A whirlwind visit to the cosmopolitan capital of Cymru – is one day in Cardiff enough?
From its romantic Castles to elegant Edwardian arcades, and a healthy dose of sea air, there’s so much you can do in one day in Cardiff.
The Welsh capital is my home city, and we recently took the chance to return there to revisit all the old familiar sights once again. Being away for a few years made me realise how beautiful Cardiff is. It’s the greenest city in Europe, with some outstanding parks and walks along the River Taff.
Its Principality Stadium, with its rugby internationals and other major sports events, is many people’s main reason to visit, and uniquely for Europe it’s right in the middle of the city.
A day in Cardiff is enough to give you a good taster of it, and like us, leave you wanting a lot more. In this article I show you:
My suggested one-day Cardiff itinerary, covering the main city centre sights
Places to stay in Cardiff
How to get to Cardiff
Getting around Cardiff
Places to visit near Cardiff
Where To Stay In Cardiff
***** – voco St David’s Cardiff by IHG – landmark Cardiff hotel in incomparable situation on a headland overlooking Cardiff Bay
**** – Hilton Cardiff – another superbly located hotel, this time across the street from Cardiff Castle, and very closer to Queen Street and the National Museum
**** – New House Country Hotel – beautiful early Georgian country house in countryside on northern outskirts of Cardiff, just off the A469 Caerphilly Road
*** – Coal Exchange Hotel – fantastic setting in the historic former Coal Exchange building in Cardiff Bay, where the first ever £1 million deal was agreed
** – Cardiff Sandringham Hotel – great family-run two-star on pedestrianized St Mary Street, also the setting for a recent Doctor Who episode
One Day In Cardiff Planning Tips
If you’re only spending a day in Cardiff, my advice is to stick to the city centre and nearby Cardiff Bay area. This means that you’ll likely be spending around half your day exploring Cardiff Castle and the nearby National Museum.
Bear in mind that one of the best things to do in Cardiff – visiting the St Fagans National History Museum – takes up the best part of a full day. It is one of the best museums you’ll ever visit – but if you opt to go there, you won’t have much time to see anything in the centre of Cardiff.
Cardiff In One Day Itinerary
Morning – 9.00 am – Cardiff Castle and Bute Park
Start the day in the city centre, where you’ll find two of the main Cardiff attractions, Cardiff Castle and the National Museum.
The Castle opens at 9.00 am on weekends throughout the year, and 10.00 am on weekdays. If you have some spare time before the Castle opens, I suggest following the outer walls of the Castle to beautiful Bute Park. It’s the best park in a city of outstanding parks, with the River Taff on one side and wonderful views of the Castle on the other. As you walk along Castle Street, look out for the series of sculptures on the Animal Wall. Eight of these were put in place in the 1880s, with a further seven added between 1928 and 1930. It’s especially beautiful in spring and autumn – with the daffodils and (later) magnolias it’s one of the best places to see spring flowers in Europe.
Cardiff Castle is one of the great Welsh Castles, with perhaps the longest history of them all. Look closely at the older stones at the bottom of the exterior walls – these date from the 3rd century AD, when the Romans built a fort there. And the central keep tower within the walls was built in the 12th century – looking much as it would have when it was breached by Welsh lord Ifor Bach in 1158, when he captured the Earl of Gloucester and some of his relatives.
The Gatehouse was added in the 15th century, with further additions in the 19th century under the mega-wealthy Third Marquess of Bute. He commissioned architect William Burges to rebuild the entire west wing of the Castle, including the stunning Moorish Arab Room and Gothic Revival Banqueting Hall. Overall, this part of the Castle is one of the greatest examples of Victorian Gothic in existence – perhaps only surpassed by the Houses of Parliament in London.
Cardiff Castle also has a 20th century chapter in its history. The perimeter walls served as air raid shelters during Luftwaffe bombing raids on the city, and there’s a fascinating exhibition including tunnels and several rooms made up as they would have been in the early 1940s.
You can enter the ‘Castle Square’ area for free, and access the tunnels, walls, keep and Victorian part of the Castle with the standard entry ticket (£16 per adult, £12.50 for seniors, £10.50 per child). There are additional guided tours to other areas including the Clock Tower which can be booked through the Cardiff Castle website.
