Located just off junction 38 of the M4 motorway, Margam Park is a great place to visit if you enjoy walking and the outdoors. The park is free to enter on non-event days, with parking at a cost of around £3.00 per day. There is a full events programme throughout the summer months, with various festivals, exhibitions and country fairs.

As you enter the park, you have three options of where you can go. Carry on straight ahead up the hill will take you to the Mansion House, turn right and you head towards the park train that will take you to the the Mansion House via a scenic route through the park (ideal for those with limited walking ability) or my preferred route of turning left towards the Monastic Ruins and then left again towards the 18th Century Orangery.

The Orangery

Completed in 1790, this is the longest Orangery in Wales and the UK. Today it is often used as a venue for weddings, exhibitions and official lunches.

Walking past the Orangery, you head towards the Crazy Golf and Fairytale Land areas. The golf is available at holidays and weekends and equipment can be hired at the front gate. The Fairytale Land has a nursery rhyme theme and is located within the Orangery gardens. It is open seasonally and ideally suited for younger children. There are play houses, a castle and a small playground area with park benches for the adults.

Fairytale Land Castle

Exiting from Fairytale Land, keep left and you will see landscaped grounds with some benches in amongst the shrubbery and small trees. Taking a right turn here and you will head around the rear of the Orangery back to the Monastic Ruins. From here head on up the wide sloping path towards the Mansion House. Surrounded by trees, the view heading on up to the imposing Mansion House is really something.

The Mansion House

 

This Tudor-Gothic style Mansion House was built in 1927 by Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot, who was the member of parliament for Glamorgan in 1830. Often called Margam Castle, this building as impressive as it is today, would no doubt be one of the most impressive ever built in South Wales during the early 1800′s. Heading around the Mansion either left or right takes you to the courtyard where you will find a gift shop, toilets and baby changing facilities as well as oudoor benches ideal for taking a rest and an ice cream. There is also a small coffee and snack shop with indoor seating, a good place to shelter during inclement weather.

Heading out of the courtyard you have two options. If you wish to take in a longer walk, take a left and head over towards the deer park entry gate. Follow the path through the deer park and around to the farmyard animals area. There are usually pigs, geese, rabits, ducks, ponies and even llamas on view before you head towards the childrens adventure playground area.

Margam Park Lake (New Pond) 

Alternatively as you come out of the courtyard carry on straight ahead towards the park train and small lake (New Pond) where the trail takes you to the childrens adventure playground. The playground is ideal for older children with a series of tunnels and overhead climbing areas with slides and rope swings. There are a few picnic benches within the playground and also just outside.

View of the Mansion House from near the Adventure Playground

After the adventure playground you may either head back towards the Mansion House and train area or take the opposite route towards the farm trail and deer park. The train ride (seasonal) back down to the car park is an ideal way to finish off your visit to the park.

Margam Park Railway (MPR) Station at the Mansion House 

The track heads from the Mansion House around the lake and then down a hill past some farm animals (not on the farm trail) and through a small wooded area where you will often see deer and wild rabbits depending on the time of year.

View from the Train across the Lake to the Mansion House

A visit to Margam Park can be a relatively cheap day out for the family, if you bring a picnic and would rather walk instead of using the train. Strolling around the 1000 acres of parkland can easily take you 3 to 4 hours or more. Most people don’t get to see all of what the park offers on their first visit, but if you budget for a full day at the park and enjoy some walking you should be able to complete a loop. Following the plan that I recommend here by taking a left just after the entrance will set you up to seeing the most of what Margam Park has to offer.