Ogmore-by-Sea: A Guide to the Glamorgan Heritage Coast's Prettiest Beach Village (Where to Stay, Walk and Eat)
Ogmore-by-Sea on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast: a castle surrounded by horses, stepping stones from thatched Merthyr Mawr, the cliffs and Iron Age fort at Dunraven Bay, parking, dog rules, where to eat and where to stay.
Part two of the Wales trip, after Afan Forest & Pontrhydyfen.
This post contains affiliate links, marked (ad). If you book through one I earn a small commission at no cost to you.
We parked in Merthyr Mawr, a village of thatched cottages that looks like it has been lifted out of a history book, and walked alongside a big open field. Horses – white, black, brown, entirely uninterested in us – were grazing against the ruins of a castle, with a river running past it towards the sea. The romantic in me thought it looked like a scene from a Jane Austen novel – you might argue it was just a field with horses, but...let's "never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born".
That was our introduction to Ogmore-by-Sea, a small village on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast in South Wales, about fifteen minutes from Bridgend and forty from Cardiff, and the place from this trip I keep coming back to in my head. A castle you can wander into, stepping stones across a river, a wide beach backed by cliffs, and – a little further along the coast – a headland with an Iron Age fort on it that made me think of Christopher Nolan's Odyssey. I could genuinely live there.
This is the guide I wish I'd had: what to see, where to eat, where to stay, the parking, the dog rules, and the honest bits – including the meal that, in hindsight, tipped two of us into giving up meat.
The short answer
| If you want… | Do this | Time |
|---|---|---|
| The postcard | Park at Merthyr Mawr, walk to Ogmore Castle, the horses and the stepping stones | 1–2 hrs |
| A beach | Ogmore-by-Sea beach — big pay-and-display car park, plenty of space | Half a day |
| Cliffs and ruins | Dunraven Bay at Southerndown — the Iron Age fort and the old walled gardens on the headland | 2–3 hrs |
| A proper walk | Ogmore → Dunraven Bay along the Heritage Coast Path, 10 km loop | 3–4 hrs |
| A claim to fame | Merthyr Mawr Warren — the biggest sand dunes in Wales | 2 hrs |
| Lunch | The Pelican Inn, beside Ogmore Castle | — |
| A base | Self-catering near Afan Forest (what we did); Southerndown or Porthcawl for the coast; Bridgend for budget and the M4 | — |
Where it is and how to get there
Ogmore-by-Sea sits where the River Ogmore meets the Bristol Channel, at the western end of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast – fourteen miles of limestone cliffs and coves running east towards Aberthaw. It's four miles from Bridgend, off junction 35 of the M4. We were staying in an Airbnb near Afan Forest, about thirty minutes' drive north – the hiking trails there are in part one — and Ogmore made an easy day out from it. From the Midlands it's roughly two and a half hours drive and you can go via Symonds Yat which is worth a stopover (I've covered a wonderful pub/B&B in the area in a previous post, check it out).
What to do
Merthyr Mawr, Ogmore Castle, the horses and the stepping stones
Start in Merthyr Mawr. Drive past the thatched cottages, park in the car park that's next to the river (Candleston Car Park), and cross the field to Ogmore Castle on the riverbank. The castle is a Norman ruin, free to wander, and enough of it stands that you can close your eyes and put the roof back on. The field beside it belongs, as far as I could tell, to the horses.
A line of stepping stones crosses the River Ewenny beside the castle. The kids enjoyed crossing them. My husband, worn out from the previous day's hike, fell asleep with his head on my lap inside the castle grounds while I sat and looked at the view. I'm telling you that because it says more about the place than a description of the masonry would.
Merthyr Mawr is also the gateway to Merthyr Mawr Warren, a national nature reserve of sand dunes rising to the Big Dipper – at around 200 feet the tallest dune in Wales, second in Europe only to the Dune du Pilat, and a stand-in for the Arabian desert in Lawrence of Arabia. We heard about it, drove past it, and admired it from the car, because my heart was set on the sea. It's clearly the area's proudest claim to fame. Next time.
Ogmore-by-Sea beach
A wide, sandy beach at low tide, backed by cliffs, with a big pay-and-display car park along the seafront that had plenty of spaces even in August. The water was, let's say, not seasonably warm, but that didn't stop the surfers or the children.
The water. The beach sits at a river mouth and the currents where the Ogmore meets the sea are strong. Swim in the middle of the beach, away from the river, and check tide times before you walk out along the sand – the tide comes in fast on this coast and there are various signs posted to warn rebellious swimmers.
Dogs. The council's position is that Ogmore-by-Sea's seasonal dog ban is under review and isn't being applied in summer 2026, and that Hardee's Bay, just east of the village, is dog-friendly all year. Check the signs when you arrive.
Dunraven Bay and the fort on the headland
We came to Dunraven Bay, at Southerndown, on the way home a day or two later, because I had read about a waterfall that falls straight onto a beach somewhere along this coast and wanted to find it. I didn't find it – after a hot, dry fortnight there may not have been much of it to see – but Dunraven Bay was worth the detour on its own.
