Cardigan’s biggest
Victoria Gardens
Park or garden
0.3 ha (1 acres)0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Cardigan
2 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Llywelyn2000 · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Cardigan · parks, paths & countryside
The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park begins 1.0 mi from Cardigan
Footpaths add up to 18 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 1.4 for every square kilometre. The sea makes up 13% of the area within 5 km. 69% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Cardigan grades B− for the outdoors: #12 of 23 in Dyfed. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.9 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
69%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
18 km
1.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
13%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
The sea
13%
of the area within 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Cardigan?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside close byThe Pembrokeshire Coast National Park starts 1.0 mi north-west.On a National TrailThe Pembrokeshire Coast Path main route passes through.Historic parksCardigan Castle is a registered historic park (Grade II).Few mapped footpaths1.4 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.
Cardigan’s strongest suit is the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park close by, followed by the Pembrokeshire Coast Path main route. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Cardigan grades B− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Cardigan, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B−
Better than 45% of UK towns#12 of 23 in Dyfed · 26th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
41out of
100
100
A park within a walk69%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
30out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape13%of the land within 5 km
73out of
100
100
Footpaths1.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
13out of
100
100
The sea13%of the area within 5 km
87out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Towns its size
Cardigan is 26th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,600 to 3,900 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Cardigan1.4
Towns its size2.4
Dyfed towns1.2
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Cardigan1.9
Towns its size1.9
Dyfed towns2.2
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Cardigan69%
Towns its size79%
Dyfed towns74%
All UK towns83%
Cardigan falls furthest behind on path per km², where 50 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trimley St Mary Suffolk | A+ | 2.3 | 100% | 3.8 | 34% |
| 2 | Marsden West Yorkshire | A | 1.9 | 100% | 6.5 | 33% |
| 3 | Batheaston Somerset | A | 3 | 84% | 4.6 | 71% |
| 4 | Cuckfield West Sussex | A | 6.7 | 70% | 4.9 | 49% |
| 5 | Bethesda Gwynedd | A | 2.5 | 90% | 3.2 | 49% |
| 6 | Mulbarton Norfolk | A− | 7 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 7 | Kingswood Surrey | A− | 4.6 | 27% | 6.3 | 17% |
| 8 | Esh Winning County Durham | A− | 3.2 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 9 | Old Basing Hampshire | A− | 13.6 | 92% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 10 | Barnt Green Worcestershire | B+ | 37.8 | 81% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 11 | Colden Common Hampshire | B+ | 2.7 | 82% | 2.8 | 35% |
| 12 | Stanstead Abbotts Hertfordshire | B+ | 2.5 | 92% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 13 | Papworth Everard Cambridgeshire | B+ | 4.3 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 14 | Locking Somerset | B+ | 2.7 | 84% | 2.4 | 23% |
| 15 | Lyme Regis Dorset | B | 1.4 | 60% | 2.5 | 56% |
| 16 | Greasbrough South Yorkshire | B | 2.9 | 80% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 17 | Mayland Essex | B | 2.6 | 91% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 18 | Romanby North Yorkshire | B | 3.1 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 19 | Framlingham Suffolk | B | 3.7 | 73% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 20 | Mytholmroyd West Yorkshire | B | 1.8 | 88% | 5.8 | 0% |
| 21 | Whitwell Derbyshire | B− | 1.7 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 22 | Rhuddlan Clwyd | B− | 1.8 | 85% | 0.9 | 8% |
| 23 | Glanaman Dyfed | B− | 3.3 | 83% | 0.8 | 29% |
| 24 | Cholsey Oxfordshire | B− | 2.3 | 55% | 2.5 | 81% |
| 25 | Alford Lincolnshire | B− | 2.1 | 85% | 1.5 | 26% |
| 26 | Cardigan Dyfed | B− | 1.9 | 69% | 1.4 | 13% |
| 27 | Kingskerswell Devon | C+ | 3.5 | 76% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 28 | New Romney Kent | C+ | 2.5 | 79% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 29 | Oakworth West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.3 | 84% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 30 | Tutbury Staffordshire | C+ | 2.5 | 90% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 31 | Pewsey Wiltshire | C+ | 1 | 64% | 3 | 91% |
| 32 | Troedyrhiw and Pentrebach Mid Glamorgan | C+ | 2.5 | 84% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Norton Fitzwarren Somerset | C+ | 1.3 | 35% | 5.2 | 6% |
| 34 | Forest Row East Sussex | C+ | 0.3 | 51% | 3.4 | 94% |
| 35 | Coggeshall Essex | C | 2.1 | 84% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 36 | Bransgore Hampshire | C | 1.9 | 71% | 1.2 | 49% |
| 37 | Bromyard Herefordshire | C | 0.9 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Glemsford Suffolk | C− | 1.1 | 84% | 3 | 0% |
| 39 | Desford Leicestershire | C− | 1.6 | 90% | 2 | 0% |
| 40 | Hawkhurst Kent | C− | 1.1 | 60% | 1.4 | 100% |
| 41 | Holton le Clay Lincolnshire | C− | 2 | 59% | 1.4 | 8% |
| 42 | Fulbourn Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.7 | 74% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 43 | West Parley Dorset | C− | 1.6 | 20% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Bloxham Oxfordshire | C− | 2.6 | 71% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 45 | Sutton Cambridgeshire | D | 1.9 | 82% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 46 | Kempsey Worcestershire | D | 0.9 | 40% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 47 | Windlesham Surrey | D | 2 | 57% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 48 | Pen-pedair-heol Gwent | D | 0.9 | 80% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Puckeridge and Standon Hertfordshire | D | 0.9 | 59% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Langford Bedfordshire | D | 1.4 | 63% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Spilsby Lincolnshire | D | 0 | 0% | 2.2 | 23% |
