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Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

Port Talbot - Swansea.

I’d been meaning to do this route for a little while. I drove over the Port Talbot and parked, walked then got the train back.

It’s a flat, functional route primarily following the national cycle network 4. It’s not one I’d do again but it does the job of getting over the Swansea.

Parts of the route were very industrial and provided some good (and a little unconventional) views.

Agree with the previous reviewers that following the canal parallel to Fabian Way may have been a better route.

I actually like the small detours, particularly at the university. I had never seen the campus before and it was immaculate. The detour also allows a stop of as there is a sandwich shop, supermarket and pub/cafe alongside the route.

July 2024. Direction: Port Talbot to Swansea.

Not much to add to the review by Leiafee, which sums this route up very well. A good wheeling route, but not a particularly interesting walking route. The main point that let`s it down is that it is predominantly alongside main roads, even though a lot of it is on cycle tracks, but at least it is a functional and fairly direct Slow Way. The two deviations from the Fabian Way cycle track seem a bit pointless, but they do give the ears a bit of a rest from the traffic for a short while. A better route for this section would be along the Tennant Canal from the Amazon warehouse turn off.

Photo 1 - The Brunel Tower, Briton Ferry
Photo 2 - The Neath Valley from the Briton Ferry Bridge
Photo 3 - The Sail Bridge, Swansea
Photo 4 - Swansea Marina.

Easy and largely flat apart from the climb up to the bridge at Briton Ferry. No unpaved sections.

Swansea Marina and the loop up around the path to the Park and Ride offer some pretty bridges and a traffic free segments.

Takes a slightly odd detour up to to Amazon roundabout and another through the Bay campus rather than sticking to the main road and there's a lot of time spent on the cycle path that runs parallel to the dual carriageway at the Swansea end which is easy and fast on wheels but mildly unappealing on foot - for this stretch the route offered on the Swanea route along the canal path is nicer for the Port Tenant to Briton Ferry stretch.

The Port Talbot end was surprisingly pleasant - it runs through an industrial estate the 'energy park' but a lot of landscaping has been done and the cyclepath is very often set back from the road by greenery and planting. There's also some nice view of the older part of the docks at Briton Ferry.

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