Cardiff Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Cardiff (Welsh, Caerdydd) is the capital of Wales and is located in the south of the country. Though it had a reputation of being a rough, industrial city, Cardiff has changed dramatically in recent years. It is now a lively and modern capital city (population c. 310,000), gaining popularity with tourists interested in its history and culture. Summer is by far the best time to visit, as many of the attractions are outdoors.
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Get in
By plane
The main airport is Cardiff International Airport, located nine miles south of the city. This is the only major airport in Wales, and is served by the following airlines.
- Air Southwest operate domestics to Manchester and Newquay.
- bmibaby operates domestic services to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey and Belfast, and international services to Alicante, Amsterdam, Faro, Malaga, Palma Mallorca and Prague.
- KLM operates services to Amsterdam.
- Aer Arann operates services to Dublin, Cork and Galway in Ireland and also to Lorient in France.
- Zoom operates seasonal summer services to Toronto and Vancouver.
- Eastern Airways operate flights to Newcastle, with flights to Brussels and possibly Aberdeen to start soon.
- Thomsonfly operate flights to Jersey and various airports in Spain, plus some other charters.
There are regular bus services from the centre to the airport. Alternatively, you can also get to the airport using a bus service from Barry Station, which is closer to the airport and on local rail lines. In 2005, a nearby railway line was reopened, including a station at Rhoose, where there are shuttle buses to the airport.
It is often easier to fly to an airport in England such as Bristol or even one of the London airports when visiting South Wales, as a greater range of airlines and cities flown from are available from there.
By train
Cardiff Central station is two hours from London Paddington by train. Trains depart half hourly during the day and are operated by First Great Western. These services also continue to Swansea. They also run a service from Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour via Newport, Bristol, Bath, Salisbury and Southampton. The rail service provides quick and easy links to other interesting areas (such as Bath), making Cardiff a pleasant and cheaper place to use as a home base while exploring the surrounding areas.
Arriva Trains Wales provide local service around the city, along with longer distance services to other parts of Wales and North West England.
By car
From London, Cardiff is most swiftly reached by taking the M4 motorway west across the Severn Bridge and into south Wales. Don't forget the bridge charges a toll to cross (cash only)! This is £4.90 at the moment for a car and usually increases by 10p each year.
Get around
See
- The Millennium Stadium [1]
- Cardiff Castle [2], Castle Street. ph 029 2087 8100. fax 029 2023 1417. Cardiff Castle is a large castle whose foundations are based upon a Roman fort. In the nineteenth century it was the one of the homes of the Marquis of Bute. The Norman fort in the centre, the Welsh regimental museum and and excavated Roman ruins are open, and tours of the Bute household are available. The Bute part of the castle is quite amazing. The interior was all done in the early 1900's in a very ideosynchratic and interesting style. There is barely an inch that is not adorned with some sort of artistic work. Yet, it is not overwhelming. The craftsmanship is well worth a look. Admission is £3 for adults, £1.90 for children and seniors and £2.45 for students. Admission with a tour is £6 for adults, £3.70 for children and seniors, and £4.85 for students. There are family group discounts.
- The Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans [3], free admission. Great for kids. Also features one of the most beautiful gardens in Wales.
- National Museum & Gallery of Wales [4], free admission. An excellent collection of paintings from all periods (strong on Impressionists), plus archaeological and geological exhibits, cafes and shops. Buy parking vouchers here if needed.
- The Wales Millennium Centre [5] Stylish new arts venue in Cardiff Bay, with cafes and shops.
- Cardiff Bay Mostly restaurants, bars and cafes, but a good place for a 'passeggiata' on a Sunday afternoon. Boat rides in the Bay (permanently water-filled since the barrage was built), a few shops, and a children's playground at the far end (near the historic Norwegian church). Beautiful views across to Penarth.
- Techniquest [6] - great for kids. Regular toddler days.
Do
- Cardiff is excellent for shopping, especially clothes. The Victorian arcades are worth a visit in themselves. They have lots of little shops, food markets, etc. Up-market homestores include Melin Tregynt (blankets, cushions and trinkets), and Banana Custard (for kids). There is a five block shopping district that is closed to cars, so it is easy to walk from shop to shop. All the usual suspects, such as Marks and Spencer, Boots, Virgin music, etc. are here. There is also a reasonably useful Sainsbury's anchoring one end of the road, if you are looking for take out food. But all the shops are closed up tight by 6:00 P.M. except Sainsbury's.
