2. Gower & Mumbles

Just a short drive from Swansea is the coastal village of Mumbles. Dylan acted with the Swansea Little Theatre in a church hall there, and frequented the local pubs. Some of Dylan’s childhood holidays were spent in the beautiful coastal district of Gower. Head for the world famous Rhossili beach and the Worm’s Head promontory, both of which feature in stories from Dylan’s autobiographical collection Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.

Visit www.visitswanseabay.com/destinations/mumbles/
Visit www.visitswanseabay.com/destinations/gower-peninsula/

3. Laugharne, Carmarthenshire

Laugharne is home to perhaps the most iconic of Dylan Thomas locations, the Boathouse, where he lived for the last few years of his life. Now a museum and tearoom, this is an essential visit, as is the nearby Writing Shed. Dylan wrote much of his short story collection Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog in the summerhouse in the grounds of Laugharne Castle.

You will find two other former homes of Dylan Thomas in Laugharne (Eros & Sea View), and many other Dylan Thomas tributes around the township. The Dylan Thomas Birthday Walk follows a route walked by the poet himself. No visit would be complete without a visit to Dylan’s favourite watering hole, Brown’s Hotel, before a pilgrimage to Dylan’s final resting place in St Martin’s Churchyard.

Visit www.dylanthomasboathouse.com
Visit https://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/laugharnecastle/?lang=en
Visit www.dylanthomasbirthdaywalk.co.uk/
Visit www.browns.wales
Visit www.visitwales.com/things-do/culture/cultural-attractions/dylan-thomas-laugharne
Visit www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/102141/details/st-martins-church-laugharne

4. New Quay, Ceredigion

Although perhaps less well known for it’s connections to Dylan Thomas, the West Wales county of Ceredigion played an important part in his life and work. Dylan and Caitlin lived in the harbour town of New Quay for a time during the second world war, and the town inspired his broadcast Quite Early One Morning, and is one of the inspirations for Llareggub in Under Milk Wood. New Quay is another essential visit, and the local connections to Dylan can be explored using the excellent Dylan Thomas Trail. Dylan’s favourite New Quay pub The Black Lion has a small collection of Dylan Thomas memorabilia on display.

Visit www.newquay-westwales.co.uk/trail.htm
Visit www.discoverceredigion.co.uk/english/where/towns/pages/new-quay.aspx
Visit www.blacklionnewquay.co.uk/

5. Pembrokeshire

A number of locations in Pembrokeshire have interesting connections to Dylan Thomas. Dylan visited the tiny city of St David’s on more than one occasion, visiting the Cathedral and the Bishop’s Palace, and just along the coast he drank at the beach-side pub, The Sailor’s Safety Inn, at Pwllgwaelod. A blue plaque in beautiful Tenby marks the location of one of Dylan’s only performances of Under Milk Wood in Wales, which took place the month before his death in 1953.

Visit stdavidsinfo.org.uk/
Visit www.visitpembrokeshire.com/explore-pembrokeshire/beaches/pwllgwaelod/
Visit www.tenbyvisitorguide.co.uk/

In the harbour town of Fishguard you can find the sites of location shooting for the 1972 big screen adaptation of Under Milk Wood starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. A plaque commemorates the filming beside the harbour in Lower Fishguard. The Ship Inn has some memorabilia from the filming of Under Milk Wood on display. In Solva you can hunt for locations from the 2015 big screen adaptation of Under Milk Wood, which was also released in a Welsh language adaptation as Dan yr Wenallt.

Visit www.gofishguard.co.uk/
Visit www.visitpembrokeshire.com/explore-pembrokeshire/beaches/solva-harbour/
Visit www.gofishguard.co.uk/project/the-ship-inn/

6. Cornwall

Cornwall plays a small but surprisingly important part in Dylan’s life, as it was here in 1937 that he married Caitlin Macnamara. Dylan had first visited Cornwall in 1935, staying in the tiny village of Polgigga, and he clearly took a liking to the area, describing Mousehole as the ‘loveliest village in England’.

Head to Penzance where a plaque marks the site of Dylan and Caitlin’s wedding at Phoenix House, formerly the registry office. Then visit Mousehole where Dylan and Caitlin stayed at the Lobster Pot, and nearby Lamorna Cove, a popular location with artists, where Dylan and Caitlin stayed in Oriental Cottage.

