Sizing up UK's smallest city

On a three-day break to the mini-metropolis of St Davids in Wales, KAREN PRICE gets a flavour of a slower pace of life in a very unique setting

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When think of a city you often imagine an urban jungle, lined with tall buildings, shops, restaurants and bars, with traffic chaos and pedestrians jostling for space.

St Davids in Pembrokeshire has the honour of being Britain's smallest city and it’s the complete opposite of the likes of Liverpool and Birmingham and near neighbours Swansea and Cardiff.

On the western tip of Wales, right on the coast, St Davids is unlike any other city you'll have visited. In just 10 minutes (and that’s at a rather slow pace) you'll have walked from one end of the city centre to the other - and a further short walk and you'll be on the beach.

Living just a couple of hours away in Porthcawl, I've visited St Davids many times, from a girls’ weekend getaway to a family trip seal-spotting. Recently I returned for a two-night break with my partner and it was just as lovely as I remembered.

With a population of under 2,000, it’s more like a market town than a city. A cenotaph proudly stands in the middle and it has quaint buildings housing a selection of coffee shops, gift stores and clothing outlets as well as a local butcher's, a deli and traditional pubs.