City Centre

St Mary Street, Mill Lane and Old Brewery are Cardiff's liveliest areas, where restaurants and much of the nightlife are concentrated. People come here to dine, stroll and have a drink in the evening. The terraces on the pedestrian streets are bustling with life on mild summer and spring evenings.

This part of the city has been

the

subject of a vast redevelopment project, giving birth in 2010 to a gigantic shopping centre, massively extending the existing Saint David's Shopping Centre, and for which £675 million has been invested! The redevelopment has made Cardiff one of the top 5 shopping destinations in the UK and is reshaping the visual and practical aspect of the centre, as several formerly busy streets have been made pedestrianised.

Pontcanna, Cathays and Bute Park

Pontcanna (also known as Township) is a prime residential area, north of Cardiff and west of Bute Park, and is punctuated by imposing and majestic residences whose architectural details can be discovered with delight. There are some very good addresses, mainly frequented by locals. The long and peaceful Cathedral Road has seen trendy shops and charming B&Bs that are very popular with tourists who love chic and typical.

Here, you can enjoy a cricket match of the Glamorgan Dragons, the only team in Wales that participates in the main Anglo-Welsh competitions, in the SSE Swalec stadium that can accommodate up to 16,000 fans. Or to visit the Methodist Church on Conway Road. This church, made of sandstone and brick, stands on a small hill at the corner of Conway Road, which makes it all the more proud. Built between 1869 and 1871, it is today the largest Methodist church still in operation in Cardiff. Another interesting church is St Mary of the Angels at 67 Talbot Street. The Catholic Church of St Mary of the Angels (Llanfair Yr Angylion

in Welsh) was built in 1907 by the Scottish architect Frederick Walters (1849-1931) in a late 12th century French style. The tower was added in 1916.

St. Cathays, with its comic bookstores, three universities and over 30,000 students, has a lively nightlife thanks to its euphoric and cheap pubs.

The must-see Bute Park, surrounding Cardiff Castle and its stunning keep, is a huge 53-hectare garden - the green heart of the city - where you can stroll or picnic on the grass between trees and flowerbeds, while enjoying the squirrels wandering and playing there.

Cardiff Bay and Butetown

It is hard to imagine that in the early 1980s, the docks were an abandoned area, considered dangerous, where the unemployment rate was one of the highest in Britain. In 1987, the city sought to rise to the challenge of an ambitious programme of urban "regeneration", with the aim of "bringing the port and the city together".

Today you can appreciate the result, which has far exceeded expectations: in 2000, by the end of the operation, no less than 4,800 housing units, 17,000 jobs, one million square metres of shops and leisure facilities, and 80 hectares of public spaces had been created.

Here, we set off to discover the Roald Dahl Plass: starting from the quays and inaugurated in April 2000, this modern oval-shaped square (also known as the "Oval Basin") was named after the writer Roald Dahl, born in Cardiff in 1916, author notably of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The square is surrounded by bright pillars and at the end stands a 21-metre high metal fountain, Water Sculpture. In summer, this open-air amphitheatre often hosts concerts and cultural events.

From the outside one can admire Crickhowell House, a vast red brick building with glass panels in its centre, whose original architecture was designed by Sir Richard Rogers. It was home to the Welsh National Assembly from 1999 to 2005 (since moved to the Senedd, just next door). Renamed Tŷ Hywel, the building now serves as offices for MPs and their staff.

To the south of the town, adjacent to the docks, Butetown was built by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, hence its name. This popular neighbourhood, with its rows of small brick buildings, is not a tourist attraction, but rather a place of passage between the city and the bay.

At the southern end, Cardiff Bay gives an absolutely different impression from the centre. The old harbour, transformed in the 1980s into a trendy bay, continues to play a leading role in the city's development. Formerly the docklands, Cardiff Bay has become the most developed waterfront in Europe. The bay is a cultural, political and sporting area with a freshwater lake for water sports. Established in 2002, Cardiff Bay Wetlands has also attracted new residents . One hundred and twenty species of seabirds have made this nature reserve their home!

The port has finally always been the pulse of the city!