|
Services:
Car Rental
Coach Tickets
Ferry Tickets
Flights
Train Tickets
Travel Insurance
London Transfers
Extras:
Advertising
Attractions
Contact Us
Disclaimer
Travel Directory
Pictures
Town and City Guides
Home
Page
Hotels By Country:
United Kingdom Hotels:
Channel Isles Hotels
England Hotels
Isle of Man Hotels
Northern Ireland Hotels
Scotland Hotels
Wales Hotels
Rest of Europe:
Southern Ireland Hotels |
 Cardiff
Location: Glamorgan, Wales, UK
Population: 330,000
Tourist Information Office: Cardiff Visitor Centre, The Old Library, The
Hayes, Cardiff, CF10 1WE
Shopping: Pedestrianised Queen Street is good for high street
shopping (brand names include: Boots, Marks & Spencer, River Island). Off
Queen Street are two covered arcades - St David's Arcade and Queens Arcade. Also
off Queen Street is the Capitol Shopping Centre which has Virgin, HMV and
Benetton. St Mary Street leads up to Cardiff Castle and is lined with one-off
alternative shops selling antiques, fashion, records, Welsh crafts and a welcome
cup of coffee. Howells, part of the House of Fraser chain, is the city's best
department store, located on St Mary Street.
Keep a Saturday or Sunday morning free to
visit the sprawling Splott Market housed in a huge hangar 25 minutes' walk
southeast of the city centre. The many stalls selling fruit and vegetables,
car boot sale bric-a-brac and second-hand records and books will appeal to
bargain hunters.
Nightlife: St Mary Street is packed with chain pubs (Life is
particularly popular). Charles Street (off Queen Street) has a couple of gay
bars and this is also the place to come for Metropolis, a modern gastropub with
a trendy crowd. Another good bet on Windsor Place (also off Queens Street) is
gastropub BSB. Both places have late licenses until 2am (Thu-Sat). Mill Lane
opposite the Marriott Hotel is Cardiff's café quarter, jammed with bars and
restaurants including the themed Russian vodka bar, Moloko. Café Jazz on St Mary
Street has live performances Monday to Friday and a disco on Saturday nights.
Creation (capacity 5,000) is the biggest club in Cardiff.
The New Theatre, a restored Edwardian Playhouse,
is home to touring theatre productions and the Welsh National Opera, until the
nation's opera company moves to its new home at the Wales Millennium Centre in
November 2004. St David's Hall has a mixture of stand-up and classical concerts
(the Welsh Proms are broadcast from here), while the Cardiff International Arena
welcomes big touring music acts. New writing has a home at the Sherman Theatre
which is also well known for its youth projects.
Chapter Arts Centre is a thriving cultural
complex with dance, theatre, fine art and art house film screenings. It is found
in Canton, a residential district 25 minutes' walk from the city centre. Back in
the centre of town, blockbuster movies come to the UGC multiplex on Mary Ann
Street and there is another big multiplex next to the Millennium Stadium near
the train station.
Clubs stay open until 2am every night except
Saturday when they close at 3am. Pubs are subject to normal licensing hours and
beer and alcopops are the most popular choices at the bar.
Eating Out: Mill Lane, at the bottom end of St Mary Street, has
a good selection of upmarket restaurants and there are also
 many smart eateries
on St Mary Street itself. Mermaid Quay in Cardiff Bay also has an upmarket
international food village with all kinds of cuisine on offer from Japanese to
Turkish, French to Indian. Dine here and you can also enjoy sea breezes. Albany
Road has lots of Indian restaurants catering to the student population. Late
night kebabs and curries are found on City Road near the University while good
old Caroline Street is 'Chippy Lane' and a good bet for late night fish and
chips. Expect to pay around £10 per head on a curry on City Road and up to £25-£35
per head for a three-course meal with wine in more upmarket joints. Most
restaurants open daily. Prior booking at weekends and during the summer months is
recommended. Dress code is casual except in very upmarket places where it is
wise to dress up to fit in.
Attractions: At first glance, Cardiff's city centre seems an
unlikely place to find a castle. However, in the midst of this urbanization,
Cardiff's ancient past is grandly displayed in the form of a fine castle.
