Whether it was spending an infernal August in Sevilla, moving to Ecuador for two months, or just visiting the city of Bratislava at all, sometimes we find ourselves planning trips that leave other people with only one question: Why? Our most recent trip — to Cardiff, Wales, on New Year’s Day — was just another example. As we boarded the National Express bus to Cardiff from Bristol airport, the bus driver couldn’t figure out why in the world three Americans had turned up in winter coats and backpacks for a January trip to the gloomy UK, and he told us as much.
But with our friend Hanna visiting us in Alicante for the second time, we wanted to take the opportunity to travel somewhere new together. And flights between Alicante and Bristol (just an hour from Cardiff) were direct and cheap, and none of us had ever been to Wales before. So we followed our own typical line of reasoning, which also asks a question: Why not?
With almost no prior knowledge about Cardiff or Wales, here’s my review of the Welsh capital city.
About Cardiff and Wales
The United Kingdom is made up of four countries — England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. I won’t pretend to understand 100% how that whole thing works from a government perspective, or the fact that they’re often considered “countries within a country.”
But of the four, Wales is probably the country least thought of. England has London, Scotland has Edinburgh, Northern Ireland has Belfast. And Wales has… Cardiff? (Or Wrexham, if you’re a fan of Ryan Reynolds and lower-tier British football.)
With a population of 3.2 million, there are half as many people in Wales as there are in my home state of Missouri. Cardiff is the largest city, with more than 370,000 residents. And as the capital, Cardiff is home to the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament.
There are two official languages in Wales: English and Welsh. It’s interesting because you’ll see that most public signage is in both languages, as is typical in other places with two official languages, such as Ireland and parts of Spain. In Welsh, the name for Wales is “Cymru,” but I’d never be able to pronounce it. 😂 I did ask a bartender how to say “Cheers!” in Welsh, and he said “Iechyd da!” which is pronounced in English something like “Yaki dah!” Obviously, 99.99% of Welsh locals you encounter will speak English fluently.
While in some ways, Cardiff looks like many typical British cities, its location between the Bristol Channel and the Gower Peninsula means its a great jumping-off point for adventures to other places as well. (More on that later!)
How Many Days Do You Need in Cardiff?
You could probably see the highlights of Cardiff itself in about one full day. However, I’d recommend spending at least two days in the Cardiff area so you can spend one day renting a car and taking a drive out to the Gower Peninsula, one of Wales’s five “Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty” and the first in the country to receive the designation. We did that one of the days we were there, and we honestly loved the beauty of the countryside even more than we liked Cardiff.
Things To Do in Cardiff
One of Cardiff’s most iconic sites is Cardiff Castle, which was just a few minutes’ walk from where we were staying. As it was just after the holidays while we were there, there was a small Christmas market on the castle grounds that was complete with an ice skating rink, a few food stalls, and a large tent where you could grab a pint or a glass of mulled wine by the fire. Beyond the Christmas market, it was actually more like a castle complex than just a singular castle, with several different buildings to see. We didn’t buy tickets for a guided tour, but the grounds were impressive!
Another place that was good for wandering in Cardiff was among its many arcades. Not the type of arcade where you’d play pinball or Pac-Man, but the type made up of covered passageways, full of interesting shops and cafes. Cardiff has seven Victorian and Edwardian arcades: Central Market, Castle Arcade, Dominions Arcade, Duke Street Arcade, High Street Arcade, Morgan Arcade, Royal Arcade, and Wyndham Arcade. And it also has three modern ones: St. David’s Centre, Queen’s Arcade, and Capitol Centre.
Not far from the market arcade is the National Museum of Cardiff. We planned to go here, though we didn’t make it in the end, so I can’t share any firsthand experience about it. But we were interested in visiting because it seems to have a variety of exhibits — art, geology, natural history, and more! Oh, and it’s free, so that’s a plus. This would be the perfect activity for a rainy day.
Of course, we had to make our way to the waterfront, alongside Mermaid Quay and a monument to Cardiff-born children’s author Roald Dahl, Roald Dahl Plass. At Cardiff Bay, you’ll find some of the city’s most interesting architecture, including the picturesque Pierhead Building (sometimes known as the Big Ben of Wales), the Norwegian Church Arts Centre, and the Senedd. We actually went inside the Senedd, as it was free to enter, and it was interesting to learn a bit about how the Welsh Parliament came to be — so recently, in 1998.
Stretching along the bay is a mile-long walk, the Cardiff Bay Trail, which is essentially just a green space that leads to the Cardiff Bay Barrage Locks. They weren’t in action during our visit, but it was interesting to see the mechanics behind how they worked. And we ended up grabbing a boat ride with “The Open Boat,” for £6 each, to get a 20-minute tour of the bay. The skipper let us in on a little secret: Cardiff Bay is a completely man-made, freshwater lake, despite being next to the Bristol Channel, which leads to the Atlantic Ocean.
