scubish.com: Scuba diving Cardiff - United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland

Understand

Cardiff is located on the south coast of the south Wales plain, with a shoreline on the Bristol Channel. Cardiff is quite a flat city, a characteristic that helped it become one of the world's leading ports in the transport of coal from the rugged south Wales Valleys.

City
Cardiff's city center is located more in the southern portion of the city just north of Cardiff Bay. It is bounded by the historic civic centre and university buildings to the north and by the River Taff to the west.

History
Cardiff was proclaimed a city in 1905, and then made capital city of Wales in 1955. Given that it was always historically smaller than cities and towns such as Merthyr and Swansea it has achieved a meteoric rise to become the capital city today.

Profile
Cardiff has always had a strong sporting and cultural presence given that it was capital city and therefore plays host to most Welsh sporting events, especially since the opening of the Millenium Stadium. In fact one of the city's charms is when it plays host to matches and the atmosphere can be extraordinary.

However in the past it was quite a gritty and industrial city with manufacturing and industry playing a huge role in the city given that its ports were once the most important in the world. Notable milestones where when Cardiff Bay was the first area of modern Britain to be thought of as a multicultural area given the huge part immigrants played in the city's ports, and the world's first 'million pound' deal was also signed at the Bay's own Coal Exchange building.

In recent years however the city has moved away from its industrial past and been enriched by such developments as the cultural Cardiff Bay barrage area which now hosts famous and striking landmarks such as the National Assembly for Wales and the spectacular Wales Millenium Centre building. Massive investments have also been made throughout other parts of the city such as the in opening of the Millenium Stadium.

When to go
Cardiff is best to visit during late spring to early autumn as the warm weather adds to the city's pleasures, and allows maximum experience of all the sites and areas of the city, as most of the attractions are outdoor oriented.

Eat

Things are getting better in Cardiff for eating and it can be very difficult to book a table in the better restaurants on a Friday or Saturday evening. A useful guide to Cardiff Restaurants can be found at Cardiff Eating. As a rule of thumb Mermaid Quay and the city centre are jam packed full of a varied contrast of eateries so you can experience many different tastes within a small area.

Top End
Castell Restaurant in the Angel Hotel

The Armless Dragon

Benedictos

Le Gallois - Roughly translated from French it means "The Welsh". This is a fantastic gourmet restaurant specialising in bringing Gallic flair to traditional Welsh food such as cockles and lavabread. Expect to pay somewhere around £40 per head.

Middle

Cibo Italian Café on Pontcanna Street...