Originally built as a fort in the first century AD by the Romans, the castle has
had many owners and roles. The Normans built a wooden keep inside the castle in
1000 AD on top of a huge mound surrounded by a moat. A newer stone keep now
stands in its place. In the late 1800s, the Third Marquess of Bute and his
renowned architect William Burges made some improvements to the castle. The
design of the improvements were a mixture of Gothic and Greek designs. The
marvelous Clock Tower with its colourful artwork contrasts dramatically with
earlier stonework at the castle. Overall this striking city-centre castle
encapsulates three periods of history - Roman, Medieval and
Victorian.
Techniquest is the UK's leading Science
Discovery Centre. Here you can discover the excitement of science in a new style
of hands-on environment that is neither museum nor funfair but has the best of
both and caters to inquisitive minds of all ages. Techniquest is a great family
outing with over 150 interactive exhibits, a Planetarium, Discovery Room and
Science Theatre. There are also many restaurants and cafes in the Cardiff Bay
redevelopment area of which Techniquest is a part. Relax, enjoy the view, soak
up the atmosphere and watch the world go by.
Llandaff Cathedral lies just outside the centre
of Cardiff. Unlike most Welsh churches, Llandaff is named not after a saint, but
after the area in which it is located. Situated on one of the oldest Christian
sites in the British Isles, the cathedral was begun in the l2th century.
However, the first Christian edifice to occupy the site may have been founded in
560 by St. Teilo bishop of South Wales who died around the year 580. The
survival of Llandaff is a miracle indeed. Cromwell's soldiers, with their
customary disregard for the sacred, once turned it into an alehouse and in World
War II it suffered severe bomb damage. Today, visitors can only marvel at what
has remained and been restored. St Teilo is buried here.
The Museum of Welsh Life is one of Europe's foremost
open-air museums and presents the life and culture of Wales in 100 acres of
parkland. It is now Wales’ most popular heritage attraction. The Museum shows
how the people of Wales lived, worked and spent their leisure time over the last
five hundred years. It has given generations of visitors an appreciation of
Welsh history and tradition. The Museum stands in the grounds of the magnificent
St Fagans Castle, a late 16th century manor house generously donated to the
people of Wales by the Earl of Plymouth.
Situated among the shops in Cardiff city centre,
the Millennium Stadium or Cardiff Arms Park as it is known throughout the rugby
world is the home of both the national side and one of the world's great rugby
clubs. The Stadium is a glittering jewel in the crown of Cardiff. Built at a
cost of over £100 million, the stadium has one of the few retractable roof in
Europe and it can seat over 70,000 spectators. This is the home of Welsh rugby,
Wales' national sport and a game loved the width and breadth of the country. If
you can get to see a game at this stadium then do, for the atmosphere will stir
even the most hardened sceptic.
Some five miles to the north of Cardiff Castle
stands the extraordinary Castell Coch or 'Red Castle'. Castle Coch is a
fairytale timeless construction in the woods and embodies a glorious dream of
the Middle Ages. Its round towers and turrets peep unexpectedly through the
trees in the hills north of Cardiff. This enchanting little castle is a
combination of Victorian Gothic fantasy and was created by the brilliantly
eccentric architect William Burges for the third Lord Bute, a fellow lover of
the medieval and reputedly the richest man in the world. The wonderful vaulted
ceiling of the drawing room is thronged with birds and its walls are painted
with Aesop's fables. Lady Bute’s bedroom offers interesting contrasts in style
and comfort. Rarely used and still perfectly preserved, this Victorian
extravaganza must be seen to be believed!
Local Transport: Cardiff International Airport links Cardiff to
Europe and other major UK Cities. National Rail connections are provided by
First Great Western to London via Bristol, Virgin Trains operate cross-country
services via the Midlands to the North East of England. Local rail connections
are available throughout Wales.
Accommodation: Cardiff has a wide variety of accommodation to
suit all requirements. Ranging from luxury five star hotels through to small
family run hotels and guest houses. Cardiff also offers a number of self
catering establishments.
Our Rating:
 A vibrant and lively City with excellent
nightlife and shopping facilities.
|
|
