The Principality Stadium, previously known as The Millennium stadium is the home of football and…read morerugby in Wales, I came here for a tour on a recent trip to Cardiff, and was reasonably impressed with the stadium and the tour. I love football, traveling and Yelping so I am today pleased to combine the three for my 1100th review. The stadium is quite interesting with its' location, it is right in the city centre of Cardiff, which is a rather unusual and uncommon approach with football stadiums in large cities, which normally tend to be a few miles out, this means that traffic going in and out of the stadium on a match-day might be troublesome on the best of times. The stadium here was really cool, and was modern in most ways, I really liked the inside seating and the whole look of it, even with a retractable roof, the tour was quite cool, it was a decent sized group and I learned some cool stuff about the stadium, which is set to host the Champions League Final in May/Jun 2017, meanwhile the likes of Leicester City versus FC Porto are playing right now in the Champions League as I write this review, with teams dreaming to reach here come the end of the season. The dressing rooms were not as welcoming, they were average and certainly not as nice as I have seen at other major stadiums such as Wembley and The Etihad. The tour also lost that spark, magic, because the pitch had been pulled up to make way for concrete to hold a massive dinner, which was a cool idea in practice, but along with the roof-up, it made the stadium feel dark, and more like a concert hall rather than a stadium, which ruined the atmosphere in ways. As mentioned above, the tour guide was friendly, as he was an Arsenal supporter we shared a few jokes about football, myself supporting Manchester City. The stadium store is quite poor, with multiple really old fashioned, inaccesiable lifts and it is hard to move around and start the store, which is a huge let-down for a store meant to serve the leading stadium for both football and rugby, hence all sporting events in Wales. Overall, this is a nice, cool, new(ish) stadium but still there are some issues with my visit, which need to be ironed out such as improving the modern feeling of this store, the tour experience. I feel this stadium in general deserves three stars.

From the owner: National stadium of Wales and the home of the Welsh rugby team.read more

Home of Gloucestershire county cricket club, this isn't as big as either of city's football grounds…read moreand has a more sedate atmosphere that you would expect at a crick ground. On a match day expect to see plenty of old men drinking ales and looking a bit dozy as they follow the game. With a capacity of just 8000 it doesn't ever get very noisy, with polite applause being all you'll usually here during a game. When internationals are hosted their raise the capacity, though, and things get a bit noisier. It's still all a lot more civilised than a football match. International one day matches are probably the best time to experience the ground, though tickets are more expensive and go quickly. If you can try and slip into the corporate area (the big marquee, usually with a few bouncers hanging around oustide of it). They get the best food and the quietest bar, definitely worth the risk of annoyance of a couple of bouncers for. Their is a waiter service with the food here too, which is the way a cricket ground should be experience I think. The County Cricket ground is small and civilised, well suited to watching some cricket.

First a fact: Gloucestershire are the only county cricket team to play in a different county to the…read moreone they represent. Ensconced up in St Andrews, just off the Gloucester Road, being near the Rovers ground this area truly is a paradise for lovers of slightly mediocre sport. This is a small ground, though that's not necessarily a bad thing. Domestic games generally attract one fan and his proverbial pooch, so the smaller size makes for a better atmosphere. And what a good buzz there is here; word is that it's one of the more popular venues with the England team as the rarity of their appearances here brings out the boisterousness in the zidered up locals. A great place to watch cricket and not too expensive either, though be sure to check the forecast before you go.

Memorex is a crappy type of videotape, so it makes sense that the Mem would be kind of a crappy…read morestadium, but it also has its charm, and it will be missed. It's annoying that BRFC are moving yet again, as they move all the time. First-Hand Experience: More info about my personal experience at this stadium - I've been to both Bristol stadiums and they are both great places to watch football. However this one is run down and badly in need of an upgrade, so it makes sense that they may be moving. I was last here in 2007 for a match, although I've visited since then. It was a good and bad time. The fans are great and loud and vocal. The stadium is run down and decrepit. I've been to most UK & US stadiums, due to lifelong obsessions with travel, sport & especially footy (soccer to Americans). Born & raised in England, I followed Oxford United (hometown team) to stadia all over the country at away games, and later Liverpool (fave team) around. Every stadium review - like all my reviews - are from first-hand personal experience, usually from several visits. In 2011, I was on music tour in the UK, and visited most stadiums for fun in my spare time. As recently as Fall 2014, when I was "stuck" in UK for 3 months, I went to hundreds yet again while travelling. I have pictures of me at most, which I'll post later. Also, when back in UK I'll take more pix, and add more stadia! *** return to regular review *** Soon, Bristol Rovers may not be playing here any more. Known as the Mem, holds 12k, 3k of which are seated, and is rumoured to be closing down as BRFC move to their fancy new stadium, but that hasn't officially happened yet.

