Things to do in Cardiff... A-Z
A - Aquabus
“Aquabus provides a uniquely identifiable fleet of vessels from luxury vessels to waterbuses with full design, construction and operation management from it’s highly qualified and experienced naval experts.” (cardiffaquabus.com)
B - Blues
Cardiff Blues (Welsh: Gleision Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, the team have played at Cardiff City Stadium since the start of the 2009/2010 season and are owned by Cardiff Rugby Football Club. (wikipedia)
C - Castle
Certainly one of the most prominent features to be seen in Cardiff are the Castle walls and gargoyles! “Cardiff Castle (Welsh: Castell Caerdydd) is a medieval castle and Victorian architecture Gothic revival mansion, transformed from a Norman keep erected over a Roman fort in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.” (wikipedia)
D - Devils
The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey club from Cardiff who are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. (wikipedia)
E - Exhibitions
Cardiff has a good variety of exhibitions, once of the most famous being the now permanent Dr Who Exhibition hosted in Cardiff Bay at The Red Dragon Centre.
F - Freecycle
The Cardiff Freecycle group is open to all who want to recycle that special something rather than throw it away. Whether it's a chair, a fax machine, a piano, or an old door, feel free to post it. Or maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself! – They have one simple rule – everything must be free!
G - Golf
Cardiff has a few Golf courses, the main one being: “Cardiff Golf Club (founded 1922) opened the first 18 hole golf course in Cardiff in 1923, in Cyncoed. The course is 6,099 yards (5,577 m), well bunkered, and set in parkland. A new clubhouse was completed in 1998” (wikipedia)
H - Hotels
As you might well imagine, Cardiff has a good variety of hotels, hostels and other accommodation to cater for the huge influxes of tourism we see due to venues such as the Millenium Stadium and Cardiff International Arena. Everything from the Marriot and the Hilton to your local backpackers are available in the city centre.
I - International pool
Built to support the London 2012 Olympics as a training facility, the Cardiff International pool is a sport facility located in the Cardiff International Sports Village in Cardiff.
J - John Lewis
John Lewis Cardiff, on the corner of The Hayes and St David's Shopping Centre, is Cardiff's premier department store, offering 4 floors of the best in fashion, home and technology, plus free delivery. (johnlewis.com)
K - Karting
“TeamSport Karting Cardiff is a mind blowing and challenging track and we have put our heart and sole into making this one of our flagship karting tracks for Wales. An incredible combination of challenging hairpins and sweeping wide bends and a couple of slippy corners, ensure that driver skills are at a premium. With loads of overtaking opportunities and state of the art timing systems, your visit to TeamSport Cardiff will be a karting experience you will never forget – and it will keep you wanting to come back for more.” (team-sport.co.uk)
L - Library
Located on The Hayes opposite the St. David's 2 development, Cardiff Central Library has 6 floors and houses over 90,000 books (10,000 in welsh).
M - Markets
Cardiff has a few farmers markets which are very popular with locals and the tourists that hunt them out, try visit Riverside Market on Sunday and taste a gorgeous Crepe or Galette from La Creperie de Sophie.
Millennium centre
“The Millennium Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm y Mileniwm) is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and the Wales national football team but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, boxing and many music concerts, including Tina Turner, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, U2, Stereophonics and the Tsunami Relief concert. It was built ready for Cardiff to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup.” (wikipedia)
N - Nightlife
Cardiff has a fantastic and varied nightlife available, catering very well for students, stag and hen weekends, many cultural events, live music of all sorts, dancing, music food... everything you would expect from a capital city.
O - Odeon
Cardiff has a few good cinemas including the ODEON Cardiff IMAX Cinema located at The Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay.
P - Pubs
Cardiff has a very good array of pubs scattered throughout the city, many catering for students in the student areas, to the more “classy” venues in Cardiff Bay. The city centre has a good mix with plenty going on throughout the week and offering many different attractions from cheap drink offers to live bands and great beer gardens.
Q - Quad biking
Heading just out of Cardiff you can “Experience the thrill and challenge of Quad Biking, negotiating a 250cc or 90cc Honda all-terrain vehicle trekking through our cross-country nature trail whilst enjoying some of the best views of the Taff and Rhymney Valley's in South Wales.” (adventurewales.co.uk)
R - Restaurants
Cardiff has restaurants throughout the city to cater for everyone’s tastes! From the Hard Rock Cafe to Turkish, Welsh, Greek Italian.... the list simply goes on and on.
S - Shopping centres
“The majority of Cardiff's shopping portfolio is in the city centre around Queen Street and St. Mary's Street, with large suburban retail parks located in Cardiff Bay, Culverhouse Cross, Leckwith, Newport Road and Pontprennau, together with markets in the city centre and Splott... Cardiff is sixth best city in the United Kingdom for shopping, according to a poll in November 2009, surpassing other cities such as Bristol, Leeds, Edinburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne.” (wikipedia)
T - Theatre
Cardiff is home to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (WCMD) as well as the Welsh National Opera (WNO), and has many theatre venues situated throughout the city.
U - University
One of the most prominent features of Cardiff is the universities and the amount of students in the city centre. Some facts about Cardiff University you may not have known:
- With just over 27,000 students and 6,000 staff, the Cardiff University academic community is the size of a small town.
- It is a community with an annual turnover of £416 million.
- Research is undertaken in each of the 28 Schools, and at any one time there are more than 1,400 research contracts in operation.
- The University has over 5,000 study bedrooms in 14 residences.
- Some 7,800 students graduate each year. (cardiff.ac.uk)
V - Varsity
Cardiff has two Varsity bars which are very student orientated. They have a ‘VCard’ loyalty system which entitles you to certain drinks promotions and have different interactive events such as karaoke and pub quizzes and even battle of the bands happening on frequent occasions.
W - White Water Rafting
An artificial White Water Rapids facility in the Cardiff International White Water (CIWW) is situated at International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay.
X - X91
The Cardiff X91 is actually the bus running to Cardiff Airport but as there are so few things that start with ‘X’, we’ll just let you know that there is adequate bus travel around the city centre, to the bay and surrounding areas. The major cities such as London and Swansea are all also not too far in distance to travel by coach.
Y - Yacht club
Cardiff Yacht Club in Cardiff Bay is the base for Cardiff City Rowing Club. They have “easy access to mile after mile of flat water, including the Rivers Ely and Taff – with access to the stretch of water up to Sophia Gardens, past Cardiff Castle and the Millennium Stadium – back to the whole of Cardiff Bay and the club's multilane rowing course there.” (wikipedia)
Z - Zero degrees
Zero degrees are a micro-brewery and restaurant situated just opposite the Millennium Stadium on Westgate Street.