Since first moving to Swansea for university nine years ago I’ve been down to the Gower countless times. I, like the majority of people living in Swansea, absolutely love it. There’s something so special and homely about trips to Gower – whether that’s for a stroll across the sands, a hearty cliff-top walk, or an evening dip in the sea.
For a year and a half I lived in Bishopston and enjoyed after-work and lunch-time walks to Brandy Cove, Caswell, and Langland. You can watch my New Years Day walk along Gower here while I’ve enjoyed a fair few pleasant walks along Rhossili and Three Cliffs over the years too. So when asked to get the number 118 bus from Swansea’s bus station to Rhossili – thought to be the city’s “most scenic” bus route – I was already excited. Fortunately I was not left disappointed.
The route, run by Adventure Travel, runs roughly every two hours from Stand T at Swansea Bus Station to the Rhossili terminus and journeys through Sketty, Killay, Parkmill, Penmaen, Reynoldston, Knelston, and Scurlage over the course of just under an hour. Once a day bus 118 also travels to the Port Eynon Terminus so if you fancy a trip there catch the 118 at 5.10pm and you'll arrive at Port Eynon at 6.13pm. You can get the biggest Swansea news stories straight to your inbox with our newsletter.
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I got the 11.20am service on Tuesday morning and it departed pretty much on time. After puling away from the station bus 118 went up towards the Kingsway, driving along the side of Coppergate student accommodation and stopping in Christina Street. There I was really surprised by just how many people got on board. A mixture of couples, families, and solo travellers, several of which appeared to be students from the nearby student block, almost everyone bought a ticket from the driver for Rhossili. Whilst there were still plenty of seats available on the bus I do wonder if there would be enough seats for everyone on a warmer day in the summer term or summer holidays when the service would be even busier – perhaps Adventure Travel should consider running a double-decker service instead of a single-decker?
The route starts off with typical residential views
Very few people got on the bus after this first stop. While a few got off en route through Sketty and Killay the majority of people were on the bus for a trip out to Rhossili. At £5.60 for an adult return ticket (or £7.30 for an adult day outer zone ticket) the trip isn’t much cheaper than parking your car at the National Trust car park for the day (£3 for up to two hours, £6 for more than two hours, National Trust members free) – but is perhaps much easier than navigating the notorious winding roads of Gower by yourself. Plus you can talk to your friends and stare out the window and admire the views, which is difficult and dangerous to do while driving.
After passing Coppergate student accommodation the bus turned left at the lights and travelled along Mansel Street into Walter Road. Views here were pretty much what I expected en route: loads of cars, houses and people milling around – but obviously, I knew the nicer views would come later into my journey.
After zooming up Walter Road and along Uplands Crescent the bus continued up towards Sketty Road – and I caught my first glimpse of an animal. Kind of. Outside a solicitors firm/post office I spotted a post box with a lovely Welsh dragon postbox topper – adorable! This was probably the highlight of the first third of my journey but after the bus continued up Sketty Road and along Gower Road in Killay typical city views were soon replaced by pretty countryside scenes.
But views soon improve
Journeying through Upper Killay and Blackhills I couldn’t help but just stare out the window at field after field. There wasn’t an awful lot of traffic so we seemed to zoom our way along but it was really easy to forget about work for a few minutes and enjoy a country view. Given we’ve had a lot of rain recently I was surprised so many fields were dry and yellow-ish, rather than a juicy green, but it certainly made a nice change from my typical view of row upon row of houses as I work from home most days.
After Blackhills the bus passes through Parkmill, which looked lovely and inviting in the April sunshine. We passed the Gower Inn pub, shining in the sun in all its glory, the West Glamorgan Guide Centre, popular independent café and ice-cream shop Shepherds, and then the Gower Heritage Centre. I understand this is a staple for every Swansea primary’s school trip but as I only moved to the city as an adult I never went there as a child and haven’t yet visited either. Certainly when driving past the heritage centre looked like a great place to visit and I’ll be sure to get down there this summer.
After Parkmill we journeyed through Penmaen and the turn-off for Perriswood before driving through Little Reynoldstown, Reynoldston Green, and Knelston – three villages which looked like they’d come straight out of a story book. At least from the road it looked like each village had just a handful of lovely cottages but very little else. We also passed more fields – some full of buttercups, others full of weeds and brambles. We passed fields of sheep and cows, which provided something different to look at if you could see them through the window frame on the bus and through the hedges next to the road.
After Knelston the bus took me through Scurlage before arriving at the Rhossili terminus almost an hour after it departed Swansea bus station – with beautiful views of Rhossili Bay below and Worm’s Head ahead of me.
Final thoughts
While views of Rhossili and Worm’s Head are unparalleled the views out of the bus windows on the way made my day out all the more enjoyable. The route took me past quaint cottages and gorgeous villages that look like they’ve come straight out of a fairytale, pleasant fields filled with flowers, plants and trees (makes a nice change from the concrete jungle of parts of Swansea) and past fields of sheep and cows – though the windowframe was in the way of my view.
Of course the route did also take me through some long, winding lanes and I certainly didn’t envy the driver navigating the bus through them. And the grass on many fields were a harsh, ashy yellow colour rather than the lush green I was hoping for. But ultimately the bus journey is an enjoyable and relaxing one – and boasts some lovely views of countryside before dropping you off right at the top of one of Wales’ most beautiful sights: Rhossili and Worm’s Head.
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