Brunch / Lunch – 11.30 am – 12.00 pm
If you’re just planning on a quick pitstop, head across Castle Street to Nata & Co, who serve scrumptious Portuguese custard tarts and savouries. For a longer lunch, head around the corner onto St Mary Street, where The Potted Pig serves great European dishes, mostly with Welsh ingredients.
And you could juggle this itinerary around a little and walk for a few minutes to the Royal Arcade and enjoy lunch in Wales’ only Viennese-style coffeehouse, Wally’s Kaffeehaus.
Afternoon – 12.00 – 2.00 pm – National Museum Wales
Cross the road at the corner of Duke Street and take an immediate left, passing the Hilton Hotel, before crossing Greyfriars Road and heading through the subway to the beautiful white buildings of the Civic Centre. The first building you reach is the domed Cardiff City Hall. Head right until you come to the second domed building, the National Museum and Gallery of Wales.
You could easily spend two hours or more here, as my son and I did when we recently visited. It’s divided into two main sections – Natural History and Art.
The grand entrance hall has just welcomed a new addition – a reconstructed skeleton of a woolly mammoth. There’s also a woollier animatronic re-creation of a mammoth in the Natural History section.
We especially enjoyed the Evolution of Wales gallery. My son – this was his first visit to the city and country of his birth in six years – couldn’t believe that Wales was once swampland. But he did know that the names of several geological periods (Pre-Cambrian, Cambrian, Silurian, Ordovician) have Welsh origins, and was captivated by the whole exhibition. As he was by the chocolate cake in the café in the entrance hall.
We also greatly enjoyed the Art galleries. I’ve always gravitated to the Impressionist Gallery, which contains works by the likes of Monet, van Gogh, Renoir and Rodin. But don’t overlook the Historic Art collection, with works from Italy and Netherlands from the 16th and 17th centuries. And there are some fascinating early Welsh landscape painting, including some by the likes of renowned North Wales artist Richard Wilson.
Afternoon – 2.00 to 3.30 pm
After this double dose of history and culture, it’s time to explore more of Cardiff city centre. It’s mostly given over to modern shopping malls, including the vast St Davids 2, but the city’s Victorian (19th century) and Edwardian (early 20th century) arcades are well worth seeking out.
Architecturally the most beautiful of these is Castle Arcade, which is just across the street from, you guessed it, Cardiff Castle. Unfortunately, it has seen better days, with many units unoccupied after the economic downturn of recent years.
The two best arcades in Cardiff to visit are the Morgan Arcade and, a few steps away, the Royal Arcade. They run parallel to each other, linking St Mary Street at one end with The Hayes on the other.
They are largely occupied by small boutiques and independent businesses, two of which stand out. Wally’s Delicatessen, in Royal Arcade, used to be a tiny deli crammed with European goodies back in the early ‘80s – now it has grown to ten times its former size, and is as wonderful as ever.
A minute’s walk away, in Morgan Arcade, Spillers Records is the oldest record shop in the world. It was founded in 1894 in nearby Queens Arcade, and is now in its fourth location, having occupied a shop on The Hayes for many years. I’ve always felt a strong personal attachment to this shop, where I first bought a record in 1983. Even if you only pop in to buy a t-shirt or a mug, support it.
The other places in the centre of the city worth visiting are the 15th-century St John’s Church, the wonderful Cardiff Market (5 minutes’ walk from Spillers) and the Hayes Island Snack Bar, which has been serving sandwiches and hot snacks since 1948. It’s a far more enjoyable place to stop for a tea or coffee than the chain establishments in St Davids 2.
Late Afternoon – 3.30 pm to 6.00 pm – Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay, the redeveloped dockland area of Cardiff, is a must-see, even if only for an hour or two. It was once the biggest and busiest coal exporting port in the world, and the whole waterfront area has been completely transformed over the last 30 years or so.
It includes an unusual mixture of buildings, from the black and white Norwegian Church (now an arts centre and café), the superb red-brick Pierhead Building (once the Dock offices) and the striking steel and glass St David’s Hotel. But the most impressive place to visit in Cardiff Bay stands a short distance back from the water, and has been nicknamed the Armadillo. It is the Wales Millennium Centre.
