We kept getting told NOT to visit Cardiff, Wales, and we still don’t get why.

So, just a little backstory… we were visiting the seaside town of Tenby, Wales at the end of April. We were already planning on visiting Cardiff as the next stop on our trip through Wales, and we ran into multiple people who, when they found out we were heading to Cardiff, told us NOT to go. They all said to just spend more time in Tenby. But we couldn’t get a clear answer WHY they didn’t like Cardiff (and some of them were actually locals).

Naturally, that made us even more curious about Cardiff, and we now wanted to go even more to see if this city was worth a visit.

We ended up spending two nights in Cardiff during the last weekend in April, and we stayed down in the city center so that we could be within walking distance of everything. We also had AMAZINGLY sunny weather, which always helps to show off a city when the sun is out.

Cardiff ended up feeling way more lived in and relaxed than a lot of capital cities do. It doesn’t have the (sometimes) overwhelming energy that places like London or Edinburgh have. It just felt like a real city where people actually live their lives.

And, I mean, there’s a castle right in the middle of it all, so it definitely gets props for that. You can walk around the grounds without paying but if you want to climb the tower or go into the museum, you do have to pay, I think it was £16.50 per adult. We thought it was definitely worth it.

One thing we both really liked about Cardiff was the arcades. They’re these old covered shopping passageways full of bookstores, cafés, tiny shops, pubs, weird little specialty stores, all tucked away from the main streets. Way more personality than modern shopping areas and we can imagine a nice place to duck into during the usual damp and rainy UK weather.

We also became completely addicted to Welsh cakes while we were in Wales. It started in Tenby, and then continued in Cardiff. Somewhere between a pancake, cookie, biscuit, and scone. Dry in a good way somehow. The best ones that we tried were from the Cardiff Market at a storefront called Cardiff Bakestones. They make them with all different types of fillings and they were SO good.

Cardiff also has this interesting contrast where you’ll go from ancient churches and castles straight into massive rugby culture. Even people who don’t care about sports could tell it’s a huge part of the city’s identity. There wasn’t anything happening at the stadium on the day we visited, but we knew if we didn’t at least go over and see it, we’d never hear the end of it from our Welsh friends.

We ended our visit down around Cardiff Bay, which is also worth the walk from the city center. There’s a ferris wheel, tons of restaurants and it looks like the promenade could be used to host large events or outdoor markets. And you’re right on the water, which is always nice.

We think Cardiff suffers from being compared to other UK capitals that are more immediately dramatic or touristy. But after spending a couple of days there, it felt like one of those cities that gets better the longer you wander around instead of trying to speedrun all of the different attractions.

Also Wales in general completely exceeded our expectations. Friendliest people we ran into anywhere on that trip.

So, the moral of the story is, if anyone tells you NOT to visit Cardiff when you’re in Wales, do not listen to them. 😜