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 Laugharne town with Laugharne Castle clearly dominant
The tiny Welsh hamlet of Laugharne, situated on the Tywi esturary, is a blissful place that has charmed and inspired many visitors, most notably the Welsh writer Dylan Thomas.
Dylan Thomas once wrote that Laugharne was, ‘a mild, timeless beguiling island of a town’. Laugharne’s sleepy atmosphere has changed very little since his days here in the 1940s, though it certainly gets more visits from Dylan Thomas pilgrims.
 Laugharne Castle, Image ©Wales Tourist Board
The main street through the village is filled with charmingly ramshackle Georgian buildings centred on the wistful ruins of Laugharne Castle. This 13th Century castle sits perched above a bluff over looking the mud flats and salt marsh leading out to the estuary. It was transformed into a stately mansion in the 16th Century but declined following the Civil War, a romantic ruin that was the subject of one of J.M.W. Turner’s dramatic paintings. More recently it’s Georgian and Victorian gardens have been extensively restored.
Laugharne is a real haven for birdwatchers. Known as the Grist or the ‘heron priested’ estuary, as Dylan Thomas described it, becomes filled with bird song from an assortment of waders and seabirds while the sun hovers lazily on the horizon.
Seen in the early morning it’s a peaceful, poetic and bewitching place, a real Shangri Laugharne.
This attraction is included in the Great British Heritage Pass.
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