Sights in Cardiff (Caerdydd)
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Cardiff Castle
The Bute family, who transformed Cardiff from a small town into the world's biggest coal port, also transformed Cardiff Castle from a medieval ruin into the landscaped grounds and kitsch Gothic fantasy you see today.
The castle complex is hidden behind high walls which follow the outline of the original Roman camp and was a secret world cut off from the outside until the Butes donated it to the city in 1947. It's a collection of buildings arranged around a grassy, peacock-inhabited courtyard, the oldest of which are the 12th-century motte-and-bailey Norman keep and the 13th-century Black Tower beside the castle entrance.
The castle's site was first occupied by the Romans i…
reviewed
-
B
National Museum Wales
In the southeast corner of the Civic Centre is the splendid National Museum Wales, one of Britain's best museums, covering natural history and geology, art and archaeology.
The Evolution of Wales exhibit takes you through 4600 million years of geological history, with a rollicking multimedia display that places Wales into a global context. Spectacular films of volcanic eruptions and aerial footage of the country's stunning landscape explain how its scenery was formed, while model dinosaurs and woolly mammoths help keep the kids interested.
The natural-history displays range from cunningly camouflaged insects to the awesome 9m-long skeleton of a humpback whale that washed u…
reviewed
-
C
Cardiff Bay
Since 1987 the area surrounding the docks has been completely redeveloped as Cardiff Bay, a massive commercial centre filled with gleaming new shopping centres, hotels, restaurants and government buildings. A state-of-the-art tidal barrage has turned the once stinking mudflats into a vast freshwater lake, alive with yacht races on summer weekends.
In the 1880s Cardiff grew from one of the smallest towns in Wales to the largest, thriving on the money made by the rapidly expanding coal-export industry. In 1913 more than 13 million tonnes were exported from Cardiff docks, but after WWII demand slumped. The docklands deteriorated into a wasteland of empty basins, cut off from…
reviewed
-
D
National Assembly Building
Looming over the Pierhead Building like a giant manta ray is Wales' most controversial architectural project, the National Assembly Building - Y Senedd in Welsh - a striking structure of concrete, slate, glass and steel with a dramatic canopy roof. The underside of the roof is lined with red cedar and undulates in waves, mimicking the waves in the bay. It houses the debating chamber of the Welsh National Assembly, committee rooms and a public gallery where you can observe the debating chamber.
The building has won awards for its environmentally friendly design, which includes a huge rotating cowl on the roof for power-free ventilation and a gutter system that collects rai…
reviewed
-
E
Millennium Stadium
The giant Millennium Stadium squats like a stranded spaceship on the east bank of the River Taff. Attendance at international rugby and football matches has increased dramatically since this 72,500-seat, three-tiered stadium with sliding roof was completed in time to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
Not everyone is happy with it: one critic called it 'an absurdly overexcited structure…that rears over the surrounding streets like a sumo wrestler'. The stadium cost around £110 million to build - money that some feel could have been better spent elsewhere in the city - and big matches paralyse the city centre. But when the crowd begins to sing, the whole city resonates and all…
reviewed
-
F
Llandaff Cathedral
Set in a hollow on the west bank of the River Taff is the imposingly beautiful Llandaff Cathedral, built on the site of a 6th-century monastery founded by St Teilo.
The present cathedral dates from 1130 - it crumbled throughout the Middle Ages, and during the Reformation and Civil War it was used as an alehouse and then an animal shelter. Derelict by the 18th century, it was largely rebuilt in the 19th century and extensively restored after being damaged by a German bomb in 1941. The towers at the western end epitomise the cathedral's fragmented history - one was built in the 15th century, the other in the 19th. Inside, plain glass windows provide a striking clarity of li…
reviewed
-
G
Wales Millennium Centre
The centrepiece and symbol of Cardiff Bay's regeneration is the outstanding Wales Millennium Centre, an architectural masterpiece of stacked Welsh slate in shades of purple, green and grey topped with an overarching bronzed steel shell.
The roof above the main entrance is pierced by 2m-high, letter-shaped, stained-glass windows that spell out the words 'Creu Gwir fel Gwydr o Ffwrnais Awen' (Creating truth like glass from inspiration's furnace), and 'In these stones horizons sing', composed by Gwyneth Lewis, Wales' National Poet 2005-06.
The centre is home to several major cultural organisations, including the Welsh National Opera, Academi (Welsh National Literature Promoti…
reviewed
-
H
Bute Park
To the west of Cardiff Castle flows the River Taff, which is flanked on either side by lovely parklands that extend northwest for 1.5 miles to Llandaff. Bute Park, landscaped in the 1870s by Scots landscape architect Andrew Pettigrew and donated to the city along with the castle in 1947, Sophia Gardens, Pontcanna Fields and Llandaff Fields were all part of the Bute holdings that once extended to Castell Coch.
