Aberystwyth to Ynyslas: 9.2 miles (14.8km) +365m -370m (15 May 2015)

This was going to be a walk in two halves: Aberystwyth to Borth (hilly) and then Borth to Ysyslas (flat). I had been told by someone who had recently walked this section that there were only two hills to negotiate in the first part. How wrong she was!

Unusually, today we were going to walk from the hotel and then be picked up at the end by the mini bus, so I was conscious of the time all day.

Our first hurdle out of Aberystwyth was Constitution Hill. There is also a funicular railway but I said that no one was allowed to use this, it would be cheating.

Although it looked steep, in the end we all made it to the top in 20 minutes.

For next 3 hours it was a continuous switchback of ups and downs; far more strenuous than I was led to believe.

By 12:30 we could see Borth below and once I had gathered up all the troops, we walked the steep slope down into Borth.

Borth is an attractive town and ugly at the same time. It appears to be in a 1950s time warp with day-trippers coming to the seaside for the day.

After 5.7 miles we came to the point where the Wales Coast Path turned right up the Dovey estuary. This was where our Thursday walk had finished when we walked from Tre’r-ddol.

After lunch we continued on north to complete the Ceredigion Coast Path. Just north of Borth the path turns inland to avoid a golf course but we decided just to walk along the beach until we came to the end of the dunes at Ynyslas.

Ynyslas with Aberdovy in the distance

There is a visitor centre at Ynyslas but no ice creams, so we sat on the dunes for nearly an hour until the mini bus arrived to take us back to the hotel.

Sign marking the end of the Ceredigion Coast Path