Penlan Holiday Village.

The lovely, green Teifi Valley in West Wales is the tranquil location of Penlan Holiday Village. The elegant Norwegian log cabins, and small Swiss styled lodges are clean, dark wood framed and well-equipped places to sleep, rest, eat or play cards.

This is the picture of a soothing, quiet getaway in a woodland park. Before the kids moan in complaint, let them know there is an outdoor, heated pool and arcade. The younger ones will enjoy the playground, and the whole family can take advantage of the family bar and coffee lounge.

The lodges can sleep up to six people and the log cabins have 3 bedrooms. The twenty-four hour launderette will solve the spill problem and the Penlan shop is fun while the laundry gets done. The Video Blu-ray cinema and game room with pool tables will also pass the time nicely. If someone must have contact with the outside world, there is internet access. Naturally, there is a picnic area and playing field in the parkland area.

While this is good self-contained fun, there is more to see outside Penlan Holiday Village. In fact, the list of activities is quite extensive and cannot be completely covered in this article. Golf, fishing and hiking are available nearby, and the coastline of Cardigan Bay is irresistible. Just a glimpse of any area of the shore or towns along it give pause because it is too perfect and beautiful to be real.

Looking for cameras and film crews may be a reasonable reaction given the pristine, colourful vista from any viewpoint near the coast. It would seem to be ordered up for the setting of a film that wins the award for cinematography. Seeing is believing, and who would not want to see this? While adjusting to the fact that it is all real, take the Adventure Wildlife Boat Trip called, appropriately, "A Bay to Remember," because it is. Seals and dolphins will amaze and amuse, and many sea birds will make appearances as a side bonus. The trip is one to one and a half hours in length and probably seem like five minutes. There is wheelchair accessible boarding.

Now rest up for the castle exploration. There are three ruins, some with a great deal of form remaining, within very short drives of the Holiday Village. Two built in the 1100's and one from the 1200's, these medieval fortresses ooze history and the explorer can imagine knights on the parapets and jousters in the yards. Cilgerran, Carew and Newcastle Emlyn are not to be missed.

Not done yet--market towns and museums await. The National Coracle Museum in Cenarth is quite a draw, and makes everyone want to have a leisurely float. Why is such a simple craft so fascinating? Envisioning a coracle tooling down the river in the sun is like a little holiday in itself. The Cenarth Tea Rooms are close to the museum for a lunch or snack break afterwards. Pemberton's Chocolate Farm in Whitland might be of interest as well. Homemade chocolates might be so interesting that leaving is difficult.

Cenarth Adventure Centre has paintball and other excitements for a change from all of the peaceful, pleasant scenery that can only be imagined in dreams. Did you reserve a lodge or cabin at Penlan Holiday Village yet?