Cardiff trip planning help, please!

[CloudyMorning]

Hi all, I’m going to Cardiff for the first time with my DDs aged 18 and 20 and would love some help planning our three day trip, booked at the last minute.

I am looking for inspiration about how to spend our time there without breaking the bank.

My interests:
Social history
Interesting architecture
Window shopping in interesting/ quirky areas (not malls)
Eating out (vegetarian/ vegan)
Independent cinema maybe
People watching, preferably whilst drinking a glass of something nice without feeling the need to dress up.

DDs:
Interested in much of the above plus vintage / second hand clothes shopping plus areas for LGBTQ friendly bars.

I would prefer to avoid expensive entrance fees and enjoy just absorbing the atmosphere of a new city.

Which areas are best for exploring for people like my DDs who are lazy walkers?! I might even do a walking tour but would like to be a bit focused with ideas for an itinerary so that they don’t wander aimlessly and need to sit down for a coffee before we’ve even started…

BTW we’re staying overlooking the river- quite near Ferndale street, in case that’s relevant.

I’d be so grateful of some tips about what to do, what not to miss (and even what to avoid, I suppose).
TIA x

Your kid might like shopping at Blue Banana on Queen Street. Here is their Instagram.

The bay is lovely, you can get the train there from Cardiff central or Queen St station, and if you head to mermaid quay there they do boat rides and you can walk around. Are you a torchwood fan? There is a shrine there for Ianto if you are
The castle and grounds and the park around it are lovely.
If they like alternative music Clwb Ifor Bach might be worth a look. I also like the live lounge and used to go to the golden cross years ago and enjoyed it pulse is a good gay bar too! I want to go out now

There should be some LGBTQ theatre or cinema on at Chapter arts centre, and there’s a new LGBT bookshop on Cowbridge Road East nearby which is attached to a no packaging eco friendly shop and vegan wine shop. There’s also the Boneyard up there for little alternative stalls to browse.

please tell me you are joking....it's less than 2 minute walk from the V Food studio to ferndale street! You will be perfectly fine walking back at 8/9pm! You seem to have gone completely OTT based on one poster's (inaccurate) comments, and even they were suggesting maybe to not walk back along the embankment at midnight, not you won't be safe walking home down one street in the early evening!

It's Cardiff ffs not the Bronx in the 1970s! Honestly I used to live in Grangetown about 5 years ago and walked around all the time as a young girl in my 20s, never had any issues, you really really will be fine! Plus lots of Grangetown has become really gentrified, really fast - really average 3bed mid terraces going for 140k when I left are now nearly £280 or more!

OP, I grew up in Cardiff and my parents and sisters still live there.

there are parts of Cardiff that I would certainly not walk around after dark, but grangetown’s not one of them. It’s a traditionally working class area but not rowdy or stabby. You will be fine.

OP a simple Google would have told you that riverside, grangetown and city centre are some of the worst crime figures in the city

@buzz91 just because you walk home every night doesn't make it safe for 3 visiting women

I wouldn't let my dd live in grangetown even if it was free

Natural history museum is cool.

I would also say that your dds will fit in fine in Cardiff city centre
However grangetown is a mainly Asian/African population with a large muslim population

I grew up in Cardiff, my grandmother was from Grange Town. My brother in law lives there with his partner and child, they love living there! I covered Riverside, Grangetown etc for work for 7 + years. You'll be fine, just be careful as you would in the dark anyway.

Cardiff Bay is not that big at all so don't worry about walking all around it. To be honest I would struggle to fill 3 days in the city. As others have suggested St Fagans is great, its of my favourite places. For my 30th birthday I decided to do the tourist stuff I had never done, despite living there all my life. We did a tour of the stadium, visited the castle and got the boat from Sophie Gardens, down the bay and walked over the barrage. St Davids Hotel is nice for afternoon tea down the bay.

@TomAllenWife I said as with many cities there are areas that would not be safe as a tourist, i.e. not knowing which streets are going to end up unlit etc.
I think with the area they are staying in they will be relatively safe, it is well lit, busier foot traffic between there are town. I was responding with my differing experience as a resident compared to others. Nowhere will be entirely safe today unfortunately, the sad thing is you have to be completely aware of your surroundings, know the area, look out for anything that may be suspicious - I’m sure most men would not worry walking between a wall and a parked van, a woman will.

Ooh scary brown people!!!!

ffs. Are you serious?

@CloudyMorning You’ll be grand. I am normally in Cardiff at least once a month for the weekend and I love it. Just stayed for a week at Riverside and it was fine. (There’s a great farmers market there on Sunday). I didn’t spend much time walking around at night - but it was “school night” so was up early, having said that I don’t walk around my village after 9pm either.

