Home / Itineraries / A weekend of vineyards in south Wales
Vineyard itinerary · Wales
Welsh vineyards are spread across the whole country, but Monmouthshire and the Vale of Glamorgan have enough of them, close enough together, for a proper weekend. This plan spends a Saturday around Abergavenny and Raglan and a Sunday near Cowbridge.
Opening days and prices checked on each vineyard’s own website in October 2026. See every Wales vineyard for more.
Three small vineyards within about 20 minutes of each other. Saturday is the only day all three are open, and only in summer.
Late morning
Book the 11.30am tour of the vineyard and winery with the owners, followed by a tasting of four wines; tours run Friday to Sunday at 11.30am and 3pm and are booked on its website, which does not list a price. Without a tour, you can taste or buy wine by the glass at the cellar door, open Friday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm in summer, with Welsh cheese and charcuterie platters. The ruins of White Castle are about two-thirds of a mile away.
Book ahead
Lunch
The licensed coffee shop at the foot of the Sugar Loaf serves light lunches, cake and cheese platters, and you can order a tray of tasters of its Welsh wines with notes. From late September it opens at weekends only, Saturday 10.30am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 4.30pm, plus bank holiday Mondays. Walk-ins are welcome but booking is advised at busy times, groups are capped at eight, and dogs are welcome.
No need to book
Afternoon
In summer The Dell opens every Saturday from 12pm to 6pm, with wine by the glass or bottle and a free self-guided walk through the vines. Its guided tour with a tasting of the full range is £25 and takes about two hours, booked ahead. On the first Saturday of the month in spring and summer there is a food pop-up; on other days you can bring a picnic, and well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome.
Book ahead
Food: Lunch at the Sugar Loaf coffee shop, then dinner in Abergavenny: the Oak Room at the Angel Hotel on Cross Street is a reliable choice.
Getting between them: About 15 minutes from White Castle to Sugar Loaf, then about 20 minutes from Sugar Loaf to The Dell at Raglan.
Two vineyards about 15 minutes apart near Cowbridge, one with a hotel and restaurant and one you visit by private arrangement.
Late morning and lunch
The Llanerch Wine Tasting Experience is £25, about an hour to an hour and a half with three Cariad wines, booked and paid for ahead online. It runs all year: outdoors among the vines in summer when the weather allows, in the Tasting Lodge in winter. Arrive 15 minutes early, and allow an hour and a half from the start if you have a table booked at Roots afterwards.
Book ahead
Afternoon
A small family vineyard about a mile from Cowbridge that offers private tours and tastings for two to six people, arranged ahead by email or phone; it does not publish a price. It welcomes visitors from late May to early autumn, so contact it well before your trip to agree a time. Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome, and the grass can be long and uneven.
Book ahead
Food: Sunday roast at Roots, Llanerch’s restaurant, booked ahead; Cowbridge high street has more cafés and restaurants.
Getting between them: About 40 miles and 50 minutes to an hour from Abergavenny to Llanerch; then about 15 minutes to St Hilary.
Llanerch is the safest winter visit: its tasting experience runs all year indoors, and Roots serves lunch, dinner and Sunday roasts. Sugar Loaf’s coffee shop opens at weekends, while The Dell and St Hilary close for the season and White Castle does not publish winter hours, so ring first. Christmas events include wreath-making evenings at Sugar Loaf on 25 November and at Llanerch on 29 and 30 November 2026.
Coming up, from the vineyards’ own websites. All vineyard events.
Seasonal
A family fireworks display set to music, with a light show and other entertainment. Everyone, children included, needs a ticket.
Friday 6 November 2026 · Gates open 6pm · £25 a head plus booking fee · Book ahead
Workshop
An evening of Christmas wreath making at the vineyard.
Wednesday 25 November 2026 · Book ahead
Workshop
Make a Christmas wreath with a local florist in Calon Lodge, with a glass of mulled wine.
Sunday 29 and Monday 30 November 2026 · £65.04 a head · Book ahead
Christmas
A festive afternoon tea with a children’s disco and games and a visit to Santa’s grotto, where each child gets a gift. Adults and children pay the same.
From Saturday 5 December 2026, with further dates · 3pm to 7pm · £40 a head plus booking fee · Book ahead
Workshop
A Christmas painting class led by a local artist in the vineyard’s tasting lodge, with a glass of wine.
Tuesday 15 December 2026 · From 5.30pm · £35 a head plus booking fee · Book ahead
Llanerch is a hotel as well as a vineyard, with dog-friendly rooms and an overnight package with a tour, tasting, dinner and breakfast, and Sugar Loaf Vineyards lets Brook Cottage, a one-bedroom cottage on the vineyard. Otherwise look in Abergavenny, Raglan or Usk for the first night and in Cowbridge for the second.
Cottages in Abergavenny and nearby villages such as Govilon, Grosmont and Crickhowell, close to the Monmouthshire vineyards.
Welsh vineyards are far apart, so pick one area. In the south-east, White Castle, Sugar Loaf and The Dell are within about 20 minutes of each other around Abergavenny and Raglan, and Llanerch and St Hilary are about 15 minutes apart near Cowbridge, roughly an hour’s drive away.
Yes for tours: Llanerch’s tasting is paid in advance, The Dell and White Castle tours are booked ahead, and St Hilary’s are by private arrangement. You can drop in for a glass at White Castle, The Dell and Sugar Loaf when they are open, though Sugar Loaf advises booking at busy times.
Llanerch’s tasting experience with three Cariad wines is £25, and The Dell’s two-hour guided tour with a tasting is also £25. White Castle and St Hilary do not publish tour prices, so ask when you book.
Llanerch runs tastings all year, indoors in winter, and Sugar Loaf’s coffee shop opens at weekends. The Dell and St Hilary close for the winter, and White Castle’s winter hours are not published.
Llanerch is about a mile and a half from Pontyclun station, a short taxi ride. Abergavenny station is the nearest for White Castle and Sugar Loaf, but there is no public transport to the vineyards, so book a taxi in advance.
What is on at the vineyards that month, new tours worth booking, and our seasonal picks, from Christmas vouchers to harvest days. One email a month. Unsubscribe whenever you like.
