Let me introduce you to one of my favourite places to exercise, stroll and stuff my face with…read moreprocessed meats (Summertime BBQ's) - Cosmeston Lakes. First opened in 1978, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park and Medieval Village is situated not far from Cardiff, Barry and Penarth. It is open all year round for visitors to explore it's 247 acres of land, lakes, woodlands and meadows. There's even a reconstructed 14th Century Village set within the park. Things to remember for your next visit: Parking: FREE! Lakeside Café: The Lakeside Café serves breakfast, lunch and obligatory ice creams! Open daily from 8.30am - 6.30pm. Take a seat on the patio area and enjoy the lakeside views. BBQ and Picnics: There are several BBQ units throughout the park that are available to hire from £17. There are also lots of conveniently placed picnic benches. Bird Hide: For the keen bird watchers, a bird hide can be found overlooking the western lake (visit website for map). Access to the bird hide is via steps leading from the main path. Open 24 hours. Free of charge. Horse Riding: Horse Riding is permitted, however if you want to ride along the main paths you will have to purchase a permit which costs £20 per year. Medieval Village: Open 7 days a week. Free of charge! Adventure Playground: A large children's playground can be found on the opposite side of the lake from the car park. It features a range of climbing equipment, swings, slides and a boat.

Cosmeston Lakes are the filled in remains of limestone quarries in the 19th century. When I go…read morethere, I imagine old metal towers and drills slowly mouldering away under the calm surface, with all its ducks and reeds. Cosmeston offers an easily accessible set of lakes, paths, wide grass areas and boardwalks. It is a lovely area to take in, and is suitable for cycling. There's also a large play area for small and large children alike. Also on site there's a visitor centre, cafe and the ever-popular Medieval Village. This is a great area to settle down for the day. As you do so, imagine what the mines once looked like and be in awe of the restoration project that went on there.

Besides fin cruises for kids the Island Voyage also do a 2 hour coastal adventure or the one I went…read moreon that is a 1 hour coastal cruise. The boats are a lot of fun and can reach up 60mph on a clear day, an adventure all on it's own! The driver also gives a good deal of information on the area and it's transformation, it is really good if your visiting the town or a newbie like myself. I wouldn't suggest going on this if your a bit dodgy on a boat as it can get quite rough. A special mention most be made about the gorgeous Labrador that frequents the stand where you pay. It's such a friendly little thing and is probably the reason I got roped into the trip, clever.

My nephew and I I went on a hour long trip whizzing around the bay with the bay water and the wind…read morerushing through our hair laughing as we went. Whenever you go to the bay you often see these distinctive yellow speedboats hammering it around the bay - it looks like fun because it is! I'd highly recommend it - on a busy bank holiday you're probably better off booking even though they leave pretty regularly. You can do a bay tour or actually go out to the channel through the barrage. The owners are lovely, chatty and full of information too! If I remember correctly it was £10 for an adult and £5 for kids but check the website and give them a call to make sure.

Last year I decided to try some of this windsurfing lark at The Channel view leisure centre,…read morededicated water to all things water sports related. I went on the absolute beginners course which to begin with is expensive. £124 for two days. But once you get your level one it goes down to £34 for 5 sesh so gets better as you do. What consists of the beginners course is to begin with an on land simulator to make you feel an utter charlie. YOu are embarrassingly guided by qualified wind surfing tutors. You are then allowed out in the wet stuff after a few hours and this is where the real fun begins. Expect to get wet, col and spend more time off your board than on it...Well me anyway. It was so much fun my face was hearting from smiling so much over the two days. It's a great way to meet people and you become quite close to your group over the time and I still speak to a couple of the people I met there. There is so much more at CBWAC with Kayaking, sailing, rowing and power boating. If summer pops up this year you must visit here!

This Centre is housed in a purpose-built facility in South Cardiff, on the edge of the River Taff…read moreby Cardiff Bay. Despite the name, they actually offer activities both in the water and on land - including climbing (using Channel View's indoor climbing wall and automatic belaying equipment, as well as the outside bouldering facility); archery; bell boating in a vessel up the Taff; bush survival skills; trail biking; sailing; windsurfing; course and sea fishing; rowing; etc. For parties and corporate days they do day packages, and this is what I've experienced - all great fun, with excellent tuition and guidance, and a choice of 16 different activities (though obviously you have to choose in advance and book which you want to do, as there's not enough time to fit all of them in!). Great for a team day out away from the office.

