Cardiff

Capital of Wales

Cardiff Castle

Cardiff Castle dates from the end of the 11th century and is still standing in a habitable state today on the edge of the city centre. This is largely due to the Marquis of Bute who, at the height of Cardiff’s prosperity in the 1860s, was not only responsible for building Cardiff docks but completely refurbished and added to the castle.

The Marquis employed William Burges as the architect who redesigned the castle who worked in the Gothic Revival style similar to Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin who were responsible for the redesign of the Houses of Parliament in the same period.

Nearby, the National Museum and Gallery Cardiff covers science, history and archaeology, and has galleries for its collection of Impressionist, English and Welsh paintings. But for those who really want to know about Wales, the National History Museum, just to the west of the city, is a must.

Europe’s largest urban-renewal scheme at Cardiff Bay is reuniting the city with its docks and coastline. Additionally, it is the site of the new Welsh Assembly Building, the Senedd, built (as the Millennium Centre was) using traditional Welsh materials.

Place to Visit Near Cardiff

East of Cardiff is Newport, Wales’ third-largest conurbation. Like Cardiff, this drab industrial city on the mouth of the River Usk was the product of industrial expansion in the 19th century. Of more interest is nearby Caerleon, a Roman military town with impressive remains of baths, barracks and an amphitheatre. And a Littler further away is the well-preserved Tintern Abbey in beautiful Wye Valley.

Places to visit in Cardiff

National History Museum

Just to the west of the city, this museum is a must for those who want to know about Wales. Set in parkland around an Elizabethan manor house, it collects together reconstructed buildings from across the country – a toll gate, a chapel, a school room, a quarryman’s cottage, a cock pit – and there are demonstrations by craftspeople.

Cardiff Castle

This castle brings together the strands of the city’s history. The outer walls contain Roman stonework and the Norman keep, built at the end of the 11th century, still stands tall. At the height of Cardiff’s prosperity in the 1860s, the Marquis of Bute (responsible for building many of the docks) added to the castle, with a clock tower and elaborate banqueting halls.

Cardiff Bay

A large-scale regneration project is reuniting the city with its docks and coastline. The waterfront here now centres on the new Cardiff Bay Barrage, a remarkable feat of engineering that has created a vast freshwater lake and 8 miles (13km) of coastline. The bay is home to the Wales Millennium Centre, a state-of-the-art theatre for musicals, opera and dance, in the foyer of which is the city’s tourist office.

Caerphilly Castle

The 13th-century fortress, with its concentric fortifications and leaning tower, is Britain’s biggest castle after Windsor.

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