Swansea Castle

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.

ParkingPay to park

No parking at the castle; Swansea Council pay and display car parks nearby, the nearest The Strand (Post Office) car park 145 m east, £1 an hour to £5 a day, Sunday £2. Not a Trust car park, so membership does not cover it.

Parking details

Cadw lists council pay and display car parks nearby without naming one. The nearest with a published tariff is Swansea Council's The Strand (Post Office) car park on The Strand, SA1 2AE, 145 m east of the castle: 136 spaces, 11 disabled bays, two electric charging spaces, open 24 hours, £1 for up to an hour rising to £5 for the day, £2 on Sundays; Blue Badge holders pay £1 for up to two hours (council page, 17 October 2026). Worcester Place car park is 120 m away and the Quadrant multi-storey about 400 m.

Driving pin: Cadw's marker on the Castle Square side of the ruin, the public square from which the castle is viewed; the castle is on the B4489 in the city centre. National Cycle Network route 4 passes 0.6 km away. Swansea railway station is about 800 m north.

About

Swansea Castle, Castell Abertawe, is the urban remnant of a once-mighty fortress, hemmed in today by the city centre but originally set on a clifftop above the old course of the River Tawe, controlling a harbour and the main east-west route along southern Wales. There has been a castle here since at least the early 12th century; the remains that stand today are the late 13th and early 14th-century New Castle, an L-shaped residential block with a tower to the north and a stretch of curtain wall over five vaulted basement rooms. Its most striking feature is the distinctive arcaded parapet on the south block, remarkably similar to those at the bishops' palaces of St Davids and Lamphey. The tower later served as a debtors' prison, and Dylan Thomas worked as a young reporter on the castle site. The ruin is viewed from Castle Square, where information boards tell its story; the interior is closed. Reviewers call it a great little piece of history worth a short stop.

Open in daylightFrom Cadw's published times

Open any reasonable time in daylight

Opening times may change at short notice.

The castle can be viewed externally from Castle Square gardens during reasonable daylight hours; the upper levels and interior are closed to the public and there is no entrance. No admission charge.

Terrain level 1, accessible: the ruin is seen from the paved city-centre square with information boards. Do not climb on the walls, which have hidden drops and the risk of falling stones. No toilets or visitor facilities at the monument; the city centre's are all around. Drones are not permitted.

Dogs: Dogs on short leads are welcome at ground level around the ruin; nobody can enter the castle or its upper levels.

Photo: The ruined walls, round tower and arcaded parapet of Swansea Castle seen from Castle Square. The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swansea_Castle_-_2022-08-22.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.