Trip around South Wales

Thanks for all the replies guys!  Sorry, I'm a bit slow in responding because my broadband doesn't come online until Monday and I'm stuck not only with dial-up but pay-per-minute dial-up, no fun!

The pictures of Tenby look great, we do enjoy places like that.  I can appreciate where Icicle is coming from, obviously some people like very touristy or crowded places others like out of the way or "local" places.  I get the feeling that Tenby is a place people can love or hate depending on what they're looking for.  DW likes to get away from the crowds, for example, she enjoys going to the seaside in winter (must be a British thing!) whereas I enjoy strolling along the beach with the Summer sun beating down and less chance of rain/high winds, etc, not that I'm totally averse to that sometimes.

I think we're trying to get the best of both worlds in this trip, tramping through the Brecon Beacons a bit and wandering the beachfront and perhaps a chance for a nice meal in a good restaurant.  Our original interest in going was for 2 reasons.  I'd only been to North Wales up to Llandudno and across on the train to Holyhead (and on to Ireland), but have never visited South Wales.
We also saw that program 'Coast' and they were talking about the Gower Penninsula and it just looked beautiful and they seemed to think it was a fantastic place.  But DW had been on a pony trekking trip through the Brecon Beacons and she said how beautiful it was there.

I think this is why we're hoping to see both surf and countryside in the trip but we don't want to overdo ourselves.

Btw, does anyone know how much further on Swansea is from Cardiff if you're coming along the M4 across the Severn (from England)?  I'm trying to decide whether we would be better off passing through Cardiff altogether or perhaps it's better to stay overnight in Cardiff both because we might be traveling too far in one evening and whether Cardiff is worth staying over night and to perhaps see a bit in the morning.  We're coming from Wycombe/Maidenhead-way, exit 8-9 on the M4 and leaving around 4:30-5:00 in the afternoon (yeah rush hour, we hope not to get stuck by Reading!).

Thanks,
Matt

Btw, does anyone know how much further on Swansea is from Cardiff if you're coming along the M4 across the Severn (from England)? 

From the Severn Crossing, it's about 70-80 miles to Swansea....Cardiff West Services (past actual Cardiff junction) is about 30-40 minutes from the Severn crossing. 

Of course all of this depends on what time of the day...you should hit that area (based on your time frame posted) around 7-8pm. 

Cardiff might be a nice stopping place for you.  Cardiff castle is lovely, so it might be worth spending the night in Cardiff and *doing* the castle first thing before heading out to Swansea.