Cardiff trip
Undertaking a Cardiff trip will take you to none other than the capital of Wales, on the south coast of the United Kingdom. A city that was more or less literally shaped in the 19th century by then world’s richest man – John Patrick Crichton-Stuart – who left a massive architectural legacy ranging from the colorful kitsch of Cardiff Castle to the Neoclassical elegance of the Civic Centre. But Cardiff isn’t a city mired in its past, far from it, the 21st century is very much on display with its sprawling docks developing into glitzy waterfront real estate and futuristic accents of the Wales Milennium Centre.
The Cardiff Castle is by far the city’s main attraction, but not for the reasons that you may think it, in the sense that this is not a traditional Welsh castle. Instead of one solid monument, Cardiff Castle is more like a collection of separate castles scattered around a central green area, it’s quite fascinating. This is most likely due to the very good strategic position of the area, because this is where a Roman fort existed around the 1st century, and that fort was built upon by the Normans and so on and so forth till about the 19th century.
The Wales Millennium Centre is a focus for Cardiff Bay’s regeneration, an architectural masterpiece that puts together Welsh slate in shades of green, purple and grey, topped off with a bronzed steel shell. Designed in 2004 to become Wales’ premier arts complex, housing the Welsh National Opera, the National dance Company, the National Orchestra and many other cultural institutions, the Centre is a great place to spend the solid part of a day.
Whovians will also love coming to Cardiff considering that many of the city’s locations were used in many episodes of the show as well as in Torchwood, the spin-off series.
There are lots to see and do in the city and it makes it a great place to explore both on foot and by car with the help of some Cardiff car rental services.