- At near-by Penarth, cruise the Bristol channel during summer months to the likes of North Devon, Gower Peninsula and even occassionally Pembrokeshire on the paddle steamers Balmoral and Waverly. Penarth to Ilfracombe is particularly spectacular, taking in the massive cliffs of North Devon.
Buy
Fish from Ashton's stall in the atmospheric indoor market, off the Hayes, Church Street or St Mary St.
Cheese from Madame Fromage in the Castle Arcade.
Records, tapes and CDs from Spiller's Records, The Hayes, claimed to be the 'world's oldest record store'. This is the place to buy your Welsh music.
Eat
Things are getting better in Cardiff for eating and it can be very difficult to book a table in the better restaurants on a Friday or Saturday evening. A useful guide to Cardiff Restaurants can be found at Cardiff Eating.
Top End
Castell Restaurant in the Angel Hotel
The Armless Dragon
Benedictos
Le Gallois - Roughly translated from French it means "The Welsh". This is a fantastic gourmet restaurant specialising in bringing Gallic flair to traditional Welsh food such as cockles and lavabread. Expect to pay somewhere around £40 per head.
Middle
Cibo Italian Café on Pontcanna Street (at the non-city-centre end of Cathedral Road). Great little café-restaurant with superb food. Can get busy - booking strongly recommended. Expect to spend about 8-12 GBP for a main course.
Brazz (Cardiff Bay) serves good food, and is a stylish place to sit.
The Goat Major pub has some very good bar style food in an authentic Welsh atmosphere. Try the Welsh faggots (a type of meat ball) in peppercorn gravy.
Low End
There are lots of little Mom and Pop eateries with reasonable, plentiful and quite tasty takes on the Full English breakfast, sandwiches, fish and chips, etc.
Cafés
Café Mao is worth seeking out on Whitchurch road. Very good quality sandwiches for similar prices elsewhere.
City Canteen on Mount Stuart Sq is also worth a look
Drink
Cardiff is a place to drink, favoured by Stag and Hen Parties from all over the UK. St Mary St contains many pubs and clubs and becomes wild, exciting and sometimes dangerous on Friday and Saturday nights. There are numerous clubs only a block from the train station that are bumping into the wee hours. For a quieter drink seek out Floyds above the clothing store.
If coffee is your drink of choice, there are at least five Starbucks outlets.
Sleep
- Wedal Road Youth Hostel: for £19 (adult without YHA membership) it's the cheapest place to stay and – for a Youth Hostel – really quite funky: no curfew, modern, clean, friendly personnel, and a sumptuous English breakfast is included; the only setback is that it's situated a 45-minute schlepp away from the city centre
- Express By Holiday Inn Cardiff Bay, Longuiel Close. Clean hotel in Cardiff Bay. 15 minutes walking distance from the centre.
There is a Marriott hotel within a block of the train station, right across from the clubs. It has reasonably comfortable rooms (not yet with the Marriott upgraded beds). They have high speed internet connections in the rooms, but the fee is 15 pounds per day for the service. The staff is friendly and helpful.
Get out
The Vale of Glamorgan to the southwest of Cardiff contains the Victorian seaside towns of Penarth and Barry. Cowbridge is a picturesque town to the west. The superb Glamorgan Heritage Coast is around 10 miles west of Cardiff, stretching from Llantwit Major to Ogmore-by-Sea, the majestic liassic/carboniferous cliffs provide sparkling views across the bristol channel, and the small little back roads (particularly the road to ogmore-by-sea) provide some of the most spectacular driving routes in wales. The Brecon Beacons and the town of Brecon are to the north. The Taff Trail cyclepath runs from Cardiff to Brecon. There's a good beach at Southerndown, around 30 minutes' drive to the West. Try taking the train to Newport and visiting the Roman amphitheatre there. It is quite well preserved and gives a real feel for how the Romans would have used the space.
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