Holiday apartment in Cardiff: Cardiff Bay, culture and the Taff Trail

Cardiff begins at the water: Cardiff Bay Barrage offers a flat, step-free route along the dam for walking and cycling, with views of Cardiff Bay and the Severn Estuary. Cardiff Bay itself is a waterfront area on a freshwater lake on the site of a former tidal harbour. In Cardiff Bay, one water sport is described as combining surfing with canoeing or kayaking.

Nature and trails

The Taff Trail runs for 55 miles between Cardiff and Brecon and follows riverside paths, former railway lines and forest roads. The Cardiff section begins in Cardiff Bay and follows the River Taff through several urban green spaces to Tongwynlais near Castell Coch. The Taff Trail is suitable for walking and cycling and is connected to local shops and cafés along the route.

Bute Park is a 56-hectare urban park with historic landscape, urban woodland, an arboretum, horticultural areas and a river corridor. The park also offers self-guided trails, including the Woodland Explorer Trail, as well as a park map for exploring the grounds. In Cadw's Register of Landscapes, Bute Park is listed as a Grade 1 historic landscape of international importance.

Culture and history

National Museum Cardiff houses Wales's national art, geology and natural history collections. The Evolution of Wales exhibitions take visitors on a journey spanning 4.6 billion years and include, among other things, dinosaurs and woolly mammoths.

St Fagans National Museum of History presents Welsh history through the everyday lives of its people. More than forty original buildings from different historical periods have been reconstructed across a 100-acre park. St Fagans Castle is a Grade 1 listed Elizabethan manor house. Castell Coch combines elaborately decorated interiors from the High Victorian era with the remains of a 13th-century castle.

Cardiff Castle is one of Wales's leading heritage sites and is of international importance. On its historic grounds, it brings together Roman, Norman and Victorian Gothic architectural and functional periods. Visitors can see the exposed Roman wall, climb the medieval keep and explore the Wartime Shelters.

Performing arts, science and city life

The Wales Millennium Centre in the heart of Cardiff Bay is the national centre for world-class performing arts and entertainment. Its programme includes musicals, opera, ballet, contemporary dance, exhibitions, workshops and tours. Techniquest in the heart of Cardiff Bay offers more than 130 interactive exhibits covering science, technology, engineering and mathematics. There are also live science shows, a 360-degree planetarium and workshops in the KLA Lab.

The Royal Arcade dates from 1858 and is Cardiff's oldest arcade as well as the city's first shopping centre. In addition, the Welsh capital's Victorian covered market offers fresh, quality produce.

Arrival and orientation

Cardiff Bay railway station has step-free access from Bute Street and Lloyd George Avenue. The station is about a ten-minute walk from the Millennium Centre and the Senedd buildings. At the Cardiff Castle Visitor Centre, the Visitor Information Point provides city maps as well as brochures and flyers for local and regional attractions.

Accommodation details

Before booking, it is worth checking the exact location, type of accommodation, occupancy, included services, individual price components, as well as the applicable booking and cancellation conditions. These points can be checked directly on the relevant listing page. Also make sure that the stated occupancy suits your travel group and check which conditions apply to changes or cancellation. The components included in the price should also be clearly stated before you commit. Compare the conditions of the listings directly with one another.

You can also find the location pages for Cardiff, Pentyrch, Gabalfa, Lisvane, Radyr and Taff's Well.

For the higher-level travel overview: Wales.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Torfaen.