EXPLORING the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park has been named as one of Lonely Planet’s 10 best travel experiences in the UK.

Travel guide book publisher Lonely Planet has released the Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist, with the new book ranking the top 500 unmissable experiences and hidden gems across Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.

Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist is the regional follow-up to the bestselling Ultimate Travelist and a must-own book for both travellers to the UK and residents who want to discover their country’s most iconic sights and activities.

Filled with insightful commentary, photos and details of how to visit each place, this is your essential guide to exploring the very best of the British Isles – from tiny pubs and giant cathedrals to world-class coastal walks and rollicking music festivals.

Topping the list was the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, followed by the British Museum and the Giant’s Causeway, with the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park tenth on the list.

The Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist read: “If you haven’t been to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in the country’s ‘wild west’, you are missing a trick. Wholly deserving of its number 10 Travelist slot, this ravishing stretch of cliff-flanked coves, thrashing seas, wildflower-freckled moors and hedge-lined tracks leading to one-pub villages still feels like a great escape. Life around here moves in the slow lane.

“You’ve come for the beaches? Wise choice, you’re in for a treat. Tenby in the south offers a classic dose of ice-cream-licking, bucket-and-spade fun. But the further west you head, the wilder it gets, with the likes of crescent-shaped Barafundle Bay, reached on foot through the dunes, surf-hammered Freshwater, and tucked-away Marloes with its high sea cliffs, shipwreck and boats heading over to puffin island, Skomer.

“A terrific base for beach-hopping and coastal-hiking is St Davids. Britain’s smallest city is charm personified, with a whopping medieval cathedral, lanes staggering down to the sea, and a couple of highly stylish, architect-designed hotels, including art-slung former windmill Twr Y Felin and one-time Victorian convent Penrhiw.

“Break up drives by striking out on the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path, which dips and rises over kissing gates and windy clifftops to smuggler’s coves, wooded hollows where brooks burble, and Neolithic burial chambers.

“To up the adventure, go coasteering with the pros at eco-lodge Preseli Venture. Or turn your focus inland to the lonely Preseli Hills, a windswept range of rocky outcrops, low-lying peaks capped with prehistoric standing stones, and moorland flecked with gorse and heather.”

A total of 47 Welsh locations and experiences featured, with Skomer Island 59th, coasteering in Pembrokeshire 79th, St Davids Cathedral 93rd, Tenby 148th and Barafundle Bay 185th on the list.