Half day itineraries

 

Cardiff Castle (+44 (0) 29 2087 810044, www.cardiffcastle.com)
Millennium Stadium (Tel: +44 (0) 29 2082 2228, www.millenniumstadium.co.uk)

 

In the capital of Wales, you can walk through time - from Roman times to modern. The geographical and historical heart of the city is Cardiff Castle. Enter a vast walled yard, corresponding roughly to the outline of the original fort built by the Romans. Then move onto a Norman motte, crowned with its eleventh-century keep and looking down onto the turrets and towers of the main castle buildings, dating in part from the 14th and 15th centuries. From 1866 the 3rd Marquess of Bute employed the genius architect William Burges to transform the Castle lodgings. Each opulent room has its own special theme, including Mediterranean gardens and Italian and Arabian decoration.
From the ancient, step forward into the 21st century and enjoy the Real Millennium experience at the Millennium Stadium. Tours are available every day. Hear how it feels to enter Wales’ Sporting Amphitheatre - and then do it yourself! Learn how the pitch is laid, using 7,400 pallets, and discover how 800 tons of steel opens and closes in the retractable roof. The transition from the Castle to the Millennium stadium is approximately a 2 minute drive by coach. Visitors can be dropped off at the WRU shop at gate 3 on Westgate Street, and there are 10 long stay spaces for coaches at a cost of £15 a day at Sophia Gardens approximately 6 minutes drive from the stadium.

 

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Civic Centre
National Museum Cardiff (Tel: +44 (0) 29 2039 7951, www.museumwales.ac.uk)
Shopping

 

Wander through Cathays Park to the impressive Portlandstone Civic Centre, home to the National Museum Cardiff and an unrivalled range of stunning exhibitions. View one of the largest collections of Impressionist paintings outside Paris including Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Rossetti and Cézanne as well as other spectacular collection, from Naturalism to Surrealism. But remember to leave plenty of time to check out other exhibition, such as the thought provoking Big Bang simulation, animated Ice-age creatures, giant lizards and dinosaurs that form part of the amazing Evolution of Wales exhibition.
Afterwards head back to the city centre for a stroll amongst Cardiff’s maze of shops. Once again the old and the new nestle harmoniously in Cardiff whose Edwardian style shopping arcades sit comfortably next to modern shopping centres. Queen Street is a shopper’s paradise situated only 5 minutes away from the Museum, being fully pedestrianised, laced with flowers and sporting an impressive range of stores.  Alternatively Queen Street is approximately a 2 minute drive by coach.

 

Caerphilly Castle (Tel: +44 (0) 29 2088 3143)
Tredegar House (Tel: +44 (0) 1633 815 880)

 

Caerphilly Castle is as grand a castle as you could wish to see in Britain or in Europe for that matter. It’s no more than 30 minutes’ drive time from Cardiff (A470, exit Caerphilly onto A468 and follow sign posts). Sweeping an area of 30 acres the castle is the largest in Wales and rivalled in Britain only by Windsor and Dover. Dating back to the 13th century the castle has a unique system of water defences, ingenious fortifications, a leaning tower more dangerously tilted than Pisa’s and an elegant banqueting hall with fine stone carvings.
Continue 20 minutes along the A468 towards Newport and to Junction 28 of the M4 and you will discover Tredegar House: a majestic Charles II country house set in 90 acres of award winning parkland and gardens.
The tour escorts you through glittering state rooms and allows a peek “below stairs” to reveal how the other Half lived. In the grounds are craft shops, a tea room, carriage rides, boating and lakeside walks.

 

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Caerphilly Castle (Tel: +44 (0) 29 2088 3143)
Cosmeston Lakes and Medieval Village (Tel: +44 (0) 2920 701 678)

 

Awe-inspiring is perhaps the best way to describe the largest castle in Europe’s most castled country. Luckily Caerphilly Castle is now infinitely more accessible than it was in the thirteenth century! Indeed then its ingenious fortification rendered it virtually impenetrable and therefore unbesieged by its many enemy attackers. Legacies of such battles do however still stand in the castle ground in the form of medieval weapons of bombardment including a giant crossbow whose darts were five feet long! Situated 5 miles west of Cardiff, approximately a 30 minutes drive from Caerphilly Castle is Cosmeston Lakes and Medieval Village to where you can see the3 dramatic contrast with how the poor folk lived in this period. Indeed with costumed characters guiding you around the village, the troubles times of Medieval Wales certainly come to life. Time permitting, stroll along the beautiful lakes or enjoy a light lunch in the Visitors Centre overlooking the water. Bus stops are situated immediately outside the park entrance