Borth's sandy beach has helped to promote it as a seaside resort. There is a youth hostel in the village, and caravan and camping sites nearby.
Cors Fochno, a raised peat mire, part of the Dyfi Biosphere, is the only UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Wales. It is located next to the village, together with the Dyfi National Nature Reserve and visitors' centre at
Ynyslas. The village is crossed by a long-distance footpath, the Dyfi Valley Way.
On 4 April 1876, the entire Uppingham School in Rutland, England, consisting of 300 boys, 30 masters and their families, moved to Borth for a period of 14 months, taking over the disused Cambrian Hotel and a large number of boarding houses, to avoid a typhoid epidemic.
Petrified tree stump at Borth; 2021
There is an ancient submerged forest visible at low tide along the beach, where stumps of oak, pine, birch, willow and hazel (preserved by the acid anaerobic conditions in the peat) can be seen. Radiocarbon dating suggests the trees date from about 1500 BCE.[3] This submerged forest[4] also ties in with the legend of
Cantre'r Gwaelod.
According to legend, Cantre’r Gwaelod was the rich and fertile ‘lowland hundred’ and sixteen cities governed by Gwyddno Garanhir, whose palace, Caer Wyddno, was reputedly near Aberystwyth. The land stretched across what is today the open sea of Cardigan Bay, and lay below sea level, protected by sea walls.
The guardian of the sea defences was Seithennyn, a friend of the king charged with the all important role of shutting the sea gates every night. One night Seithennyn, who liked his drink, was at a feast in the king's palace, and forgot to shut the sea gates. It was a stormy night and the high spring tides broke through, quickly flooding Cantre’r Gwaelod, and forcing its people to flee to the hills.
Today on a calm and quiet day, some say they can hear the bells of the drowned church of Cantre’r Gwaelod. Sit and wonder at the story and possibly listen quietly for the ringing of that submerged bell.
The tale is first recorded in the 'Black Book of Carmarthen along with tales of Arthur and Merlin. This precious manuscript is in the keeping of the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.
Visit Ynyslas, near Borth to discover the petrified forest – best seen in winter when the strong tides wash away the sand - or listen out for the sound of bells from under the waves between Ynyslas and Aberdyfi, across the Dyfi estuary, immortalised in the popular welsh folk song 'Clychau Aberdyfi (The Bells of Aberdyfi).
