Cardiff travel guide

Welsh capital Cardiff is a political, sporting and artistic centre and one that has been reborn.

Once desolate and disused, the city’s Victorian docklands were redeveloped into gleaming Cardiff Bay – a complex of government buildings, arts centres, restaurants, bars and hotels. The town gained not only the Welsh National Assembly, with its cutting-edge Senned building, but also the Wales Millennium Centre, home of the Welsh National Opera.

Then, of course, there’s the awe-inspiring Millennium Stadium, site of many major sporting fixtures which often means the city’s streets and bars are lively with exuberant fans.

But Cardiff is not only about the new: besides lots of fine Victorian architecture, there’s the extraordinary neo-medieval Cardiff castle and the tranquil Llandaff Cathedral. The National Museum & Gallery of Wales, a fine and fascinating museum, is a splendidly updated relic of the town’s 19th-century prosperity.