It’s the home of the Welsh National Opera, and the best arts centre in Wales (though Chapter, in the suburb of Canton, runs it mightily close). The building has a unique frontage, with two inscriptions – one in English, the other in Welsh. The English words are ‘In these stones horizons sing’, and the Welsh words are ‘Creu gwir fel gwydr of ffwrnais awen’, which means ,’Creating truth like glass from the furnace of inspiration’.
The Bay is a pleasant place to stop by for a drink or meal. The waterfront is full of restaurants, including Italian, Thai and Japanese, and there are also a couple of pubs serving food (The Dock and The Mount Stuart). Another place to stop by for something to eat or drink is Eli Jenkins, a pub 100 metres or so back from the waterfront. Close to the Millennium Centre.
Cardiff One Day Itinerary Summary
9.00 – Bute Park walk then visit Cardiff Castle
11.30 – 12.00 – brunch / early lunch
12.00 – 2.00 pm – National Museum
2.00 – 3.30 pm – Cardiff city centre walk including Arcades
3.30 pm – 6.00 pm – Cardiff Bay, followed by Dinner
More Than 1 Day In Cardiff – Other Things To Do In Cardiff
If you have a second day in Cardiff, and any interest in history, I suggest visiting the St Fagans National History Museum. It’s a collection of around 40 reconstructed historic buildings from around Wales, including farmhouses, a medieval church, an 18th-century chapel, an amazing row of miners’ cottages, and a recently rebuilt traditional Cardiff pub, The Vulcan. It makes a wonderful day out, and there is also St Fagans Castle – a17th-century manor house – and its gardens to explore.
Sports fans should head to the Principality Stadium, formerly known as the Millennium Stadium. It’s unusual for stadia in Europe because it’s slap-bang in the middle of the city – whereas they usually tend to be on the outskirts. This contributes to making it a very special place to host major events, with a great atmosphere in the city centre with the pubs all packed out before and after the match.
The Principality Stadium tour takes you behind the scenes, to the teams’ dressing rooms, and you can walk along the tunnel and out onto the pitch. I’ve taken a few friends there down the years – it’s a great way to spend a couple of hours.
If you’re visiting Cardiff with kids, the Techniquest science centre is well worth a visit, full of interactive displays and hands-on experiments. It’s only a short walk from there to the outstanding Wales Millennium Centre, which you may have seen on your first day in Cardiff. I recommend trying to catch a performance there. The main auditorium, the Donald Gordon Theatre, has outstanding acoustics. It hosts everything from Welsh National Opera performances to pop concerts.
Day Trips From Cardiff
Cardiff is a brilliant base for exploring South Wales and the West Country of England. Train connections are good if you’re heading west to Swansea or east to Bristol and Bath, and the main A470 road takes you to the mountains of the Brecon Beacons in less than an hour.
There are several great castles near Cardiff. The best of these is Caerphilly Castle, a 20-minute train ride from Cardiff Central station. It’s the second largest Castle in the UK (after Windsor Castle) and was one of the earliest concentric water castles in Britain. The ruins are magnificent, and the whole visitor offering has improved a lot in recent years, with a pit with a family of fire-breathing dragons for the kids.
Castell Coch – the Red Castle – is even close, within sight of Cardiff Castle. It’s a 19th-century fairytale castle surrounded by a beech forest, on the site of a ruined medieval castle. It was also built by John Stuart, the Third Marquess of Bute, and was intended as a summer retreat. Buses to the village of Tongwynlais leave you around a half-mile uphill walk away.
There are some fantastic beaches near Cardiff. Barry Island – of Gavin and Stacey fame – is a great family beach with a small funfair close by. It’s very easy to reach by train – the Barry Island station is less than five minutes’ walk from the beach.
Further west, I can’t recommend the Gower beaches beyond Swansea enough. It’s about an hour and a half’s drive from Cardiff to the best beach on the Gower Peninsula, Rhossili Bay, and there are plenty of great coastal and inland walks from there.
If you want to see some of the best Welsh mountain scenery, head north up the A470 from Cardiff to the Bannau Brycheinog, also known as the Brecon Beacons. The National Park begins just north of Merthyr Tydfil, and the A470 takes you to two paths leading up Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in southern Britain.
For something less strenuous, head to nearby Mynydd Illtyd for superb views of the high peaks. There several other wonderful drives in the area – check out my guide to the Best Scenic Drives in Wales for more inspiration.
