Drunk too much tea at the Hayes Island snack bar? Relieve yourself in style in these beautifully…read morearchitectured Victorian water closets. The latrines are framed by an ornate black metal gold tipped fence. A brass handrail guides you down to polished granite floors beneath the busy shopping street. When I visited the facilities they were clean and well maintained. I loved the heavy hardwood doors and brass fittings, the cast iron cistern and the smooth wooden chain pulls. But was slightly disturbed by the 'needle bin' facility on the wall, however better safely binned than scattered on the floor! Although wheelchair inaccessible, a notice on the fence helpfully tells you that disabled facilities can be accessed at the back of the Hayes Island snack bar during opening hours. Highly recommended.

This is a beautiful old building situated in the very centre of Cardiff, and serving as a…read moredistinctive landmark. St John the Baptist Church is over 800 years old and has watched the rest of Cardiff grow up around it. Yet, it manages to remain just as impressive as ever. This church is a lovely place to visit and is staffed my very welcoming volunteers. There is a small tearoom also situated in the building, and it's a great idea to combine tea and cakes with a little bit of architectural appreciation. My favourite time to visit St John is Christmas. Around this time they extend their visiting hours and the church itself is filled with charity Christmas cards, wrapping paper and decorations to sell. For me, this is an essential part of Christmas that cannot be missed.

Wonderful structure.. Is s landmark for the cardiff market…read more. I went inside..very nice.. Well worth a few minutes of your time to explore it..

I should be clear here, that I'm not about to write any sort of political review. Hardly. I'm the…read morekind of person who forgets to register to vote. No, instead I'm going to merely make a couple of comments upon the building at Cardiff Bay and the crazy landmark that it's become. The National Assembly building is an incredible piece of architecture. Built around the same time as the Wales Millennium Centre, there are similar vibes to the two buildings. Both use open wood cladding, and a whole lot of slate. There is also an importance placed upon roofs in both buildings. While the Millennium Centre is endearingly known as The Armadillo to locals, I'm not sure is the Assemble building has ever acquired such a description. This is probably because the roof defies description. It's massive and all encompassing and seemed to somehow float on glass walls by nothing more than the desperate willpower of the people who work there. If it was to have a nickname, I might suggest: The Umbrella, The Toadstool or even The Flying Carpet. Worth a look.

I came here and did a tour with tour guide Gareth and I'm pretty happy about the National Assembly…read morefor Wales and what it represents! I'm from America and back in the States I was pretty politically active and was passionate about what I believed in. However, when it comes to politics in the UK and especially Wales I'm pretty clueless about what the Welsh Assembly actually accomplishes (no offense). Asking my Welsh partner and he has no idea either. However, leaving the tour I feel a great respect for the National Assembly for Wales and all the people surrounding it! ~ Fun facts: - Anyone can come in and watch the political debates for free. Anyone can come by and speak to their representatives and voice your opinion. Back when everything about Wales was decided in England, it would be pretty hard to travel all the way to London to get your voice heard about local issues. The fact that the National Assembly for Wales is so accessible to the public is a great thing! - To submit a petition to the Welsh Assembly and guarantee it on the agenda as a talking point, you don't have to be of any age and you only need 10 signatures. Yes, that's right. 10. So if you're from a really small area, if an issue is important to you you can make sure you get your voice heard regardless. --- Yes, the building is without a doubt beautiful. But the National Assembly for Wales and what it represents is amazing. Even if you don't agree with what they do, the fact that you can just rock up and actually VOICE that disagreement is something that every government should strive for! Please try to go on a guided tour as well; you'll learn a lot! Gareth was amazing and entertaining as well, I highly recommend him!

This museum is the perfect price. Free! It is a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours. There…read moreis lots of natural history as well as cultural history. Everything is in both English and Welsh. The natural history area had videos ad well as exhibits detailing the geographic history of the region. The Art of the Selfie exhibit had a small cost which was quite fair. Van Gogh's Self Portrait was the main draw, but they also had Rembrandt and other artists. In the other rooms, there were so many artifacts. Rooms within rooms and beyond, you can lose hours reading about everything on display.

Very surprised about how many museums here in Cardiff are free including this one. They claim that…read moreyou have to book spots beforehand, but I don't think it's particularly necessary. Hot tip: They do have free luggage storing spaces below, make sure to ask the welcome desk for them and they will be happy to show you where it is. This museum is pretty cool because it not only has elements of natural history but also art as well. During Covid, they do have quite a bit of exhibits closed off, but nonetheless it is an interesting experience. Here are some of my favorite bits: - They have a lot more artifacts than I expected. One of my favorites was the rocks collection where they had a lot of pretty geodes and information on how these elements came to be. Also appreciate that you are able to touch a moon rock? - There was a sensory room upstairs relating to the relationship between human being and whales. Although I wasn't so keen on the content itself (no spoilers), the experience was quite interesting. - Very very casually, they have Monet, Manet, and Van Gogh all in one room. Usually in the States, people line up for hours just see one of these impressionist art and to see all of them in this room very casually is quite an amazing expeirence. Overall, great museum in Cardiff. Would definitely recommend coming if you want to hide out from the weather or for a more chill afternoon.

If you are female and you feel this review seems a little sexist or appears to stereotype then I…read moreapologise but in its defence its only aimed at the male population. Lads, if you are ever in a predicament where you have agreed to be dragged around Cardiff shopping by your other half only to realise half way through this punishment that you are missing a big sporting event on TV then don't panic. Make your way to the Hayes where they have a huge jumbo screen. More often than not they usually screen big sporting events on it. Its where I watched the mens Wimbledon final. You can even splash out, get yourself a coffee at the nearby Island cafe and sit yourself down at one of their tables - perfect - until the othr half wonders where you have gone that is.

