+31 61 055 6678 | The Hague | info@travoley.nl

0
Your Cart is Empty

Cardiff

Travoley
Cardiff
Weather data of this location not found.

Cardiff Travel Guide

  • About Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. The city is the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom.To observe the city of Cardiff when the Welsh national rugby team are playing at home is to see a city at its most vibrant and euphoric.A vast sea of red washes the streets as the city shakes from the noise, a mixture of drums, song and laughter. Elsewhere, a crowd of this calibre and vigour could appear intimidating, but here the great tide of men, women and children omit only warmth and excitement as the throng meanders towards the mighty Millennium Stadium (so long as you’re not supporting England).This is the city at its best, but Cardiff isn’t a one trick pony, and it has earned its growing reputation as an exciting year-round tourist destination. So ignore any quizzical eyebrows from peers and start practising your best ‘alright but?’, because the pint-sized capital is finally having its day.Speaking of pints, there’s nothing more Cardiffians like than a good drink, and the city is suitably flooded with watering holes. Long-serving, traditional taverns like the City Arms now stand alongside a new generation of craft breweries and quirky bars, centred on the so-called ‘Cultural Quarter’ of Womanby Street, which is bookmarked by Welsh institution, the Clwb Ifor Bach nightclub.The city has invested heavily in consumer infrastructure too with the opening of St David’s shopping centre, so there are now enough international chains to keep even the fussiest customer busy for weeks. The boutiques, bookshops and tiny coffee houses of Cardiff’s snaking arcades accommodate those searching for more unique wares too.Despite all of this modernisation and ever-discussed ongoing Anglicisation, the city has worked hard to maintain its heritage, which it displays proudly, most notably with the medieval Cardiff Castle that stands proudly overlooking the city centre.If you can find time, trips to the outlying regions of Cardiff Bay and Canton provide yet more attractions, while excursions to the seaside suburb of Penarth and quaint village of Dinas Powys are equally rewarding.Cardiff may well be a pint-sized capital, but it’s definitely overflowing in the glass.
  • Cardiff History
The Welsh capital might be one of Europe’s youngest but like neighbouring London, it has Roman roots. Battling to contain the rampant Silures, the Iron Age tribe that once inhabited the land, the Romans set up a wooden fort on the site of what is now Cardiff Castle.Although the fort was abandoned when the Romans left, Cardiff wasn’t quite dead and it was revived for good when another invader, William the Conqueror, arrived. William rebuilt the fort in 1081, this time in stone, and as a result, the city began to put down roots.However, it was not all plain sailing for the fledgling city. It suffered serious damage in 1401 when a rebellion against English rule, led by Owain Glyndŵr, saw much of Cardiff being destroyed. The damage was so bad that rebuilding didn’t begin until 1423. In the years that followed, Cardiff stagnated, becoming little more than a military backwater.All that changed when Henry VIII took to the throne and passed the Laws in Wales Acts, which turned Cardiff the county town for Glamorganshire. In 1581, Elizabeth I granted the city its first royal charter. However, it was successive Marquesses of Bute who really transformed Cardiff, beginning with efforts to restore Cardiff Castle in 1793. Another Marquess, John Crichton-Stuart, dedicated his life to building the Cardiff docks.As the demand for coal grew, so did the population of the city, and Cardiff became the biggest town in Wales by 1881. Its first university, the University College South Wales and Monmouthshire, went up in 1893 and by 1905 Cardiff was granted city status.Modern day Cardiff was built on the profits of mining. A Victorian boom town, it exported coal and steel from the Welsh hills all over the world. At its peak, Cardiff became the biggest coal port in the world with more than 13 million tonnes of the black stuff being exported from the city by 1913.Today, thanks to an urban regeneration programme, Cardiff is back to its bustling best and boasts modern shopping centres, world class galleries and a shiny sports arena.
  • Did you know?
Opened in 1894, Spillers in Cardiff is the oldest record shop in the world. Children’s author Roald Dahl was born in Cardiff in 1916. The 11th century Cardiff Castle was used as an air raid shelter during WWII.
  • Weather in Cardiff
Although Cardiff has much to offer all year around, most tourists head here in the summer when the weather is a little kinder.The Welsh climate may be notoriously unpredictable, but its annual celebrations help visitors see the city through rose-tinted glasses. St David’s Day on 1 March is a great time to wander the city parks when its national flower, the daffodil, begins to golden and bloom, while rugby is best caught during the damper, muddier months.Temperatures can rattle their way up to 25°C (77°F) in July and August but average as low as 2°C (36°F) in mid-winter.

CONTACT A TRAVEL EXPERT

1-to-1 Service | Reply within 24hrs | Expert’s Advice

Click here