Parking. There's a pay-and-display car park as you drive down, but it's a walk from the beach. Keep going – down the hill, through the metal gates and up the hill again – and there's a second car park with parking attendants, £5 for the whole day, right by the bay.
Dogs. Dunraven Bay has a seasonal ban from 1 May to 30 September and the signs are clear. We couldn't take our dog on the beach for that reason but she did come with us on the walk up to the cliffs. There were, I'll note, dogs on the beach anyway; either their owners knew something I didn't or they were chancing it. Being a rule-following sort of dog owner, we took the signs at their word.
The headland. Walk up from the bay and you're on Trwyn y Witch, the promontory above the beach. On it are the earthworks of an Iron Age fort and, beside them, the remains of Dunraven House – a mansion demolished in 1963 whose walled gardens are still there to walk through. Cliffs, ruins, wind and sea: this was the view that made me think of The Odyssey.
The coast path between them
Ogmore-by-Sea and Dunraven Bay are linked by the Wales Coast Path, about 5 km of clifftop each way, or a 10 km loop if you come back inland through Southerndown and the farms. We did them as two separate visits; if you have a full day, do them as one walk and eat at the Pelican Inn at the end.
Dunraven Bay
Where to eat
The Pelican Inn
Beside the castle and ten minutes' drive from the beach, the Pelican Inn is a pub that's a little bit fancy without being precious – a proper range of real ales, a garden looking over the fields to the dunes, a dog-friendly bar that stocks dog beer and canine pasties, and service so friendly it felt like being expected.
The pub's full name used to be the Pelican in her Piety, which I thought was interesting. It's a throwback to a medieval image: a pelican wounding her own breast to feed her young with her blood. The story comes from the Physiologus, a Christian text from around the third or fourth century, and was repeated in bestiaries for a thousand years; the pelican became a symbol of Christ's sacrifice and the Eucharist, and from there a stock heraldic device – it's on the arms of Corpus Christi colleges in both Oxford and Cambridge, and Elizabeth I had herself painted wearing one. A lot of theology for a pub but it does make sense: a mother giving everything she has to feed her children, associated with a place that feeds people.
I'll be honest about what I ate, because it matters to the story of this blog. I had the lamb shank with mash and minted peas. It was exactly what I wanted to eat in Wales, it was very good, it was far too much food, and it turned out to be (potentially) the last lamb shank of my life. My husband had the pie and chips, my daughter the sticky pork belly, my father-in-law the gamon, and everyone was happy.
Elsewhere on the coast
For fish and chips on a promenade, Porthcawl is twenty minutes west. And if you're weighing up this coast against the better-known one: we'd been to the Mumbles the day before. It was fine. Ogmore-by-Sea and Dunraven Bay, with their wilder, emptier look, won by a mile.
The Mumbles promenade
Where to stay
Ogmore-by-Sea has very little in the way of hotels, which is a large part of why it feels the way it does.
What we did: self-catering near Afan Forest. An Airbnb about thirty minutes north gave us the forest trails on the doorstep and the coast as a day trip, which suited a family who wanted both. Airbnb is the realistic route for the whole area.
Merthyr Mawr or Ogmore. If you can get a thatched cottage in Merthyr Mawr, get it. Otherwise self-catering in Ogmore puts you a walk from the beach and the castle.
Southerndown. Small and quiet, with Dunraven Bay below and the coast path on the doorstep. Spa hotels and B&Bs in Southerndown (ad).
Porthcawl. Twenty minutes west: a proper seaside town with Rest Bay for surfing, a promenade, fish and chips and the widest choice of hotels on this stretch. Best if you want things to do in the evening. Hotels in Porthcawl (ad).
Bridgend. Chain hotels, budget prices, fifteen minutes from the beach and on the M4. Best if this is a stop on a longer trip. Hotels in Bridgend (ad).
Questions I'd have asked
Is it good for families? Very. The castle, horses and stepping stones are a morning on their own, the beach is sandy at low tide, and the dunes are a natural playground.
Is it busy? Weekends and school holidays, yes – on the beach and in the Pelican Inn's beer garden. The castle field and Merthyr Mawr were quiet even in August.
Do I need a car? Realistically, yes. Buses run from Bridgend but the villages are spread out and the two bays are a drive apart.
Dogs? Dunraven Bay: banned 1 May to 30 September. Ogmore-by-Sea: check the signs – the ban is under review and not being applied in 2026. Hardee's Bay: dogs all year. The Pelican Inn: very welcome.
Best time? Honestly, this feels like a place that would retain its charm irrespective of the time of year! We went in the summer but I can picture it being magical in Spring, Autumn and Winter too.
Lasting impression
Ogmore-by-Sea and Merthyr Mawr made me think about contentment: waves against cliffs, horses in a castle field, a village that hasn't needed to change much in a few hundred years.
Life focused on the basics, and everybody needing very little to be happy. Go and see if it does the same to you.
Been? Tell me what I missed – especially that waterfall.
I'm Lorna — Mauritian appetite, Midlands postcode, and a habit of planning holidays around lunch. I write about the food that got me here and the food worth travelling for.
Keep reading:
Lorna
