Living In

If you're looking for real quality of life, then living in Swansea Bay could be your answer. With its unique blend of a vibrant city, stunning coast and incredibly diverse countryside, the Swansea Bay region literally offers something for everyone.

Whatever your age, your hobbies or your idea of a good time, you’ll find it within this beautiful, exhilarating area. Whether you want unpretentious, laid back and relaxed or dynamic, stimulating and inspiring, Swansea Bay’s got it covered.

Over half a million people from all walks of life already live within this diverse, colourful corner of Wales – that’s half a million who already know and enjoy the benefits of calling such a dynamic and yet relaxing region home.

Explore the links above left and take a look at some of the highlights of Swansea Bay living – we think you’ll agree that they add up to real quality of life for you and yours.

Located along the coast of South West Wales, Swansea Bay includes; the regional capital, Swansea city; the UK’s first designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the Gower Peninsula; Carmarthenshire - the ‘Garden of Wales’ and the Vales of Afan and Neath, known as ‘Waterfall country’.

Swansea Bay is a unique mix of country, coast, and city life, all of which can be easily enjoyed. Here you have a pulsing but friendly city with a vibrant and varied cultural scene and nightlife, whose centre is located just a 10 minute walk from a 5 mile stretch of golden beach. In fact, beaches and the coast are at the heart of Swansea Bay living - more than 50 other beaches and coves can be found across the region, including one of Europe’s longest. Sandy, shingly, pebbly, vast or intimate, many of them are blue flag but all of them are glorious! The surrounding rolling, rich countryside and natural environment is only ever a short drive away and Swansea Bay’s great outdoors can be enjoyed au naturel or through the many parks, gardens and nature reserves. Of course the wonderful co-location of coast and countryside means that there are also endless opportunities to get active and enjoy surfing, mountain biking, walking and much more.

A vibrant and dynamic waterside city

Swansea is Wales’ second city and the regional capital of South West Wales. Thriving and ambitious, it is an attractive waterfront city with big plans for the future.
Located on the 5 mile sweep of Swansea Bay, the city centre is just a 10 minute walk from these magnificent bay views, with the pleasure of a stroll through the Maritime Quarter and Marina to be enjoyed on the way. Take a deep breath and smell the fresh sea air!

At the heart of the city is Swansea market – Wales’ largest indoor covered market. With stalls selling everything from local crafts to electrical goods and offering a stunning array of the fresh local produce, much of which is grown or caught locally, for which the area is renowned; Welsh Black Beef, local cockles and seafood, fresh fish, including salmon and sea-trout, laverbread, sweet Carmarthen ham, home-grown vegetables, fresh welsh cakes, moreish ice creams and delicious award-winning farmhouse cheeses. You can find almost everything in Swansea Market and its great place to sample the bounty of the land and sea for yourself. Try the fresh cockles sold at the central stalls or welsh cakes hot off the griddle and soak up the market’s buzzing, sensory experience enjoyed by visitors and locals alike.

The varied retail offer in Swansea is enhanced by the host of independent shops sitting alongside the high street names you would expect – and with a huge city centre redevelopment programme in the pipeline, retail therapy is only going to get bigger and better!

Shopping aside, there are a multitude of other activities to entertain you. You could dip your toe in the 50m Olympic sized Wales National swimming pool or take the plunge in Swansea’s new £32 million leisure centre, the LC, which includes an indoor water-park with a dedicated artificial wave for trying out the surf… indoors! See the waverider in action  on the Gadget show, and if you need a little help Surf GSD give lessons! 

Or join the crowds and head to the 20,000 seater Liberty stadium, which is home to Swansea City F.C. and the Ospreys regional rugby team as well as being a venue for concerts by internationally renowned artists, such as The Who and Elton John.

For culture vultures, the city itself boasts a wide range of museums, galleries and inspirational attractions, including the award-winning National Waterfront Museum, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Grand Theatre and the Dylan Thomas Centre – celebrating the life of one of Swansea Bay’s most famous sons.

If living in the city is for you, then you have options from Victorian housing to waterside flats, with many new developments underway. If you prefer to be away from the city, then throughout the region you’ll find pretty villages and market towns full of character, each with something special to offer… and all with a friendly welcome.

The city itself is home to around 15,000 students based either at Swansea University – which was voted the ‘Best Student Experience’ in a Times Higher Education Supplement Survey in 2005 – or at the UK’s newest University, Swansea Metropolitan (formerly Swansea Institute).

As the sun sets, whatever kind of night out you want, whether its big beats, bright lights and partying till dawn, fine wines in plush, contemporary surroundings, flirting with lady luck at the casino or whiling the night away in one of the areas cosy inns and pubs, Swansea Bay can offer it. The choice, as they say, is yours………..

Miles and miles of outstandingly beautiful sandy coastline…

The area around Swansea city and the Gower Peninsula alone offers 32 miles of stunning coast with over 50 named beaches and coves – and that’s before you head west to sample Carmarthenshire’s golden gems or east to fun filled Aberafon beach!

