Skip to content
Skip to navigation menu

 

Cardiff - The City

A Brief Guide

This page offers a short introduction to the City of Cardiff, and provides a list of links for you to further explore the attractions and facilities on offer.

Introducing Cardiff:

Indoor Shopping Arcade

The city of Cardiff offers an excellent location in which to live and study. Students at Cardiff benefit from the combination of a small, friendly inexpensive city with the cultural and recreational amenities of a progressive modern capital. Cardiff’s population is 315,000, which means that the city is rarely overcrowded.

The history of Cardiff stretches back over 2000 years, as demonstrated by the striking castle at the heart of the city which features Roman and Norman fortifications along with more modern Victorian aspects. Today the city combines the best of the old and the new.

You will find ultra-modern office blocks alongside buildings existing from Cardiff’s great industrial era when, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Cardiff was one of the world’s largest coal-exporting ports. The former docklands and industrial areas have now been recreated as the bold new commercial and domestic development of Cardiff Bay, one of Europe’s most exciting waterfront developments.

Cardiff also has a greater area of parkland per head of population than any other city in Britain. In total, there are 330 parks and gardens around Cardiff, some of which extend right into the city centre itself. These green areas provide residents with unrivalled opportunities for sport, leisure and relaxation.

Entertainment, Culture, Sport and Shopping:

New Theatre

As a capital city, Cardiff offers excellent opportunities for cultural and social activities. Multi-screen cinemas, theatres, concert venues and many other arts facilities can be found in the city. Cardiff is home to the National Orchestra of Wales and the internationally renowned Welsh National Opera, the latter of which is now housed at the spectacular Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, opened in November 2004. The New Theatre’s programme of events regularly includes off-Broadway musicals, plays and ballet, while the Sherman Theatre and Chapter Arts Centre offer an eclectic mix of more contemporary film, dance and drama.

Cardiff also attracts many high-profile, exciting sporting events such as football and rugby finals at national and international level, snooker and pool championships and the World Rally Championship. 1999 saw Cardiff act as host city for the Rugby World Cup, the last major sporting event of the millennium, and Cardiff is also the venue for FA Cup finals while the Wembley Stadium in London undergoes re-development. The recently built 73,000-seated capacity Millennium Stadium has increased the city’s ability to host major events, from sport to concerts, and dominates the city’s sky-line.

The pedestrianised city centre of Cardiff is known as one of the most attractive regional shopping centres in Britain. Only a short walk from the main university campus, the shopping centre offers plenty of choice, from designer ranges to department stores to popular high-street names such as H & M, Oasis, Virgin Megastore, Monsoon, Next, Kookai and Marks and Spencer. The city’s covered Victorian and Edwardian arcades also offer an alternative shopping experience of boutiques, bookshops, coffee-bars, and record shops catering to all student tastes and budgets.

Accessible and Affordable:

Cardiff is a very accessible city by road, rail and air. Using the twice hourly high speed train service, for example, London is only two hours away. The city also benefits from its own international airport, as well as convenient connections to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Since Cardiff is served directly by the M4 motorway, there is good access to the rest of the UK by coach and car.

Students on Park Place

Cardiff is known as an affordable capital city. ‘The Virgin 2003 Alternative Guide to British Universities’, which is written by students for students, quotes Cardiff as being "a cheap place to live — more than 2% below the national average". Students at Cardiff are able to take advantage of some of the lowest rents in the UK, and Cardiff has been identified by the British Tourist Authority (BTA) survey as the cheapest capital city for nine years running. This survey compares 16 capital cities around the world and includes indicators such as accommodation, travel, food, entertainment, shopping and services.

Useful links (External sites):

General links:

  • www.cardiff.gov.uk - Cardiff City Council's website. Includes information on events in the City, Leisure Centres, Cit Centre Bar Guide, Council Services, etc.
  • www.visitcardiff.com - an excellent guide to the City's attractions and facilities. Includes information on Accommodation, Restaurants and Bars, Events, Information Centres, and Things to See and Do in Cardiff. 
  • www.itchycardiff.com - online version of the Itchy Guide to Cardiff, which is also available as a book.  Topics include Eating, Clubbing, Gigs, Cinema, Art and Sport.

Pubs, Clubs and Live Music

Arts and Culture:

  • Cardiff Castle - www.cardiffcastle.com  (Opening hours and ticket prices)
  • National Museums & Galleries of Wales - www.nmgw.ac.uk - Details of a range of museums in the Cardiff Area, including: The National Museum & Gallery, Cardiff; The Museum of Welsh Life, St. Fagans; The Big Pit, Blaenafon; Roman Legionary Museum, Caerleon; and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.
  • Chapter Arts Centre - www.chapter.org  (Book cinema and theatre tickets online)
  • Sherman Theatre - www.shermantheatre.co.uk  (Events listings for University-based theatre)
  • Wales Millennium Centre - www.wmc.org.uk  (Buy tickets and view events — opera, ballet, theatre, comedy)
  • New Theatre / St. David’s Hall - www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk (Buy tickets and view events — drama, children’s, orchestra)
  • Arts4Cardiff - www.arts4cardiff.co.uk  (Up-to-date arts and theatre listings)

Sport and Leisure: