Cardiff Travel Guide: What to do in Cardiff, UK

When Nick’s mum was here from Australia, we spent a night in Cardiff.

Nick and I have been to Cardiff before, but apart from visiting St Fagans (which was fantastic), and walking around the city, we didn’t get to explore as much of Cardiff as we wanted.

So the perfect opportunity to revisit arose when Nick’s mum was with us, so we could all experience Cardiff’s sites together.

Our first stop, before we even checked into our hotel was Cardiff Castle. When I was researching what to do at Cardiff Castle, I read that a must do is to book into a house tour.

When I found out the tour would be 50 minutes, I wasn’t sure that Ryan would have the attention span for it, so I told the lady at the ticket box that I’d sit this one out, and just Nick and his mum would go, as I didn’t want Ryan to annoy anyone.

The lady’s response was “who cares about anyone else, as mum’s we always sacrifice things for others, so do the tour.” She was fantastic!

I’m glad that I took her advice as the tour was so good, and Ryan was very well behaved. Our tour guide explained the history of the house and its apartments in a knowledgeable and funny way.

The biggest benefit of the tour was that we got to see some rooms that you don’t get to see when buying the standard entry ticket. The additional rooms included a smoking room, nursery, sitting room, bedrooms and rooftop garden.

The last room we saw, which is just to the left of the entrance was the Arab room. You can also see this room if you don’t do the tour. Prior to seeing it I read that it was a highlight, and that it was.

The elaborate ceiling was enough of a reason to see it. The room was small but very, very well designed.

After the house tour, we entered the Norman Keep, which offered amazing views from the top.

We then went down into the wartime shelters, a long underground tunnel that played the sound of aircraft flying overhead, and wartime announcements. It definitely provided the feeling of what it was like to be in the tunnel during wartime, which would have been incredibly scary.

After a coffee and muffin stop, we headed into the city and explored the alleyways, that remind me of Melbourne’s unique and quirky alleyways, which I really miss.

We tried to find somewhere for dinner but for some reason the city was packed, and there were lines to get into restaurants at 6pm. So we headed a little out of the city and had dinner at Frankie and Benny’s.

The next day we started at Castell Coch, which was designed by the same architect as Cardiff Castle, for the same owner, so the rooms were similar, but not as elaborate as the Cardiff’s Castle’s Apartments.

Upon entry we got an audio guide, which you tap on certain points within each room to get information. Needless to say, Ryan scored mine and tapped it in every room he entered.

Castell Coch was a really nice way to spend a morning, exploring the property at our own pace, and taking in the gorgeous architecture.

After Castell Coch we headed to Cardiff Bay, where we walked around for a little bit, and then had a massive serving of fish and chips for lunch.

After this we headed home, happy with the amount of Cardiff we were able to take in over a weekend, and promising to go back.

Do you have any Cardiff attraction recommendations?