Celebrate Swansea – the Welsh arts city by the sea

We’ve always know that Swansea, Wales’ city by the sea, is a very special place. That’s why we were delighted to come home to Gower to set up our holiday rental accommodation at Bayview, Oxwich. We knew that we’d have the best of both worlds on our doorstep: the tranquillity here at Bayview and the buzz of the city only a twenty-minute drive away.

We weren’t surprised (though wonder why it’s taken so long) that Swansea, poet Dylan Thomas’ ‘ugly-lovely town’, was recently named by the prestigious Conde Nast Traveller as one of the UK’s top twelve cities to visit in the UK. The editors urged readers to make a getaway to the city during these strange times of 2021 and celebrate the best locations for culture, history and fantastic food. They termed Swansea as ‘the Welsh arts’ city’ being the hothouse for culture in Wales, exemplified by the regeneration of Swansea’s High Street – a cultural gem alive with galleries and theatre spaces such as Volcano Theatre, Elysium and The Hyst offering unique performance spaces for music and the arts.

All this plus, there’s Swansea’s rich industrial and maritime past on show in its high-tech Waterfront Museum  www.museumwales. Close by, there’s Wales’ oldest museum, Swansea Museum,  www.swansea.museum@swansea.gov.uk showcasing the ordinary and the extraordinary from Swansea past and present, and the focus for the future of the city and its people.

And there’s much more to explore on foot, including the Mission Gallery www.missiongallery.co.uk an architectural gem and one of the most inspiring places in Wales for the contemporary arts, housing an ambitious mix of exhibitors, events and crafts.

Don’t leave Swansea without a visit to The Dylan Thomas Centre www.dylanthomas.com to see the wonderful exhibition of the life and work of Swansea’s most famous son. Nor without a trip to the fabulous and recently refurbished Glynn Vivian Art Gallery www.glynnvivian.co.uk where you can see the works of Welsh artists such as Gwen John, Frank Brangwyn, Ceri Richards and Josef Herman.

We think we have a unique offering here at Bayview – Swansea’s vibrant arts and cultural scene just 13 miles in distance but a million miles away from the peace and visual inspiration afforded by the AONB of the Gower peninsula.

We invite you to come and see what all the fuss is about. Discuss our range of rental accommodation (contemporary cottages, luxury flats, cosy chalets) with Wanda or Michael for a perfect base for seaside and city.

You can read the Conde Naste Traveller feature in full here at www.cntraveller.com/gallery/best-city-breaks-uk

Images: © Hawlfraint y Goron / © Crown copyright (2021) Cymru Wales