City Centre
St Mary Street, Mill Lane and Old Brewery are Cardiff's liveliest neighborhoods, where restaurants and nightlife are concentrated. Here, you can dine, stroll or have an evening drink. The terraces along the pedestrian streets are at their liveliest on balmy summer and spring evenings. Musicians perform here, and the sound of bagpipes is often heard..
In 2010, this part of the city underwent a vast redevelopment project to create a gigantic shopping center, massively enlarging the existing Saint David's Shopping Centre, for which £675 million was invested! It's a new development that has made Cardiff one of the UK's top 5 shopping destinations, and one that is reshaping both the visual and practical aspects of the center, with several formerly busy streets made pedestrian-friendly as part of the redevelopment.
Pontcanna, Cathays and Bute Park
A residential area par excellence, north of Cardiff and west of Bute Park, Pontcanna (also known as Canton) is punctuated by imposing, majestic residences whose architectural details are a delight to discover. There are some very good places to eat, mostly frequented by locals. The long, quiet Cathedral Road has seen the emergence of trendy boutiques and charming B&Bs, much sought-after by tourists with a taste for the chic and the typical.
Here, you can watch a cricket match by the Glamorgan Dragons, the only Welsh team to compete in the main Anglo-Welsh competitions, at the SSE Swalec stadium, which can accommodate up to 16,000 fans. Or visit the Methodist Church on Conway Road. This sandstone and brick church stands on a small hill at the corner of Conway Road, which makes it all the prouder. Built between 1869 and 1871, it is the largest Methodist church still in use 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 Scottish architect Frederick Walters (1849-1931), in a late 12th-century French style. The tower was added in 1916.
Cathays, with its comic bookshops, three universities and over 30,000 students, boasts a lively nightlife thanks to its euphoric and inexpensive pubs.
The must-see Bute Park, surrounding the astonishing Cardiff Castle and its keep, is an immense 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 that wander and play there.
Cardiff Bay and Butetown
It's hard to imagine that in the early 1980s, the docklands were a derelict and dangerous area, with one of the highest unemployment rates in Britain. In 1987, the city sought to revive itself and embarked on an ambitious program of urban "regeneration", with the aim of "reuniting the port with the city".
Today, you can appreciate the results, which have far exceeded expectations: by the end of the project in 2000, no fewer than 4,800 homes, 17,000 jobs, a million square metres of retail and leisure space and 80 hectares of public open spaces had been created.
Here, we 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 and author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The square is surrounded by illuminated 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, you can admire Crickhowell House, a vast red-brick building with glass panels at its center, whose original architecture was designed by Sir Richard Rogers. It housed the Welsh National Assembly from 1999 to 2005 (since transferred to the Senedd, next door). Renamed Tŷ Hywel, the building now serves as offices for MPs and their staff.
To the south of the city, adjoining the docks, Butetown was built by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, hence its name. This popular district, devoid of tourist interest, of small brick buildings, is more a place of passage between the city and the bay.
At the southern end, Cardiff Bay gives a completely different impression from the center. The former port, transformed in the 1980s into a trendy bay, continues to play a leading role in the city's development. Formerly a dockland district, Cardiff Bay has become Europe's most developed waterfront. The bay is a cultural, political and sporting space, with a freshwater lake for water sports. Created in 2002, the Cardiff Bay Wetlands has also attracted new residents... One hundred and twenty species of seabird make their home in this nature reserve!
After all, the port has always been the pulse of the city!
