Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Norwegian Church
CHURCH This white, clapboard church by the sea wall was
built to serve the Norwegian seamen of the old docks; it's where
Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory
author Roald Dahl, a local boy of Norwegian descent, was chris-
tened. Today it's a small arts center and cafe worth a swift look, and nice for a coffee
at the outdoor tables gazing over the water.
Harbour Drive.
&
029-2045/4899.
Free admission. Daily 9am-5pm. Bus: 6 Baycar, 7, 8, or 35.
The Senedd
ARCHITECTURE/GOVERNMENT BUILDING This is the mod-
ernistic home of the Welsh Assembly, opened by the Queen in 2006. Visitors can take
a free tour of the eco-friendly building (after airport-style security screening) and
watch debates from the gallery under a wonderful, undulating wooden ceiling.
&
0845/0103300.
www.assemblywales.org. Free admission. Thurs-Tues times vary. Bus: 6 Baycar, 7,
8, or 35.
Exploring Beyond the City
Penarth
is the delightful timewarp seaside resort across Cardiff Bay (walkable from
the Barrage). The pretty high street dives down the hill to a mostly elegant prome-
nade, and the beach (partly rocky, partly sandy). There's a small pier where the paddle
steamers MV
Balmoral
and PS
Waverly
call in summer. You'll also find Decks selling
chips (fries) with gravy, and Joe's ice cream from Swansea. The
Pierson
is a charm-
ing, old-style hotel with a modern flourish while
Mediterraneo,
in an old boat
house, is a chic Italian seafood restaurant.
Caerleon Roman Baths & Amphitheatre
HISTORIC SITE One of the most
important Roman sites in Britain, this is where the Second Augustan Legion (5,500
men) built a township, fortress, and barracks. The remains of the huge bathhouse are
preserved in a modern, wooden hall, with walkways above the excavated hot and cold
baths. Just along the road, on the site of the fortress, is the National Roman Legion
Museum (free), full of pottery, coins, and artifacts. The amphitheatre, around the
corner in the middle of a field, features stone banks encompassing the arena, once
alive with pageantry and bloodlust. Now it's a great place to picnic, and in the sum-
mer there are often plays and living history enactments.
High St., Caerleon, Newport.
&
01633/422518.
www.cadw.cymru.uk. Admission to baths: £2.90 adults,
£2.50 children 5-15. Apr-Oct daily 9:30am-5pm; Nov-Mar Mon-Sat 9:30am-5pm, Sun 11am-4pm.
Amphitheatre: free, accessible all year.
Caerphilly Castle
CASTLE Crossing the bridge over the moat around the
biggest medieval castle in Wales you are left breathless at the sheer size of the
12-hectare (30-acre) fortress. One tower leans at what looks like a dangerously
drunken angle, but it only adds to the impressiveness of this 13th-century wonder
built on three man-made islands and surrounded by artificial lakes created by dam-
ming the Nant y Gledr stream. It still looks as impregnable now as it did then with
its concentric walls-within-walls design. You can wander into the Great Hall but
there's no fancy interior, even though it was restored by the third Marquess of Bute.
On the A469, at Caerphilly.
&
029/2088-3143.
www.cadw.cymru.gov.uk. Admission £3.60 adults,
£3.20 children 15 and under. Apr-May and Oct daily 9:30am-5pm; June-Sept daily 9:30am-6pm;
Nov-Mar Mon-Sat 9:30am-4pm. Bus: 26 from Cardiff leaves for Caerphilly each hour (also bus no. 71
or 72). Caerphilly train with several departures daily from Central Station in Cardiff.
Castell Coch
CASTLE The most beautiful castle in Wales looks like the
fantasy fortress in
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
in its tree-lined hillside position. You can
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