Cardiff

When Wales plays rugby at the Principality Stadium, 70,000 people sing the anthem "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" so loudly that you can hear it all over the city center. A city break in Cardiff takes you to the young capital of Wales, to a castle with fairy-tale halls, to a reinvented waterfront bay, and into Victorian shopping arcades.

From Coal to Capital

For a long time, Cardiff was a small market town with a castle. In the 19th century, the family of the Marquesses of Bute built docks through which coal from the Welsh valleys was shipped around the world, and Cardiff became one of the largest coal ports on the planet. Sailors from dozens of countries lived in the harbor district of Tiger Bay; the singer Shirley Bassey comes from here. Cardiff only officially became the capital of Wales in 1955, and the Welsh Parliament has met here since 1999. Welsh is an official language and appears on signs everywhere.

Sights in Cardiff

Cardiff Castle combines Roman walls, a Norman keep on a mound, and a Victorian castle that the architect William Burges transformed into a Gothic Revival dream for the third Marquess of Bute, complete with gilded ceilings, animal figures, and a rooftop garden. Behind the castle stretches Bute Park, a green lung along the River Taff. The National Museum Cardiff in the Civic Centre shows one of the best collections of Impressionist painting in Britain. To the north lies Llandaff Cathedral, and outside the city the fairy-tale Castell Coch, also by Burges. The open-air St Fagans museum gathers historic buildings from all over Wales, and admission is free.

Cardiff Bay and Neighborhoods

Where the coal ships once lay, a freshwater lake with promenades was created after the construction of a barrage. The Wales Millennium Centre, with its copper-colored facade and inscribed lines of poetry, is both opera house and cultural center, and next to it stand the glass-fronted Senedd and the red-brick Pierhead Building. Butetown, the old Tiger Bay, is now a residential and nightlife district. Roath, with Roath Park Lake and its lighthouse memorial to Captain Scott, Cathays as the student quarter, and multicultural Grangetown show everyday life. Fans of "Doctor Who" will recognize many filming locations.

Eating and Going Out

In the center, Victorian and Edwardian arcades such as the Morgan Arcade and the Castle Arcade lead to small shops and cafés. In Cardiff Market, a glass-and-iron hall, you can find Welsh cakes fresh off the griddle, laverbread made from seaweed, and bara brith, a fruit loaf. Typical dishes include cawl, a stew with lamb and leeks, and Welsh rarebit, cheese on toast. In the evening, people gather in the pubs of St Mary Street or on Womanby Street, an alley lined with live-music bars.

Getting There and Best Time to Visit

Cardiff Airport is about 20 kilometers to the west, and London Paddington is just under two hours away by train. The best time to visit is from May to September. Day trips lead to the Brecon Beacons, the coast of the Gower Peninsula, and Caerphilly Castle.