Route Overview
| Distance | 13.2 miles |
|---|---|
| Surface | The surface is tarred throughout, but in paces the tar is breaking up. |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Child-Friendliness | ✅ Very child-friendly |
| Suitable Bikes | Anything (including trikes) |
| Barriers | While there are quite a few chicane barriers, they are staggered enough that trikes and cargo bikes should be able to get through with ease. |
| Café / Food | There are various refreshment stops in Llanelli, including St Elli’s Bay Café, right at the start of the route. There are more refreshment options in Furnace. Just off the trail, near Horeb Station, there’s the Waun Wyllt Inn. Finally, in Cross Hands, there are a number of refreshment stops available. |
| Train Access | The nearest train station is Llanelli, and it's close to the start of the route. |
| Parking | There are various car parks in Llanelli to choose from, including the Millennium Quay Car park, Llanelli, at SA15 2LF, where there is four hours free parking. |
UPDATE: Due to a landslip just before Tumble (roughly 10.5 miles into the route) the Swiss Valley Trail is partially closed. You can still cycle the 10 miles to the closure, but to continue beyond that will require some on-road cycling. This is a long-term closure.
Mostly following the old Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Mineral Railway, the 13 mile Swiss Valley Trail links the coastline at Lannelli with Cross Hands. This route forms part of National Cycle Network (NCN) route 47, and it’s a stunning ride.
Though there are a few roads to cross along the route, provided they’re well-supervised at those points, even younger children should be able to safely enjoy the Swiss Valley Trail.
Swiss Valley Trail cycle route overall rating:
(Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to be aware of)
Surface on the trail
The surface is tar throughout, and is mostly good. In places, the tar is broken and a bit bumpy.
Refreshments
There are various refreshment stops in Llanelli, including St Elli’s Bay Café, right at the start of the route. There are more refreshment options in Furnace. Just off the trail, near Horeb Station, there’s the Waun Wyllt Inn.
Finally, in Cross Hands, there are a number of refreshment stops available.
Bikes
You can take any type of bike on this route.
Toilets
Toilets are available in most of the same places listed under Refreshments.
Social safety
Parts of the route can be very isolated.
Hilliness
The first half is a near-constant, though gentle incline, while the second half is flat.
Ratings
Points of Interest
For starters, there’s the Bristol Channel, and the route starts right by the edge of the land. The Parc Howard estate is nearby (you’ll see it from the trail) and you will ride past the stunning Lliedi reservoirs.
The reservoirs are accessible from the trail, but only via a steep path that you can’t take your bike along.
The Llanelli Railway – a heritage railway – runs alongside a very short part of the route.
The ruins of the Horeb brickworks are worth exploring, and are just off the route.
Routes in South West Wales
Barriers
There are quite a number of chicane barriers along the Swiss Valley Trail. However, these are staggered enough that any cargo bike or trike should be able to get through.
Cycle Hire
Sadly, it seems Kranks Bikes folded, and they were the only company to offer bike hire.
Child friendliness
Provided they’re well supervised at the road crossings, even younger children will safely enjoy this route.
Safety from traffic
Though traffic-free, there are several road crossings. Some of the roads can get busy.
Weather forecast for the Swiss Valley Trail
What the Swiss Valley Trail looks like
Getting to the Swiss Valley Trail
The route as shown on the map below starts at at the beach, where parking is available in the North Dock Car Park. The start of the route isn’t very far from Llanelli train station, so you can easily get to the start car-free, by taking your bike on the train. As ever, read my Bikes On Trains guide for useful and helpful tips for taking your bike on the train.
More Routes
To find more routes, click this link.
DayCycle
DayCycle routes are routes that can can easily be cycled by most people in a day, or part of a day. Do have a look at all the other DayCycle routes available on WillCycle. Many contain detailed route guides, as well as embedded maps (like the one below).
Interactive map of the Swiss Valley Trail
You can download the GPX file from the map below, simply by clicking the GPX button. Hovering over the elevation profile will show the elevation for that point along the route, in both metres and feet. It will also show the gradient.
And finally…
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