Few other things you might think about/consider ~

there’s a self guided “ghost walk” around llandaf cathedral (you download on your phone and walk at your own pace), bit different, great fun.
lots of Italian restaurants - Casanova’s do a great value 2/3 course dinner.
Cambrian Tap / The Old Arcade are more or less the last of the Brains pubs in town - if you like beer Cambrian Tap have a good selection. (There’s a few places in town if you look up real ale pubs).
Golden Cross as mentioned earlier - brilliant atmosphere.
Clwb Ifor Bach - worth checking for any gigs depending on dates/what you like.

@thedancingbear

Are you a fucking idiot?

My comment was for OP asking if her 'alternative' dds will fit in?

The population of grangetown is predominantly Muslim of Asian and African origin 💁🏼‍♀️

Waterstones Cardiff has a lovely coffee shop!

Awful loo though!

@TomAllenWife I’m a bit shocked at you commenting about a multicultural community in this way tbh

@thedancingbear don’t worry, I’ll be fine. My father is from North Africa, funnily enough.

@latetothefisting i was joking, yes. However I think it’s a bit harsh to say that I’m the one who’s overreacting given some of the early comments on here…

Your daughters will be fine, lots of alternative people here in Cardiff.

There's great arcades but for vintage clothing etc, there is a place on the Castle End of Womanby Street which has various independent retailers and a young cool vibe. A local tattoo artist did some graffiti there, lots of hipsters and alternative people.

Canton/Pontcanna is fine, you can walk there or catch 17/18 bus from outside Holiday Inn hotel (easiest stop if you're in town as you should be able to see the hotel, it's in the opposite side to the castle, a bit further down on the left as you face the castle. I think it's £3.80 for an all day pass, but if you download the Cardiff Bus app you can buy tickets on there. I personally would avoid Chapter though, I find it really pretentious and full of wanky art students who think they're super edgy after going on a gap year. Boneyard is cool though.

Blue Banana on Queen Street is an alternative shop,but it's a chain so your daughters have probably been to a different branch if it interests them.

St Fagans is definitely worth a trip. You should be able to get a bus there but not sure which one.

Mary's is a good bar if you like drag acts. There are a few good rock places, Fuel (Womanby Street) is cool and often has small gigs. My friend likes Brewhouse which is further down St Mary Street than Mary's. (By further down, I mean away from the castle/towards the train station). There's also a bar called Kongs back towards the castle which has lots of arcade machines to play, like Pacman. Around there are also some lovely bars to sit in or out of. There's Rum and Fizz if you like rum, Gin & Juice, Pennyroyal, the Bluebell for an old proper pub (Inches cider is lush!).

PM me if you want any more. I've attached a couple of pics. The red bit is the castle, the purple bits are good bars and Kongs, the blue is the vintage independent market place and Fuel.

@TomAllenWife i can see why @thedancingbear didn’t realise what you were referring to- I also misunderstood you slightly ( but am still very uncomfortable with a multicultural area being seen as synonymous with a no-go area)

@Athenajm80 wow thanks- lots more helpful info :)

There are fantastic multicultural areas in Cardiff

Adamstown - particularly Clifton street being my favourite

Please don't make this into a race issue

Grangetown is rough, there are other parts of Cardiff that are almost exclusively white and rough (Ely, Tremorfa)

My point was about your dds when you asked if they'd 'fit in'

But whatever I'll stay away from the thread now and leave you to it, obvs you only want hear the good stuff

Enjoy your weekend

Adamsdown*

@TomAllenWife I can’t see how I’m the one making this about race! You made some comments that were interpreted a certain way by me and by dancing bear, based on how you expressed yourself.

It is clear from your later post that this is not what you meant (in terms of prejudice) but if you read back your previous comment that was made with very little context, then perhaps you will understand how you initially came across.

Given your North African heritage, you might love Kemi’s in Pontcanna - close to Chapter, the independent cinema. Their salad boxes are INSANELY good. You’ll never see salad the same way again. Amazing cakes too.

I don't think you understand the meaning of predominately - Grangetown is ethnically diverse but is still majority white www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/wales/wards/cardiff/W05000863__grangetown/. Even with your further reasoning I still don't understand the correlation between a majority non-white population and issues to OPs daughter's dressing in an 'alternative' manner. - Sophie Lancaster wasn't beaten up by a group of muslims?

OP - I only thought you'd be overreacting if you were actually suggesting you wouldn't go out after dark because of what a few posters have said. Hope you feel a bit reassured since the start of the thread. Pps have given loads of really good ideas of what to do so I won't repeat them, but would only suggest that you save cardiff bay for the best weather day of your visit - it's lovely in the sun, but a bit meh in the rain. You can also walk the other direction down the embankment to get to the bay - maybe a 15min walk from Grangetown?

Other than that even though you might want to limit driving I would still recommend st fagans if you like social history, it's really uniquely good for that in the UK so would be a shame to miss it when you are so close. Then as Cardiff is so compact you can fit in the other museums/shopping/pub recommendations as and when, with plenty of nice coffee and snack breaks inbetween!

I definitely recommend www.escaperoomscardiff.co.uk/ if you like that kind of thing, I love escape rooms though haha