The Barrage is a great place for a relaxing walk or a bit of boat-watching, and on a clear day you…read morecan see right across the Bristol Channel to where our English bretherin live. It's a bit of a walk from the bay, probably about half an hour, but it's a very pleasant one and there's some interesting scenery on the way, ranging from old warehouses to small historic displays. Once you reach the Barrage you'll be treated to stunning views of the whole of the Bay, and if you're here at sunset then there are some brilliant photo opportunities to be had. There's also plentiful fishing to be had and it can be a good spot for bird-watching if it's the right time of year. There are regular benches along the way if you need a quick break and some toilet stops if you forgot to go back in the Bay. At the middle of the Barrage there's a small decking area with some sail-like structures above it that make for a nice quiet spot if you want to pause and take in the view, or if you just want to go somewhere for some me-time. And of course there's the barrage gates where you can watch the comings and goings of the boats and the lock mechanisms in action.

This is my favourite place to walk, run, skip or cycle in the whole of Cardiff…read more It takes about half an hour (if you walk, if you skip its a little less) to get to the barrage, at a nice pace, and along the way you will pass many a scene worth taking in from the skater park, to an outside exhibition about the importance coal had in the south Wales economy etc etc etc. When you get to the barrage you can watch boats of all shape and sizes (depending on the depth of the owners pockets) leaving and coming into the bay through its impressive mechanical locks. I'm nowhere near describing how nice it can be to experience this walk so all I'll say is if you are in the bay and have an hour or so to spare then take a walk down to the barrage and you will not be disappointed.

If someone asked me to describe the one hour Aquabus ride and tour I took during my last trip to…read moreCardiff, I would have to answer with one word: "meh." For context, a travel buddy and I opted to board an Aquabus for a quick ride around the bay area only - we figured it would provide some beautiful views of the area and hoped that since it was advertised as a tour, we'd learn a thing or two. The biggest perk during the ride was that I got to spend a relaxing hour or so off of my feet, on the water, enjoying beautiful blue skies during a fall day in Wales. This is admittedly a pretty big perk. But the experience wasn't perfect, sadly. For starters, the boat left a bit later than we were told it would (almost 20 minutes later, in fact) - so it was a good thing my travel buddy and I had already attended our time-sensitive plans in the Bay area that day. Secondly, there really wasn't a lot of information during our "tour". Plus, even when they did try to give you information during the tour/cruise/ride/etc., the recording they occasionally played tended to malfunction. I can't even remember how many times it stopped or repeated itself. It didn't help that we couldn't always hear the recording very clearly, even though we were sitting pretty close to the speakers... So as you've probably guessed, I was ultimately pretty underwhelmed with my Aquabus "tour." I did at least get to enjoy a beautiful ride around the bay. Something tells me that's their primary aim, too. So if that's what you're looking for, that's what I can recommend an Aquabus ride for. But after my experience, I'll remember Aquabus as a sightseeing option only. 2.5 stars from this traveler.

As far as adrenaline rushes and "been there done it" experiences are concerned, Cardiff bay's…read morelittle Aquabus tour probably doesn't compare well to The Lady of the Mist boat that takes you to the base of Niagara Falls. Having said that - if you happen to be in Cardiff Bay of a lovely blue skyed day and are in no particular rush plus you fancy getting from the Bay to the City Centre then there is no better way than this. I did it with my partner and my child and its a lovely way to while away half an hour (I think that's how long it took). There is something timeless about chugging over gently rippling water towards a destination whilst watching a familiar landscape from an unfamiliar angle. Anyhow - if this appeals to you why not hop about they leave pretty regularly and do not cost the earth (it was under £5 for an adult).

This is an awesome venue and fun to watch the hydrofuntastic people battle against the man made…read moreelements. Canoeing and Rafting for all ages and the indoor surf wall is something I wish was around when I learned to surf. It would possibly have saved me many hours of hugging sand and swallowing seaweed. Today was the last day of the summer long Cardiff Festival and what a finish. Thoroughly enjoyable and a canoeing session is only £10 - plenty of parking too. Highly recommend it.

This is the first purpose build white water centre in the country and I was very excited about the…read moreprospect of giving white water rafting a go when I first heard they were building this place last year. It opened in March and I headed on down a couple of weeks ago after finally persuading a team of people to come with me! I really didn't know what to expect to at all. Part of me was worried that it was going to be indoors for some reason, obviously it wasnt. It sits in the river and has lots of technological stuff to send you on your way around the 250 metre course. One of my favioute bits was when we left the training pool while in the raft, on an escalator that takes you to the top of the course. It was like that feeling on a roller-coaster when your going up and have no idea what the feeling is going to be like on the way down! It was a lot of fun, I thought 2 hours on a 250 metre course would get boring, but the instructors really take you though lots of different maneuvers undoubtedly to try and throw as many of you around as possible. Maybe I would like I bit more of a view to look at, but the safety of doing it this way will appear to lots. 2 hour rafting costs £49 and they canoeing and kayaking too as well as body boarding which I'll be trying next time!