Miles and miles of beautiful sandy coastline, dramatic cliffs, coastal paths and endless sea views….whether bathed in glorious sunshine, wild and windswept or wintry crisp…whatever the weather, Swansea Bay really does jaw dropping coastline to perfection.

And it’s not just us that think so – the area has long been lavished with awards and recognition for its wonderful bays and beaches… including those that recognise more than simply the excellent water quality here:

In 2007, the awesome scenery at Three Cliffs Bay in Gower reached the finals of ITV’s Britain’s Best View – along with a helping hand from Three Cliff’s fan, opera star and local girl Kathryn Jenkins! Worm’s Head at Rhossili meanwhile has been voted as “the most romantic place to see a sunset in the UK” by readers of Country Living Magazine. Or if you’re looking for real exhilaration, Llangennith beach is recognised as one of the UK’s premier surf beaches due to the consistency of the surf found here… perhaps helped by the area having one of the highest tidal ranges in the UK.

Swansea city itself boasts a 5 mile stretch of its own shoreline. It’s a fabulous al fresco lunch spot or the perfect place to kick of your shoes, unwind and feel yourself refreshed after a busy day in the city. Head further West and you’ll find Cefn Sidan Beach at Pembrey – one of Europe’s longest beaches and probably one of the biggest, sandiest ones you’re ever likely to set foot on – so long in fact that the furthest tip at Pendine was once used for land speed record attempts! And if you’re after more than simple sea and sand, head up to Aberafon seafront where kids, especially, will love the aquasplash playground and cycling along the promenade.

Whether it’s for paddling, swimming, surfing, windsurfing, boating, snorkelling, diving, jet-skiing, kite surfing, horse-riding, running, walking, picnicking or even just stopping, sitting and relaxing (phew!)….there’s a beach for all activities and all moods. And thanks to the seemingly endless, diverse coastline, even in the height of summer you can still find quiet spots to get away from it all and simply find time for a breath of fresh living.

In short, Swansea Bay’s inspirational coastline won’t fail to leave you refreshed and wanting more.

Activity rich and inspirational countryside

The sheer physical beauty of Swansea Bay’s natural countryside is breathtaking. Just minutes away from every village, town and even the city of Swansea itself, lies a rural environment offering you the chance to be at one with nature.

The Gower peninsula, just to the west of Swansea city, was recognised back in 1956 as the UK’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and remains one of the most breathtaking swathes of stunning countryside and coast in the UK today. Here, and at many other locations around the region, you will discover many dedicated nature reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest – as diverse a range of habitats as you will find anywhere in the UK. 

Be inspired by the region’s many formal parks and gardens. Take a stroll around Wales’ National Botanical Gardens or the rediscovered gardens at Aberglasney. Drink in the displays at Swansea’s Singleton Park and Clyne Gardens, or wander around the delightful Margam Park… taking time to enjoy the regular events and entertainments put on to draw you in.

There are innumerable ways to enjoy this fantastic environment – and many outdoor pursuits centres and experts that can help guide, equip and teach you along the way too! And so much to choose from… horse riding, rock climbing, fishing, golfing, walking, bird watching and cycling to name a few. Of course there are also many people just relaxing and taking a moment or two in this fresher place to live and work. 

If pedal power is your thing you will be spoilt for choice. Clear your head and free your mind on sweet rural lanes through the lush Gower countryside, on cross country sections of the National Cycle Network or along the dedicated cycle paths such as at the Millennium Coastal Park in Llanelli.

With over 60 miles of singletrack mountain bike heaven on offfer, head to internationally renowned Afan Forest Park, where you can tackle world class mountain-biking trails and tracks…it’s the ideal place to feel the adrenaline rush and leave the stresses of life behind.

Prefer two feet to two wheels? Ramblers and more adventurous hill-climbers will be thrilled by the diversity of the region. Marvel at the glacial lakes of the Black Mountains in Carmarthenshire, part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Wander through the Vale of Neath and be dazzled by its spectacular waterfalls. Walking in Swansea Bay is a real treat… and you never know when you might come across one of the area’s many ancient monuments

Swansea Bay’s countryside provides a continually changing, but always beautiful, backdrop to life – and whether you want it to calm, energise or exhilarate you, the options for enjoying it are endless….. and it’s all here, right on our doorstep.

Swansea Bay is easily accessible by road via the nearby M4 motorway and is part of the intercity network which links Swansea city to London Paddington in around 3 hours. Cardiff International Airport is around 40 minutes drive eastwards from Swansea and has regular flights to Schipol, Amsterdam … and from there, almost anywhere in the world.

Living in Swansea Bay is really living….. those of us lucky enough to do so think there’s nowhere finer to live, work and play. Once you’ve experienced Swansea Bay living for yourself you’ll understand what Dylan Thomas meant when he called it “the graveyard of ambition”…. you simply won’t ever want to live anywhere else.

Come to Swansea Bay - Come to Life!