Pembrokeshire Coast National Park named one of the best in the world

The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park has been named one of the top 5 national parks in the world by luxury travel website Condé Nast Traveller.

As the UK’s only coastal national park, the stunning landscape is popular with walkers, horse riders and tourists on Pembrokeshire cottage holidays, and features stunning natural formations such as the Green Bridge of Wales.

One of many accolades

In recent months Pembrokeshire also received ten nominations for Dark Sky discovery site awards which we reported on in this recent article, as well as being voted the second best coastal area in the world by National Geographic in 2012. In 2011 the magazine also said that the coast path, with 186 miles of meandering track along the sea, was one of the greatest hiking trails in the world. Two of its beaches have also been recognised as some of the best in Britain, making Pembrokeshire a world-renowned area of beauty for many different aspects of its charm.

Although Pembrokeshire is no stranger to praise, it is obviously still a brilliant outcome for the park, which is certain to see a boost in the numbers of people visiting this summer. National Park Authority Chairman, Mike James, said: “It is fantastic that the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park’s world-class landscape has once again been recognised as one the best in the world.

“This adds to the growing list of accolades the National Park has received in recent years and will provide a great boost to the area as businesses prepare for the Whitsun half term and the start of another summer season.”

Of the other top 5 national parks named by Condé Nast Traveller, Northumberland national park came first, then Pembrokeshire, followed by Gran Paradiso in Italy, Pirin in Bulgaria and Olympus National Park in Greece, showing that there was certainly some stiff competition!

Image Credit: Ben Salter (www.Flickr.com)