The memorial stadium, the smaller of Bristol two stadiums, is home to Bristol Rovers Football Club…read moreand Bristol Rugby Club. With a capacity of 12,100 it's quite a bit smaller than Ashton gate, but still manages to deliver a good atmsophere (in part, I think, because it's easier to fill out) both on days that football's played and rugby is. The DAS stand is the most impressive of the four in my opinion, housing the corporate boxes. It feels a bit like a cricket pavilion, and all four stands are slightly different from each other, making the ground feel like a bit of a hodge-podge. Worth knowing that the away stand isn't covered, so it can be a bit of a miserable experience if the weather's not very nice. Also should mention that the Blackthorn stand isn't seated. This makes for a better atmosphere but is a bit of a killer on the legs if you're not used to it. Being in the West Country there are pasties on offer. These are only £2.20 (very cheap for a football ground) and highly recommended. Drink cider to be really authentic. The memorial ground isn't particularly pretty but is a good ground where you'll can enjoy a game of football or rugby.

If I ever see Will Smith at a game, I'll be like "Yo, will!" I think someone must have said that a…read morelittle too loud to him at one of these games because then they renamed the entire town and team after it. Ah well. If you don't love my sense of humour yet... Yeo Vil. First-Hand Experience: I saw Yeovil play live at the Kassam in Oxford once... they were pretty good. I loved that their travelling fans were so loud and into it. Very nice people too. I've been to their home stadium as well but haven't yet seen them play there. In Yeoman's terms, this is a club that has no business being in League One, it's amazing that they are so high, and were even higher recently. Such a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. Really punching above their weight, so good for them! Yay! They once played in front of more than 81,000 against Manchester United at Maine Road, temporarily shared with local rival Manchester City following the bombing of Old Trafford in the Second World War. Wtf? I didn't even know Old Trafford was bombed. Anyway, they play to less than 10k people, in lovely green and white with yellow away kits. Sort of like Celtic hoops. They were a non league side until the new millennium, at which point they jumped up 3 divisions in the course of 10 years, which is amazing. They've dropped back down one, now, though. But there's a real romance with this team doing so well, so good on them!

It's July 2009 and a mate of mine calls me - "Hey do you fancy coming to see the Ashes tomorrow?…read moreI've got a spare ticket" I said no thanks because I'm not really a big fan of cricket. ONLY JOKING. I am speaking the truth when I say I'm not a big fan of cricket but I'd be off my head not to say no. Why? Because The Ashes (a test cricket series played between England and Australia) is one of international cricket's most celebrated rivalries and dates back to 1882 and has never been played in Cardiff before. Anyway i had to drive someone in the morning and it was tipping down with rain - so i thought the game will obviously be called off. But i got to Cardiff and Sophia Garden seemed to be existing in its very own sun bubble. We went into the Swalec Stadium (just been refurbed at a price of £9.6m) watched the game, with the sun blanketing us all day - in between popping out to the bar for a few refreshments and had an absolute cracking day. There was friendly rivalry and banter between us and the Ozzies plus we won! You don't need to be a cricket fan to watch a game - there are plenty of breaks in the play to pop out and grab a bite to eat / drink. The best way to think of it is as a relaxing day out with a couple of mates eating and drinking to your hearts content whilst a game of cricket is played in front of you.

I don't like cricket, oh no, I love it! OK well I don't really love it but its actually quite a fun…read moreway to spend a sunny summers day with a few beers and some mates. This is still a very new stadium so its a bit lacking in history and charm, but its very functional and has lots of space and toilets and some really good food outlets. There's not too much more I can say about the place. I'd defiantly recommend everyone gives it ago and support Glamorgan (they need all the support they can get). Oh yeah they also do functions, we were thinking of having a christmas party there last year too. Looks awesome but expensive!

Want to see Boy Zone? Take That? West Life? Enrique Iglesias? Pink? Then this is the best place in…read moreCardiff to go, when these and other pop stars come to Wales. I long for Britney Spears to come and sing here. I've seen her in London, but it is not the same as it would be to be able to see her here. I really enjoyed the Boy Zone concert it was amazing, they were on roller skates and they performed scenes from the Movie Grease. This was back in their early years. It ended with fireworks and started with fireworks. Spectacular! I saw Busted there as well that was another awesome concert! I'd never had such fun in a long while, before I had been to that concert. I didn't even really care about how loud it all was, which I often do. I recommend it for all; especially teenagers, the older the better I feel. It's near Cineworld cinema, in the town centre.

This is a really good arena. I've never been to it to see any sports (I don't even know if they do…read moredo sports there - sometimes places really surprise you and you realise that they have an ice rink under the floor and things!) but only music. It's a fantastic venue to see a concert. There is always a really atmosphere - and although part of that will obviously be my own excitement, a bad venue can hinder a gig. There's a good amount of seating and of standing room and the prices are always reasonable. I just wish there were more loos! That's always the problem!