Guest Post – Cottage Holiday in Aberaeron «

The River Aeron at Aberaeron. Taken by Aeronian

Andrea Daly at the blog The Accidental Businessmum took her young family on a cottage holiday to the beautiful Aeron valley last year and here’s her experience of the area…..

“We were especially looking forward to our week away as our two older children were spending the week with their grandparents and as I was heavily pregnant with our third child, it was going to be our last chance to get away together for a while.

We fell in love with the cottage as soon as we saw it although it was a little difficult to manoeuvre down the tiny driveway. The front door was about 5′ 5” high, especially funny as my partner is 6′ 3”. Inside it was obvious that the cottage had been renovated with much love and care. We entered a very tiny kitchen with what looked like a ladder propped up over the cooker! This ladder led to a mezzanine which contained nothing but a small (and apparently original) bed and chest of drawers. Although a double, the bed was much smaller than todays standard bed size. The mezzanine was a bit of an adventure and under normal circumstances would have been fine, but being 8 months pregnant, climbing a ladder and sleeping in such a small bed came as a bit of a shock!

Back downstairs, there was a reasonable size lounge off which was small bathroom with a roll top bath and shuttered windows. At the rear of the lounge were a set of french door leading out into a small brick layed patio and beyond the most incredible view of rolling hills dotted with sheep.

Inside the lounge was a wood burner, TV, DVD and oil fired central heating had we needed it. What we were staying in was a traditional crofters cottage but with all the modern conveniences.

After spending some time settling in and getting used to climbing a ladder to bed, we spent the remainder of the week exploring the local area. The cottage was well situated for Cardigan Bay, which is famous for it’s Dolphin watching. We had been advised to wait by the fish factory as the Dolphins congregate around the sea there. Unfortunately we didn’t see any but were assured that plenty of others had and there was a Dolphin watching boat trip available for the more adventurous and unpregnant!

The harbour at Aberaeron. Taken by Aeronian

We visited Aberaeron late one afternoon, and wished we had arrived earlier and spent the day there. It’s a beautiful harbor town with the houses painted all different shades. We enjoyed a delicious meal at The Harbourmaster Hotel and watched the sun go down over the brightly coloured houses.

During the whole week in only rained once and heavily! We decided to go into Aberystwyth for a coffee and some shopping  It could have easily been a complete wash out, until we saw that my favourite musical, ‘West Side Story’ was opening that afternoon at the Arts Centre. We managed to book tickets for the matinée and it turned into one of my most memorable holiday experiences ever. The performance was dramatic and emotional and at the end the cast received a very tearful standing ovation.”

For cottages in the Aberaeron area click here

Tags: Aberaeron, Family Holiday, Wales

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