Cardiff is a compact, flat capital, and two days is enough to see the essentials without rushing. Day one keeps you in the city centre, around the castle, the stadium and the arcades; day two heads down to the waterfront at Cardiff Bay, with St Fagans as an alternative. Opening hours and prices were checked on official websites in November 2026, and the plan works in winter, when daylight is short and some places close early.

Before you go

  • Arriving: trains from London Paddington, Bristol and west Wales arrive at Cardiff Central, next to the Cardiff Bus Interchange at Central Square. From Cardiff Airport, take the 905 shuttle bus to Rhoose station and the train to Cardiff Central; Transport for Wales puts the whole journey at about 48 minutes.
  • Getting around: walk. Most sights are within about 15 minutes of each other. For the Bay, take the train from Queen Street (every 12 minutes) or the Baycar bus 6. Cardiff Bus charges £2.60 for an adult single, and tapping on and off with contactless never costs more than the £5.20 day ticket.
  • Where to stay: the city centre for the castle and stations, Cardiff Bay for the waterfront, or Cathedral Road and Pontcanna for townhouse guesthouses.
  • Which days: National Museum Cardiff is closed on Mondays and Cardiff Market on Sundays. Avoid rugby international days if you want a stadium tour; in November 2026 Wales play at home on 7, 14 and 21 November.
  • A word of Welsh: signs are bilingual. Croeso means welcome, diolch means thank you, and Caerdydd is Cardiff.

Day 1: castle, stadium and the city centre

Morning: Cardiff Castle

Start at Cardiff Castle when it opens (10am on winter weekdays, 9am at weekends). A Castle Ticket costs £16.50 for adults and covers the Victorian apartments, the Norman keep, the battlement walks, the wartime shelters and the Roman walls. If you can, add a 50-minute House Tour (£5, sold on the day, on the hour from 11am) to see William Burges’s most extravagant rooms. Allow two hours.

Late morning: Bute Park

Walk out through the back of the castle into Bute Park, about 130 acres of parkland and arboretum along the River Taff, and back past the stone animals of the Animal Wall on Castle Street.

Lunch: Cardiff Market and the arcades

Cross into the city’s Victorian and Edwardian arcades, starting with the Castle Arcade opposite the castle. Have lunch at Cardiff Market on St Mary Street (Monday to Saturday, 8am to 5pm) and pick up a Welsh cake, then browse the Royal Arcade of 1858 and the Morgan Arcade, home to Spillers Records.

Afternoon: Principality Stadium tour

Book a Principality Stadium tour (£19.50 adults, 60 to 75 minutes) to sit in the Wales dressing room and walk out of the players’ tunnel. Tours run until 4pm Monday to Saturday and until 3.45pm on Sundays; meet at the WRU shop on Westgate Street 15 minutes before. If it is a match day, swap the tour for the atmosphere: the whole centre turns red.

Alternative afternoon: National Museum Cardiff

If you would rather see art, walk ten minutes north to National Museum Cardiff in Cathays Park (free, Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm, galleries close at 3.45pm) for its Impressionists and the dinosaurs of the Evolution of Wales. Check its website that morning, as the building’s repair problems occasionally force short-notice closures.

Evening

Eat in the centre around St Mary Street, Mill Lane or the arcades, or see a show at the New Theatre.

Day 2: Cardiff Bay

Morning: get to the Bay

Take the train from Queen Street to Cardiff Bay (under five minutes), the Baycar bus, or, in good weather, the waterbus from Bute Park. Start at Roald Dahl Plass, the square in front of Wales Millennium Centre. The Centre is free to walk into; look at the Gwyneth Lewis inscription on the front, the Welsh slate and the miners’ lamp lights inside.

Late morning: the Senedd and the Pierhead

Next door, the Senedd, home of the Welsh Parliament, is free and open from 9am on weekdays and 10.30am on Saturdays. Free one-hour public tours run Monday to Saturday and need booking; allow 15 minutes for security. Then visit the red-brick Pierhead of 1897 for its displays on Tiger Bay and the docks.

Lunch: Mermaid Quay or the Norwegian Church

Eat by the water at Mermaid Quay, or walk along Harbour Drive to the Norwegian Church Arts Centre, a white wooden sailors’ church of 1868, now a free café and gallery (food from 11am Wednesday to Sunday, card only).

Afternoon: the Barrage or Techniquest

Walk out along the Cardiff Bay Barrage, flat and step-free, for views over the Severn Estuary. With children, spend the afternoon at Techniquest instead (£17 adults, £15 children with donation; book a timed slot and check its calendar, as term-time weekdays vary).

Alternative day 2: St Fagans

If you prefer history to the waterfront, take Cardiff Bus route 32 to St Fagans National Museum of History, open daily 10am to 4pm and free. More than forty historic buildings from across Wales have been rebuilt in 100 acres of parkland, and you can easily spend most of the day. St Fagans Castle is being re-roofed, so only a few rooms are open.

Got a third day?

Take bus 26 to Castell Coch, William Burges’s fairy-tale castle in the woods, and on to Caerphilly Castle, the biggest in Wales; a Cadw joint ticket costs £16.30. Or see our day trips guide for Barry Island, Big Pit and the Brecon Beacons.