Welcome to Aberaeron  on Cardigan Bay in West Wales

Aberaeron is a charming regency town and with its multi coloured houses, attractive harbour, Hotels, B&B and self-catering Holiday Cottages it has much to offer the visitor. Centrally located on Cardigan Bay, Aberaeron is close to Aberystwyth and Cardigan towns, while Lampeter and Tregaron are a short drive inland through the beautiful Aeron Valley, much loved by the poet Dylan Thomas who lived locally for a while.

Click on the photo for a larger image

At the mouth of the Aeron River, Aberaeron has been built on a level area between the mountains and the sea  formed during the last ice-age 10,000 years ago. It was the site in the 12th century of a medieval fort described by Samuel Lewis in 1833 as "On the sea-shore, near the village, is a circular encampment, designated Castell Cadwgan, and supposed to have been constructed by Cadwgan ab Bleddyn, about 1148."

Aberaeron is a rare example of a town in Wales that was planned from the outset. The town as we know it today began in 1807 when the Rev Alban Thomas-Jones Gwynne obtained a private Act of Parliament to rebuild the harbour. Subsequently the town was planned in the regency style around a large open square - named Alban Square (full details on our 'History of Aberaeron' page).

In the nineteenth century Aberaeron was a thriving port. Samuel Lewis writes in 1833: 'The port is......in a thriving state. There are from thirty to forty sloops belonging to it, of from seventeen to one hundred tons' burthen, which are navigated by about 120 seamen: they are chiefly employed in the importation of coal and culm, and two of them trade regularly with Bristol. The principal articles of importation, in addition, are grocery and timber; and of exportation, butter and oats: there is also a lucrative herring fishery, in which about thirty boats, with seven men to each, are engaged.'

Saint David - On the southern side of Aberaeron, is the little village of Henfynyw. It is here that Saint David, the patron saint of Wales is said to have been born in Capel Non about the year 500. There is a tradition that the Cathedral of St. David's was originally meant to have been built at nearby Henfynyw. St David was buried at St Davids in Pembrokeshire, which was  the site of one of his monasteries.

Each year, Aberaeron holds the The Aberaeron Festival of Welsh Cobs and Ponies - being held in 2010 on Monday 30th August 2010. Nearby Llanarth produced many famous Welsh cobs, including Llanarth Meteor, Llanarth Rhys and Llanarth Comet. Now the stud has closed, descendants of these ponies are found worldwide. In 2005, a life-size bronze statue of a Welsh Cob was donated to the town by the Aberaeron Festival of Welsh Cobs and Ponies to denote the area as 'Welsh Cob Country'.

The Aberaeron Town Trail was established in 2007 during the bicentennial celebrations - 200 years since the Act of Parliament to create the new harbour. Twenty two notable locations within the town were chosen, and each was given a commemorative bronze plaque in the shape of the 'Aberaeron shovel' a shovel produced in the forge of the Davies family from the 1850s until the 1930s. Click here to visit our 'Town Trail' page.

The Big Freeze 2010 /2011:  Like much of Britain, Aberaeron and West Wales experienced seriously low temperatures during late December and more snowfall than is normal so close to the coast. There was a considerable amount of ice on the Aeron, as shown by the photos taken by Kate Attrill. Click on the photo on the left for a new page of winter photos.

Holiday Accommodation- There is a wide variety of holiday accommodation in and around Aberaeron, hotels, guest houses, B&B, self catering holiday cottages, and caravans. If you click on the links at the top of the page, you will see more details about them.
 

Aberaeron: A History in Pictures, by Roger Bryan. Aberaeron and its appealing multi-coloured Georgian houses and small harbour is one of the most attractive little coastal towns in the country. This colour illustrated bilingual book is a celebration of the town's history. Published by Cymdeithas Aberaeron Society. Click on the image to buy a copy from Roger Bryan's website.

Our other local websites:
www.newquay-westwales.co.uk - everything you need to know about New Quay in West Wales.
www.westwales-cottages.com - a wide selection of self catering accommodation in the Cardigan Bay area.
www.westwales-caravans.co.uk - holiday caravans and chalets in holiday parks, on farms and smallholdings.
www.visitnewquaywales.com - special places to stay in and around New Quay in West Wales.