Exploring Cardiff & The Beauty of Wales
Ahh Wales, such a beautiful place! We were there for about a week, with Cardiff being our home base. Cardiff was a fun, hipster city with plenty of places to eat and drink. Being foodies at heart, Cardiff was a perfect spot for us!
Not a foodie? Don’t worry, there are plenty of other things to see and do! We rented a car for the week which allowed us to get out of the city and explore the beautiful landscapes Wales has to offer.
Trip date: August 2022
Straight to the food
After settling into our Home Exchange (basically an airbnb), we immediately went for a walk to explore the local eateries. Our first stop was a small outdoor vegan market. No, we are not vegan. We are very far from being vegan, but it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the bar and live music!
Our next stop was as far from vegan as you can get: The Smoke House. Greg and I shared the BBQ platter so we could sample a little bit of everything. Who knew I would have the best ribs of my life in Wales?! I still stand by this.. the best! They didn’t even need sauce.
Dunraven Bay
From Cardiff, we drove to Southerndown Beach and paid 5 pounds for parking. We sunbathed on huge rocks and watched the tide go out. In just one hour, it significantly changed. It was nice that there were so many rocks to provide shade, tables, nooks, and privacy.
This was a lovely area! If we had longer time in Wales, we definitely would have spent more time here.
We climbed up the grassy cliffs for some breathtaking views. Ahh the seabreeze was so refreshing! We laid in the grass for a bit admiring the glistening water and gliding birds. Seriously, the birds would just circle and glide without ever moving their wings. I guess this is a moment where we really slowed down and enjoyed nature.
Besides going to the bay for a day trip, you could spend days hiking the trail along the entire cliff line. It would be so nice to do in ideal weather! There is not much (if any) protection from the elements, so prepare accordingly.
Pride Weekend and Brewery Hopping
From our Home Exchange, we walked downtown. Turns out, it was pride weekend! They hadn’t had one since 2019 due to the pandemic, so this 2022 event was pretty big. There was a whole festival during the day which even had a concert by one of the Spice Girls! I was bummed to find out we missed that. The city was full of color! Pride flags, colorful attire, light up headbands, and even a security man wearing light up bunny ears. For just 8pm, downtown was hoppin!
Before heading to true downtown, we watched the futbol game and had drinks at the Crafty Devil’s Cellar. It was a small bar with a big projection screen inside. Once downtown, we continued our search for more low-key brewery vibes, so we found Brew Monster which was right up our alley. But if you were looking to party and club, downtown definitely had plenty of that to offer as well.
We ended the night watching a drag show at the Corporation Yard. It was an awesome outdoor space surrounded by food trucks with a funky artisan market inside. This night was not at all what we expected, but we sure had a fun time!
Cardiff Castle
The castle grounds are free to explore, but there is an entry free for admission into the medieval castle itself. The grounds are surrounded by an animal wall (literally called The Animal Wall). Walk along the wall and find all of the animals. My favorite was the raccoon!
We walked along the Taff Trail through Bune Park to Cardiff Castle. I loved the park! Very big and green! Although I didn’t run on this trip, it would be a great park for it. We did find some other fun activities around the park though.
Govilon Line
On our search for narrowboarts, we drove to the Govilon Line in hopes of walking along canals. Unfortunately, this was not the right spot, but was still nice to see. This trail used to be a railroad and is now a paved path perfect for running, dogwalking, or just strolling in the shade. After enjoying a shaded walk, we moved onto our next destination which is what we were actually looking for… The Taff Trail through Talybont.
Did you know? The Taff Trail is a 55-mile trail from Cardiff to Brecon.
Narrowboats
In Talybont, we parked along the street. Luckily, when we arrived at 10am there were tons of parking spots. Closer to noon it was nearly impossible to find a spot. If you do go later in the day and discover no parking available, check out Village Hall, which is a small park with parking and bathrooms. Knowing where public bathrooms are can save your day! They do request donations though, so bring a pound or two to chip in.
Along the canal is a narrow dirt path. We walked for an hour or 2 watching the narrowboats pass by. We (mostly Greg) had been watching a TV series about them. Greg was very happy here! He had been dreaming of seeing this.
When these manmade canals were first developed, horses would walk along the dirt path and pull the boats. But now, of course, there is a motor on the boats. No horses needed. They were developed before trains, as a means to transport goods. Now, the canals are used as leisure to enjoy the British countryside. Greg says “it is a civil engineering masterpiece.”
It was amazing watching these boats go through one particular skinny tunnel. The passengers had to duck to make it under! When horses used to pull the boats, men had to push the boat with their legs against the tunnel to power the boat through and meet the horses on the other end. See the picture below:
Brecon Beacon National Park
This place was amazing! Two words to describe it…. Sheep galore! It was my favorite picnic spot of the year (Greg ranked this as number 2, but it is by far number 1 for me). Sheep were literally at your feet. The panoramic views of green valleys and hills was just a bonus. While driving, watch out for wandering sheep! There are no fences, so the sheep roam wherever they please. You’ll see plenty of sheep in Ireland, but this spot in Wales was next-level!
Pizza and Music
For our last night in Cardiff, we walked to St. Canna Brewhouse for just one drink, but wound up staying for hours because we loved the ambience so much. The live music consisted of three men who each played their own set, but also played a few songs together. The first guy was our favorite- he played guitar and had a wide range of what he could sing and play. He even sang beautiful French and Italian songs! I follow him on instagram now: @thobymusic
Not only did they have good music, but there was delicious pizza too! The brewery had a small courtyard in the back with a ‘pizza shack’ called Slizza. It was SO delicious. We ate here twice on our Cardiff visit.
From Cardiff, we also took a day trip to England, but we’ll get into that on our next post!
Wales was AMAZING and we would recommend it to all!
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