Visit www.visitcornwall.com/things-to-do/penzance
Visit www.visitcornwall.com/places/mousehole
Visit www.visitcornwall.com/beaches/west-cornwall/lands-end/lamorna-cove-beach

7. London

Dylan first moved to London in 1934, sharing digs in Redcliffe Street with his Swansea friends Alfred Janes and Mervyn Levy. Over the next few years he lived at a number of different London locations; a blue plaque marks his former home at 54 Delancey Street.

Head to Fitzrovia where Dylan regularly frequented pubs and bars. A plaque marks his connection to The Wheatsheaf, and this is an essential visit as it was here that Dylan first met his future wife Caitlin Macnamara. The pub still celebrates it’s connections to the poet when the Dylan Thomas Society visit each year following the annual wreath-laying at Westminster Abbey in November (cancelled in 2020). The Abbey is another essential visit to make a pilgrimage to the memorial plaque to Dylan in Poet’s Corner.

Other locations where Dylan worked or performed include BBC Broadcasting House where Dylan was a regular visitor to work on radio programmes, the Royal Albert Hall where Dylan performed in 1953, and the Wigmore Hall where Dylan performed before the Royal Family in 1946. The National Portrait Gallery and British Library both hold Dylan Thomas related items in their collections (check to see if they are available to view before visiting). The recently re-opened Half Moon pub in Herne Hill (opposite Milkwood Road) was another favourite drinking haunt.

Visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/dylan-thomas/
Visit www.thewheatsheaffitzrovia.co.uk/index
Visit www.westminster-abbey.org/
Visit www.royalalberthall.com/
Visit wigmore-hall.org.uk/
Visit www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp04466/dylan-thomas
Visit www.bl.uk/
Visit www.halfmoonhernehill.co.uk/

For a more comprehensive list of London locations connected to Dylan Thomas click here.

8. Oxfordshire

In 1946 Dylan and Caitlin moved to the summerhouse at Holywell Ford in the grounds of Magdalen College. They were guests of Dylan’s patron Margaret Taylor and her husband, the historian AJP Taylor. Holywell Ford and the summerhouse are now private college buildings, but Holywell Ford can be seen from the grounds of the college, and the college is well worth a visit.

Margaret Taylor was also responsible for finding the Thomas’s another Oxfordshire residence, the grand sounding but rather basic Manor House at South Leigh. The Manor House is also a private residence, so perhaps a better idea to follow in Dylan’s footsteps is to visit some of his favourite pubs in the county. The city centre boasts the atmospheric Turf Tavern, and the Wheatsheaf. Further afield are the George Hotel at Wallingford, The Trout at Wolvercote, and The Fleece at Witney, from where Dylan presented a live broadcast of Country Magazine for the BBC in 1948.

Visit www.magd.ox.ac.uk/discover-magdalen/visiting-magdalen/
Visit www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org/plan-your-visit/towns-and-villages/south-leigh-p355891
Visit www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/pubs/oxfordshire/turf-tavern/
Visit www.peelhotels.co.uk/george-hotel/
Visit www.thetroutoxford.co.uk/
Visit www.fleecewitney.co.uk/

9. Ireland

During the summer of 1935 Dylan stayed in a remote cottage near Ardara in County Donegal. Now a ruin, it would be a challenging but rewarding Dylan Thomas pilgrimage.

Other Irish locations connected to Dylan Thomas include the capital Dublin, where Dylan stayed for four days in 1946. The same trip took him to County Kerry, where he visited Puck Fair in Killorglin, and the Blasket Islands.

The Falls Hotel in Ennistymon, County Clare, is a former family home of the Macnamara family, and has a Dylan Thomas bar.

Visit http://ardara.ie/
Visit www.govisitdonegal.com/
Visit www.visitdublin.com/
Visit www.gokerry.ie/locations/killorglin/
Visit www.fallshotel.ie/

Further afield

This list is by no means an exhaustive list of the places connected to Dylan Thomas, and more intrepid fans might like to explore other places. Most places with some connection to the poet have been detailed on the Discover Dylan Thomas website, and if you do visit somewhere please tell us about your experience.

Please check on opening times and availability before making visits, and please respect residents and local people at those sites not open to the public.

Andrew Dally (April 2021)

All photographs copyright of Andrew Dally unless otherwise stated.