| 52 | Wilsden West Yorkshire | D | 0.6 | 61% | 3 | 0% |
| 53 | St Columb Major Cornwall | D | 1 | 89% | 1 | 0% |
| 54 | Bilton East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.3 | 66% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 55 | Llanbradach Gwent | D− | 1.2 | 52% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 56 | Upwell and Outwell Norfolk | D− | 1.8 | 43% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 57 | Long Buckby Northamptonshire | D− | 0.6 | 52% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 58 | Penyffordd Clwyd | D− | 0.7 | 36% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 59 | Llanharry Mid Glamorgan | D− | 0.6 | 50% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Copmanthorpe North Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 38% | 1.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Cardigan’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Cardigan
The biggest is Victoria Gardens, 0.3 ha (1 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
King George's Field
Playing field
1.1 ha (3 acres)
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Cardigan
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
7 in 10 Cardigan residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (69%)Further (31%)
Cardigan69%
Towns its size79%
Dyfed towns74%
All UK towns83%
About 1,200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 12 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 314 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Cardigan
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast
1.0 mi north-west615 km²since 195113% of the land within 5 km
13% of the land within 5 km of Cardigan is National Park or National Landscape, more than 72% of UK towns. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park covers 615 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Cardigan is on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path main route
18 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Cardigan and the kilometre around it, 1.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegional
Ceredigion Coast Path5.4 km
Wales Coast Path (Pembrokeshire) link2.7 km
Pembrokeshire Coast Path main route2.2 km
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path main route, a national route, passes Cardigan. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Ceredigion Coast Path and Wales Coast Path (Pembrokeshire) link.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
History along the way
A registered historic park in Cardigan
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Cardigan’s named parks.
Registered · Grade IICardigan Castle0.8 ha
Listed buildings insideVictoria GardensBandstand in Victoria Gardens and The War Memorial including surrounding fence
A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic England, National Heritage List for England.
When to get out
The best walking months in Cardigan: May to September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.2 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.7 | 16.7 | 16.3 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 122 | 95 | 84 | 75 | 74 | 84 | 84 | 97 | 92 | 131 | 159 | 147 |
May is the driest month (74 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 159 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 22 nights a year. The climate in Cardigan →
The coast
Cardigan is near the sea
13% of the area within 5 km of Cardigan is sea. 3 beaches are mapped within 5 km.
Patch Beach0.9 mi from town
DirectionsCei-bâch / Little Quay1.9 mi from town
DirectionsTraeth y Mwnt2.6 mi from town
DirectionsThe Pembrokeshire Coast Path main route passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
12 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 7
Pen Trebared61 m (200 ft) · 0.2 mi from town
DirectionsParc-Y-Pratt92 m (302 ft) · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsBanc Y Warren146 m (479 ft) · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsBryn Albro125 m (410 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsCrug Llwyn-Llwyd140 m (459 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsMount Pleasant118 m (387 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsTowyn Warren125 m (410 ft) · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 2
Coed y Mwldan Nature Reserve1.0 ha · 0.0 mi from town
DirectionsTeifi Marshes Nature Reserve92 ha · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 12
Ardal Chwarae Golwg-y-Castell Play Areain town
DirectionsAwel yr Afon Play Areain town
DirectionsFelin Ban Play Areain town
DirectionsKing George V Playgroundin town
DirectionsNetpool Play Areain town
DirectionsRidgeway Playgroundin town
DirectionsTeifimaniain town
DirectionsFerwig Play Area1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Fforest Camp1.1 mi from town
DirectionsSlipways 3
Glanfa Glanteifon Slipway0.7 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 2 slipways without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
St DogmaelsAberporthNewcastle EmlynCardigan
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardigan | B− | 1.9 | 69% | 13% |
| St Dogmaels 1.1 mi | C+ | 1.4 | 71% | 23% |
| Aberporth 5.8 mi | D | 0.6 | 38% | 0% |
| Newcastle Emlyn 8.6 mi | B− | 5.9 | 100% | 0% |
Newcastle Emlyn, 8.6 miles away, grades B−, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Newcastle Emlyn has at least twice Cardigan’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Cardigan
What is the biggest park in Cardigan?
Victoria Gardens, 0.3 ha (1 acres). King George's Field (1.1 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Cardigan near a National Park?
Yes. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park begins 1.0 mi north-west of the town’s edge. It covers 615 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
What are the best walks near Cardigan?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Ceredigion Coast Path, Wales Coast Path (Pembrokeshire) link and Pembrokeshire Coast Path main route.
How many people in Cardigan live near a park?
69% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Cardigan?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in Cardigan are historic?
Cardigan Castle (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is Cardigan good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 13% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 41% (1.9 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Cardigan’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Cardigan’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.