If you have time, there are plenty of places across the border in England well worth your time. The cities of Bristol and Gloucester are both within an hour of Cardiff. But my strongest recommendation is the Georgian city of Bath, which is just over an hour from Cardiff by train. It’s one of the most distinctive and beautiful cities in Europe – take a look at my One Day in Bath article if you’re thinking about a trip there.
For many more ideas and much more information, take a look at my article on the best day trips from Cardiff.
My guide to Travelling In Wales By Train tells you all you need to know about getting around the country by train (as well as bus), which is very useful if you intend to use Cardiff as a base for your travels in South Wales.
Where Is Cardiff
Cardiff is in South East Wales, on the Bristol Channel coast.
Here are some distances from other British cities to Cardiff:
London to Cardiff – 150 miles (232 km)
Bristol to Cardiff – 45 miles (70 km)
Birmingham to Cardiff – 108 miles (174 km)
Manchester to Cardiff – 170 miles (273 km)
Swansea to Cardiff – 50 miles (80 km)
How To Get To Cardiff
Cardiff is very easy to reach.
If travelling by air, Cardiff Airport is the nearest to the city, but services there are quite limited. You may be better off looking at flying into Bristol (transfers to Cardiff take around 90 minutes) or one of the London airports, of which Heathrow is the closest.
By Train
Cardiff is on the main London Paddington to Swansea train line, with services from Paddington to Cardiff Central taking around two hours. Services from Bristol Temple Meads take 50 minutes.
By Coach
Cardiff is also well served by coach services including National Express and Megabus. Coach tickets tend to be less expensive than train tickets if you’re booking at short notice – provided seats are available, of course!
It has excellent road connections, with the M4 motorway passing close by, with four exits (29, 30, 32 and 33) giving easy access to the city.
How To Get Around Cardiff
Much of Cardiff city centre is pedestrianized, and it’s easily walkable. The sights covered in this article are within a short distance of each other.
The only exception is Cardiff Bay, a few minutes’ train ride (change at Cardiff Queen Street if travelling from Cardiff Central) or catch buses City Circle 1 or 1A from the centre (Canal Street JF stop, just behind Cardiff Library).
Best Time To Visit Cardiff
Having lived in Cardiff for many years, I’d have to say that springtime (March to May) through summer (June to late September) are the best times to visit the city.
The Welsh weather is always unreliable, but you can usually rely on plenty of rain in autumn (October through to the end of November). Winter is often wet too, but you do get the occasional glorious deep blue-sky days from time to time at this time of year.
How Many Days In Cardiff, Ideally
Three days is enough to do Cardiff justice. It would give you time to see all the sights I’ve described in this article, and spend a day at St Fagans. You could easily spend more time there than this – it all depends on how many more day trips out of Cardiff you intend to do.
Tours of Cardiff
These Cardiff tours are a great introduction to the city, packed with information and stories:
Cardiff Highlights Guided Walking Tour – a two-hour beginner’s guide to the Welsh capital
Cardiff Doctor Who Walking Tour – see many filming locations, where Cardiff has doubled as London, New York and many more places, over the past 20 years.
One Day In Cardiff – Final Thoughts
Cardiff is a brilliant city to visit and a day there isn’t enough to see everything. But it is enough to give you a significant taste of it. Check out my guide to the Famous Landmarks in Cardiff for more places to see around the city.
Having lived in – and near – the city for many years, I can also guarantee it’s an outstanding base for visiting surrounding areas. If you don’t have time to plan visits out of town, take a look at some of these day tours from Cardiff:
Three Castles, Welsh Mountains and More – visits to Caerphilly, Castell Coch and a tour of the Brecon Beacons, all in a day
From Cardiff: Golden Gower Coast, Swansea and Mumbles – a trip along the stunning Gower Peninsula, taking in two beaches close to Swansea and the best of all, breathtaking Rhossili Bay
From Cardiff: South Wales Cliffs, Beaches and Castles – includes the beautiful Vale of Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Ogmore Castle, St Fagans and the option of Caerphilly Castle – a great time-saving tour!
For more places to visit near Cardiff, take a look at my guide to the Best Castles in South Wales, and my complete guide to the South Wales Valleys.