We have seen Paxton’s Tower from afar more times than I can count. Not only is it visible from the Botanic Gardens, but it can also be seen from Dinefwr Castle. Both places we visit often. Not to mention all the times we’ve seen it as we drive through Carmarthenshire.

Despite this, until today we had never actually been to visit the tower itself. I’ve been putting it on the summer bucket list most years, but we just hadn’t made it up there yet. But now we can finally tick it off the list!

Paxton’s Tower is looked after by the National Trust, but there is no payment required to visit it, and the car park is also free. Once you park up, you can see the tower off in the distance and it’s actually a very short walk through a field to get to the tower itself. I think we were all expecting a little bit of a longer walk, or more of a hill to climb up, but we were pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to get to.

The tower itself is really impressive to view up close, but even more impressive are the views you can enjoy all across Carmarthenshire. Even on a cloudy day, like today, we could still see really far, and the landscape is really stunning. We also managed to spot the great glasshouse at the botanic gardens, as well as Dryslwyn Castle, and we think we spotted Dinefwr Castle in the distance, but without our binoculars we couldn’t be sure.

There seemed to be an upper level to the tower, but the gate to access it was locked. I don’t know if this is usually open, but reviews I read online suggest in the past it has been. I can imagine the views would be even more impressive from up there, and hopefully in the future it will be open again.

Our visit to the tower was fairly short and sweet, once the kids had had their fun running around the field, and playing hide and seek around the tower, we decided to head back to the car. Not one to waste a dry day though, we decided to drive over to Dryslwyn Castle for our picnic and to do some more exploring. It’s only a 5 minute drive from Paxton’s Tower, and is also free to visit, so it’s well worth combining the two places.

The children and I had visited Dryslywn Castle once before, and you can read a lot more about it in this old blog post, but it was great to go back there today. The ruins are a lot of fun for the kids to explore and climb around on, and once again, we could enjoy amazing views of the surrounding countryside.

We also made the most of our annual pass to the botanic gardens, and squeezed a visit in there on our way home. The kids got to have some fun playing on the park, and we could have a sit down and a nice drink from the cafe.

We packed a lot into our day, but we got to spend most of it outdoors, and that’s my favourite way to spend a Saturday. It was great exploring so much of Carmarthenshire, and I would highly recommend a visit to Paxton’s Tower and Dryswlyn Castle if you are in the area.