How many days in Swansea?

None. I went to Swansea for a day in September and was not impressed. The city got bombed in the war and was then re-built with terrible architecture. The old part that I encountered when leaving the station was really run down with some vacant premises. They even allowed pigeons to roost on top of the destination screens in the bus station meaning the poo partly obliterated the places the buses were going.

I did wander south across the copper bridge (it is impossible to write it in the Welsh way) to the new arena area and the marina - which was nice. An Industrial Museum is also in this area.

Swansea should be a lovely city - it is after all set on a wide sandy bay that is south facing. It has some lovely parks on the western side - notably Singleton Park (botanic gardens inside wall) and Clynne Gardens - both of which I have visited before.

The city also has the wonderful coastline of the Gower peninsula right on its western doorstep whilst the ‘waterfall country’ of the upper Neath valley is not far to the NE. These caves are also worth seeing and are in the upper Swansea (Tawe) Valley:>
https://www.showcaves.co.uk

Anyway, you don’t say where you are coming from or what places you plan to visit when in Wales or how long you have, so it is difficult to give any other advice. Mode of transport would also be helpful.

You may like to read this recent press article about Swansea.

Zero was also going to be my answer. It’s pretty dreary.

The Mumbles seafront is pleasant but not worth a special trip.

I am sad to say that I agree with James and Helen. I found no charm in Swansea when I visited Wales in May 2023. That being said, if you decide to stay there, I recommend the relatively luxurious Morgans Hotel. It is walkable to/from the rail station and bus station, and the staff are friendly and helpful. I stayed in a large, comfortable room in the annex across the road from the main building.

I also stayed at the Worm's Head Hotel in Rhossili, on the Gower peninsula. The hotel was no frills (very nice staff staff though), but the location was gorgeous. Rhossili is easy to reach by bus from Swansea. Have a lovely time in Wales!

When researching Wales for our trip a few years ago I didn’t find much of interest there that my wife and I would want to see, so we drove from Tintern to Tenby only stopping to see Neath Abbey ruins.

Are you planing to use Swansea as a base for sightseeing in the area? If so list what places you are intending to visit and work out from there.

As already pointed out there isn't a ,lot to Swansea and there are other much nicer places to stay.

Thank you everyone for your detailed responses. I will be traveling from Llantrisant, just north of Cardiff on my way to Tenby. St. Marys Church in Swansea was an important church in my family, so I am planning to stop to visit the church. Maybe I should just plan on a few hours in Swansea. Thanks again!

St. Mary’s Church is right in the centre of Swansea - as you probably know. One of the few buildings to survive the war.

You don’t say how you are travelling. If using the trains, you will need to go just south of Llantrisant to Pontyclun - where the expresses don’t stop. So take a stopping train to Bridgend (according to present schedules) and then wait 15 minutes or so for a train to Swansea.

Then train onward from Swansea to Tenby.

You can see Pontyclun station marked in red on Google Maps.

I was just searching for info on Swansea, trying to decide between a couple of days in Swansea vs a couple days elsewhere. Glad I came across this post.