Fishguard

Perched on the rugged north Pembrokeshire coast where Wales meets the Irish Sea, Fishguard is a town of two halves with a history that punches far above its weight. The Upper Town clusters around its market square with the confident air of a Georgian coaching stop, while Lower Fishguard — the original fishing village — tumbles down to a picture-perfect harbour that has changed so little since the eighteenth century it was chosen as the filming location for the 1971 adaptation of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

Fishguard's most improbable claim to fame is its role in the last invasion of British soil. In February 1797, a French force of 1,400 troops landed at Carregwastad Point just west of town, intending to march on Liverpool and trigger a popular uprising. The invasion collapsed within two days — legend has it that the French mistook local Welsh women in their traditional red cloaks and tall black hats for British soldiers — and the surrender was signed in the Royal Oak pub, which still serves pints today. The Last Invasion Tapestry, a magnificent 30-metre work inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, hangs in the town hall and took seventy-seven local women four years to complete.

The culinary scene in and around Fishguard reflects Pembrokeshire's extraordinary natural larder. The coast yields some of the finest crab and lobster in Wales, while the hinterland produces award-winning cheeses, organic meats, and foraged seaweed that appears as laverbread — the traditional Welsh delicacy — at breakfast tables throughout the region. The weekly farmer's market on Saturday mornings draws producers from across the county, and the town's growing roster of independent cafes and restaurants showcases this produce with increasing sophistication.

Pembrokeshire's coastline, much of it protected as a National Park and traced by the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path, offers some of the most spectacular coastal walking in Europe. North of Fishguard, the path winds past the dramatic headland of Strumble Head, where Atlantic grey seals breed in sea caves and porpoises roll through the tide races. To the south, the tiny cathedral city of St Davids — Britain's smallest city — shelters a magnificent twelfth-century cathedral in a hidden valley, while the beaches of Whitesands and Newgale rival any in the Mediterranean for beauty, if not for temperature.

Fishguard serves as a ferry port for services to Rosslare in Ireland, and the town's harbour can accommodate smaller cruise vessels and expedition ships. The nearest railway station is Fishguard and Goodwick, connected to Cardiff and London Paddington via the scenic West Wales line. The most rewarding visiting season stretches from May through September, when wildflowers carpet the coastal cliffs and the Irish Sea reveals its gentler moods, though autumn storms bring their own dramatic beauty to this magnificently exposed coastline.