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Kassie J Runyan
Aug 12, 20234 min read

TENBY, WALES, UK - May 2023

Updated: Aug 13, 2023

6 of 40 Birthday Experiences! May 2023 - Two days in the beautiful coastal town of Tenby, Wales.



Day One: We landed in London early in the morning before taking the Heathrow Express train to Paddington Station. Such and easy express train. Then waiting the few hours until our train to Cardiff. In Cardiff we walked the mile to Hertz to pick up our rental car and got in (Rick on the right of course!) to drive the four hours to Tenby. It was mostly larger highway roads between the two so a great way to start getting used to driving on the left again. We made it to the town of Tenby which was an amazing Giltar Hotel with a gorgeous ocean view. We explored the town taking in the cliff view of the water, the historic medieval city within the old town walls, the narrow streets, and amazing food. We had a local beer at The Lifeboat Tavern - a historic pub in old town. Then on for food and drinks at HARBWR Brewery tap & kitchen restaurant and their amazing beer garden. A late walk back to watch the sun set in our room.


The earliest reference to a settlement at Tenby was from a 9th century poem, Ethic Dinbych. Tenby was taken by the Normans, when they invaded West Wales in the early 12th century and a castle built. The town was sacked multiple times in the 1100s and 1200s until William de Valence ordered the town walls built. The “old town” walls are still there and the area within it is amazing - filled with walking cobblestone streets, old buildings, and hidden alleys. The years that followed saw prosperity with shipping merchants and visits from Henry Tudor before they declared for Parliament in the English Civil War and sacked in 1648. From there it saw a decline and in ruin with pigs roaming the empty houses. In the late 1700s when Napoleon begin conquering Europe and visited, his people purchasing property and investing in the area for the spa benefits. The area started seeing summer tours by the rich Victorians in the early 1800s - including creation of beach walkways for nannies to take children for long seaside walks for health benefits - which actually led to them still having great disability access to the beaches today. A rail line opened in the late 1800s and the economy continues to be based on tourism.


Day Two: Wonderful breakfast in our hotel before heading out to one of the two beautiful Tenby beaches. To be honest, we went to Wales for the rainy cool weather (yes we are those people) and were a bit disappointed that it was so warm out! Kassie even needed to get a pair of sandals. Any excuse to shop. We walked around exploring the town before stopping for lunch and a beer at the patio of Tenby House Hotel. It was absolutely delish. One great thing we found overall in Wales are plenty of vegetarian options for both and pescatarian options for Kass. Here Kass jumped headfirst out of her food comfort zone with “pocket potato with tuna, corn and mayonnaise” which translated to a baked potato with tuna salad on top. Then on to a beer at the HARBWR Brewery Patio in an alley - which was a wonderful experience. We headed out to the beach and to St. Catherine’s Island - which was a Napoleonic Fortress on an island. It was so cool to walk around. We then explored for a while and had some delicious ice cream before having dinner back at HARBWR Kitchen and Tap again (obviously we found favorites) and back for the evening.


Day Three: We woke up and grabbed coffee and a pastry from No 25 Cafe before heading out in the car to Caerphilly.


Important Links and additional information:

  • Giltar Hotel - Tenby, Wales: https://www.giltar-hotel.co.uk/

  • The Lifeboat Tavern - Tenby, Wales: https://thelifeboattavern.com/

  • HARBWR Brewery - Tenby, Wales: https://harbwr.wales/

  • Tenby House Hotel Restaurant - Tenby, Wales: https://www.tenbyhousehotel.com/food--drink.html#SPECS

  • St Catherine’s Island - Tenby Wales: https://saintcatherinesisland.co.uk/




What started as 40 from august to august has expanded to the start of 2023 to August 2024. Due to other people planning things that we want to join… before August 2023. This is the celebration of “omg Kassie survived 40 years - we never thought it would happen.” Maybe the next 40, I’ll be more careful so it won’t be so surprising. 40 “experiences” have to be #1 unique, #2 require the day and night in the location to count, #3 that’s it.


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Originally from Iowa (Kassie) and Kansas (Rick), we met in Kansas in 2005 and immediately found that we had so much in common - including our desire to someday see the world. We now live in NYC and quickly started catching up on travel after our first (just us) international trip to Iceland in 2015. We decided to start making videos for us and our family/friends to track our travels. Kassie is in Marketing, an Author (see her poetry + author videos), and Puppet Creator. Rick is an Engineer and Script Writer (see our current and coming puppet movies!)


Kassie's Author Site: https://www.kassiejrunyan.com/

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