Dylan Thomas Boathouse

Top choice in Swansea, The Gower & Carmarthenshire


Dylan Thomas, his wife Caitlin and their three children lived in this cliff-clinging house from 1949 to 1953. It's a beautiful setting, looking out over the estuary that Thomas, in his Poem in October, described as the 'heron-priested shore'. The parlour has been restored to its 1950s appearance, with a desk that once belonged to Thomas' schoolmaster father. Upstairs are photographs, letters, a video about his life, and his death mask, which once belonged to Richard Burton.

Along the lane from the Boathouse is the old shed where Thomas did most of his writing. It looks as if he has just popped out, with screwed-up pieces of paper littered around the sea-facing table where he wrote Under Milk Wood and poems such as Over Sir John's Hill (which describes the view).