In Cooper's Field, the part of the park just west of the castle, is a stone circle - not Neolithic but fin de siècle - erected in 1899 when Cardiff hosted the Royal National Eisteddfod. Such so-called gorsedd stones are found all over Wales where eisteddfodau have b…
reviewed
-
I
Norwegian Church
On the east side of the harbour, looking like it's popped out of the pages of a storybook, is the Norwegian Church, a white-slatted wooden building with a black witch's-hat spire. Built in 1869 beside the long-gone Bute West Dock, it was a seamen's mission, modelled on the lines of a traditional Norwegian village church. It fell into disrepair, but remained a place of worship until 1974; the Cardiff-born writer Roald Dahl was christened here, and served as president of the preservation trust that restored and renovated the church. It has now been reincarnated as an arts centre with an excellent café, interesting exhibitions, concerts and arts courses.
reviewed
-
J
Cardiff Bay Barrage
The Cardiff Bay Barrage is a 0.75 mile-long dam enclosing the harbour. It took five years to build and created a new waterfront around 8 miles in length - a freshwater lake at the mouth of the rivers Taff and Ely. It was a controversial project, as its construction involved flooding mudflats that had provided an important habitat for migrating and breeding waterfowl. The barrage includes sluice gates to control the water flow, three lock gates to allow passage for boats, and a fish pass that lets migrating salmon and sea trout enter and leave the rivers.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
Bute Park Animal Wall
The southern edge of Bute Park, running west from Cardiff Castle along Castle St, is a low wall topped with stone figures of lions, seals, bears and other creatures. The Bute Park Animal Wall was designed by castle architect William Burges but only completed in 1892 after his death; it was extended and more animals added in the 1920s. A newspaper cartoon strip in the '30s brought the animals to life and many Cardiff kids grew up thinking the animals came alive at night.
reviewed
-
L
Techniquest
The biggest and best science and technology discovery centre in Britain, Techniquest has more than 160 engrossing, fun, hands-on exhibits with absorbing explanations. You can explore whirlwinds, race bubbles, play a harp with no strings and more - equally enjoyable for under-fives, stoned students and inquisitive adults. The shop has lots of quirky stuff and is reasonably priced. There's also a planetarium which stages night-sky demonstrations and science shows.
reviewed
-
M
Coal Exchange
Mount Stuart Square is the heart of Victorian Butetown, once the residential district that housed the dock workers. The old Coal Exchange was once the nerve centre of the Welsh coal trade, and for a time the place where international coal prices were set - it was here in March 1908 that a coal merchant wrote the world's first-ever around £1 million-pound cheque. The Exchange now houses a vibrant arts and performance venue.
reviewed
-
N
Church of St John the Baptist
Jutting above the city-centre shopping street is the graceful Gothic lantern tower belonging to the 15th-century parish Church of St John the Baptist with its delicate stonework that's almost like filigree. A church has stood on this site since at least 1180. Inside are simple, elegant arches: a calm retreat from the street. Regular lunchtime organ concerts are held here.
reviewed
-
O
Goleulong 2000 Lightship
Near the Norwegian Church on the harbour is the bright-red Goleulong 2000 Lightship, which used to be stationed off Rhossili, warning sailors away from the Helwick Swatch, a treacherous sandbank. It now houses a Christian centre with bookshop, café and exhibitions; you can also check out the neat little cabins and climb to the top of the light tower for the view.
reviewed
-
P
Pierhead Building
The Pierhead Building is one of the area's few Victorian survivors, a red-brick French-Gothic Renaissance confection built with Bute family money for the Cardiff Municipal Railway Co to impress the maritime traffic; the architect was a pupil of William Burges (who designed Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch). It now houses the National Assembly Visitor Centre.
reviewed
-
Q
Mermaid Quay
Located by the harbour, Mermaid Quay is crammed with cafes, shops, banks and people out for slice of cosmopolitan Cardiff. A carnival takes place here as part of the Cardiff Festival, with samba bands and dance troupes adding to the lively waterfront atmosphere. A great place for a leisurely shop and stroll.
reviewed
-
R
Civic Centre
Northeast of Cardiff Castle is the Civic Centre, an early 20th-century complex of neo-Baroque buildings in gleaming white Portland stone, set around the green lawns and colourful flowerbeds of Alexandra Gardens. It houses the City Hall, police headquarters, law courts, crown offices and Cardiff University.
reviewed
-
S
Cardiff Arms Park
Just north of the Millennium Stadium, this is the home ground of the Cardiff Rugby Football Club, founded in 1876. Rugby union is this city's favourite sport, and the Cardiff Blues are Wales' richest, most star-studded club, having fed over 200 players into the national team.
reviewed
-
T
National Assembly Visitor Centre
The National Assembly Visitor Centre, inside the Pierhead Building, is a glitzy PR exercise explaining who's who and what's what at the nearby National Assembly using state-of-the-art exhibits and interactive computer displays.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
U
Butetown History & Arts Centre
The Butetown History & Arts Centre is devoted to preserving oral histories, documents and images of the docklands, and its exhibits put the area into both an historical and present-day context.
reviewed
-
V
Glamorgan County Cricket Ground
This is the home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club, the only Welsh club belonging to the England and Wales Cricket Board. At the time of writing it was undergoing redevelopment.
reviewed
-
W
Welch Regiment Museum
Housed in the Black Tower of Cardiff Castle is the Welch Regiment Museum, which records the military achievements of South Wales' infantry regiment.
reviewed
-
X
Llandaff
Llandaff is a peaceful suburb 2 miles north of the centre, a village clustered around a green that has been swallowed up by the expanding city.
reviewed
-
Y
Cardiff International Arena
Major musicals and pop concerts are staged at the Cardiff International Arena or, if they're really huge, at the Millennium Stadium.
reviewed
