has to offer.

Well worth the £5 parking fee (free for National...