The Hayes sits at the very heart of Cardiff city centre, and forms a kind of pedestrianised square…read more(albeit not very square-shaped!) lined by shops, restaurants, the vibrant St David's Hall concert venue, and the new St David's 2 shopping centre. In the middle of the Hayes, under some ancient trees, is the well-known Hayes Island Snack Bar, with outdoor seating amidst the hustle and bustle of shoppers and office workers. Around the edges of the Hayes area there are lots of shops including Waterstones and Habitat, plus restaurants and cafés such as Jamie's Italian and Starbucks, along with the Tourist Information Centre (housed in the Old Library) and St David's Hall. Just off the square there's the historic Morgan and Royal Arcades, and just around the corner is Cardiff Indoor Market, and in the other direction Mill Lane - known locally as 'Café Quarter' because of its many continental style restaurants with outdoor terrace seating.

If you want to know about my absolute fixation with imaginative Victorian architecture, please see…read moremy review of Cardiff Castle. If you want to develop this appreciation for yourself, head towards the absolutely stunning Castell Coch. This castle was reconstructed from its original foundations by ambitious nineteenth-century gentleman, the 5th Marquis of Bute and his equally crazy architect William Burgess. To cut a long period of architectural revival short, these guys liked fairytales. Consequently, don't for one moment go looking at this castle as if it's a gem left over from the day of King Arthur. Rather, see it as the result of two guys having the same longings for real dragons and authentic knights in shining armour as your average low budget movie director. Nevertheless, this place is stunning. Nestled on a wooded hill, the castle overlooks the outskirts of Cardiff and it's always a treat to see it while driving on nearby roads. URBAN CHALLENGE: Tell two builders in a white van what this place is called without laughing

My undying memory of Castell Coch is being in the dungeon as an eight year old on school trip and…read morebeing pretty scared by a man dressed as knight! Since then it hasn't lost any of its magic. It's like the typical disney princess castle set high up on the hill over looking the city, complete with draw bridge, turrets and perfectly preserved rooms. This is of course a Faux castle. It's not even 100 years old, so don't expect too much history but ask about the original fortress of your interested. Its perfect for a day out as its only a 15 minute drive from the city centre and impossible to miss. Kids would love a day out here, and once your bored of the castle you take one of the many routes behind the castle that lead into the woodland where you can stop and have a picnic. Alternatively you can give the cafe a go and get some lovely cake. It only costs £3.60 for an adult to get in, and if you just fancy a walk its free. Personally I'm waiting for my knight in shining amour to come back and marry me in this fairy-tale castle (not that I could ever afford it!). NB. Opens later in the peak of summer, and closes earlier in the winter. It also closes completely in January for renovations.

Ystradfellte is the Brecon Beacon's Waterfall country and its also were I grew up so its a place I…read moreknow well and love very much. Its a place that a lot of people in Wales know of just because of the fall and the caving complexes. The most famous of the waters is Sgwd Y Eira. If you have seen the advertising posters for Brecon Water this is the waterfall in the picture. Its a fairly easy walk apart from the steps as you get near and its one of very few waterfalls that you can actually walk underneath, though do expect to get sprayed a bit. I personally prefer some of the walks around the other falls which are much quieter in the summer and offer refreshing pools to swim in or picnic by. In all my years of living here I have never got bored of walking the area, its different all the time. Just a note to vistors the two main car parks charge a daily fee and a national parks ranger goes between them. If you want to avoid the fee park in the village itself and walk a bit further, tempting as it may be to pull up on the verges near the car parks I have seen so many break in's that you really are risking it a bit.

I was walking past the tower today around between 12 - 1pm with my wife and two daughters when I…read morespotted a nude blonde lady having intercourse with a male in the window on a high floor around 12 - 15th floor, my wife saw it too and we had to quickly rush our daughters straight past as we did not want them to see such horrible acts as they are young...utterly dispicable

I work in this building and the maintenance is appalling. There are five lifts, of which at least…read moreone is broken at any given time. Frequently two are out of service. This can result in mad lines out the front door, particularly at rush hour periods and during lunch. The revolving front door is also frequently broken, causing bottlenecks getting through the side doors. The heating system is also very poorly managed, with rooms' temperatures ranging from sauna to meat locker depending on which room you go to, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for the variation (or else the maintenance people just couldn't care less about fixing the problem). The views from inside are fabulous, a veritable 360-degree panorama on every floor, but other than that, there's nothing good about this building. If you're a prospective tenant, I'd say think twice before looking here. I hear their rates are expensive as well, mainly on account of being a tall building with nice views.

The castle is lovely and grounds are absolutely stunning. Although the structure and landscaping…read moreare lovely, our tour guide felt the need to weave her strong political views into most topics. Examples would be regarding a pitcher/jug that is displayed in one of the glass cases. She said the pitcher "should not be here" and if she had her way "it would be returned" because it was "stolen from a masque." She also said when referring to Dr. Edward Jenner being the first to develop a successful vaccination for small pox that "it really is a question if he were the first." She said he barely beat Africa and Turkey in this world altering vaccine. To which doctors to whom was she referring to in Africa or Turkey? She made a comment of, " My grandfather always said, 'Whatever horrible acts done have been done have been done by the English first.' and I firmly believe this." She was also railing against the decisions of the monarchs before the addition of the parliament. Then she went on to say she wished she could get rid of the current government. A guide should concentrate on the facts and remove biases. It is quite distracting and unnecessary.

What can you say about one of the oldest inhabited castles in the world which is still owned by the…read moresame family from 900 years ago. You have to go. Its where Edward II was murdered with a red hot poker up his fundament .