How Expensive is Cardiff?
Cardiff, being in the UK, is fairly expensive. Obviously not to the same extent as London, but the British pound is not super kind to Americans in general. It’s easy to get in the mindset of being like “Oh, £12 for fish and chips. That’s basically $12 USD — not too bad.” And then later you look at your credit card bill, and it was closer to $15 USD. Then have that happen to you several times a day, for a few days, and it really adds up.
Most of the pub food we ate was around £12-20 for an entree, and a pint was usually about £6.
Where We Ate and Drank
Usually in my city review posts, this section is just called “Where We Ate,” but being in Wales in the winter, one of the highlights was the drinking. The UK just has such great pub culture, and the bars were always warm and cozy inside, so we actually found the pubs more memorable than the restaurants.
Tiny Rebel: A little pub with a lot of character, Tiny Rebel makes its own beer and has a variety of craft brews on tap. I couldn’t tell you for the life of me what I ordered, but I do know that the bartender here was super friendly and answered all our silly American questions about Wales and Cardiff (including being the one to teach us “Iechyd da.”)
Tiny Rebel
25 Westgate St
Cardiff CF10 1DD
Gin & Juice: Not really a pub, but an elegant-looking cocktail bar on the corner of Castle Arcade. I like cocktails but rarely drink them because they are typically so expensive, though for Gin & Juice I made an exception — and I’m glad I did! They offer a list of spirits so long that their menu is the size of a newspaper, but they also offer classic and house cocktails. We loved the vibes here, so much that we then visited their sister bar across the street, Rum & Fizz.
Gin & Juice
6 Castle Arcade
Cardiff CF10 1BU
Head of Steam: Fairly unassuming, but clean and lots of screens for watching whatever sport may be on. For us, it was the PDC World Darts Championship, which was won by British teenager Luke Littler as we watched. I remember trying the Jubel Beer Cut with Peach and really loving it.
Head of Steam
18-19 Church St
Cardiff CF10 1BG
The Borough Arms: When Head of Steam unexpectedly closed on us at 11 p.m., we made our way to Borough. This is probably not an all-the-time thing, but as it was right after Christmas, they had £1 pints of their special Christmas beer on sale. They won my affection and a mention in this blog post.
The Borough Arms
8 St Mary St
Cardiff CF10 1AT
Where We Stayed
Most of the time when we travel, we stay in hotels that we book using a combination of points and money, thanks to our Chase Sapphire Preferred and/or CapitalOne VentureX credit cards.
This time, we stayed in the Clayton Hotel on St. Mary Street, just a five-minute walk from Cardiff Central Railway Station. (Which ended up being super convenient when we went to Bath and Bristol, and rented a car for our road trip.) The hotel was pretty nice and had a great location. The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that the air conditioning would automatically shut off at midnight and there was nothing you could do to get it back on, but if you don’t run as hot as I do, you’d probably be fine. 😉
Final Thoughts
We had a good time together in Cardiff — I mean, I was with my husband and my best friend, so how could I not have fun? However, I think we all agreed that Cardiff was certainly not the most amazing city we’d ever been to. I wonder how much of it was the fact that we were visiting the first week of January, so it was always cold and the overall aura of the city was a bit gloomy.
After talking about it, we decided that probably almost any city in the UK (aside from London and maybe magical Edinburgh) would likely have made us feel the same way. When it’s that cold, and you have that few hours of sun per day, it doesn’t exactly make a city seem super charming. So maybe it’s not fair to judge Cardiff based on the experience we had — maybe it’s a fantastic place to visit in the summer?
So, that was the risk we took when we decided to leave sunny Spain for a winter week in Wales. But despite that, the three of us absolutely LOVED renting a car and visiting the Welsh countryside! While I think Dublin has a lot more going on than Cardiff, I will always feel like the true beauty of Ireland is in the countryside rather than in the city — my impression is that Wales is the same way. And I sure hope I have more opportunities to explore and find out whether that’s true!
I’m excited to share more about our road trip to the Gower Peninsula with you all, so keep an eye out for that coming soon.
Plan Your Trip to Cardiff
Best Hotels in Cardiff: Cardiff Wales Hotels
Things To Do in Cardiff: Dark History and Haunted Places Walking Tour // Welcome Tour: Private Tour with a Local // Doctor Who Walking Tour // Alco-traz Immersive Prison Cocktail Experience
What do you think? Are you planning to visit Cardiff, or have you been there before? Let me know in the comments!
-Cathy
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