Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Of the varied arcades from Victorian and Edwardian times, the oldest is the Royal
Arcade, connecting The Hayes and St. Mary Street. It dates from 1858 and still has
some original Victorian store fronts. The Morgan Arcade, completed in 1899, runs
parallel. Both are a wealth of elegant columns, flagstone floors, and mostly upmarket
stores.
The extension to the St. David's indoor mall continues the arcade tradition with its
limestone-rich Grand Arcade, which is 240 m (800 ft.) long, ending at the classic
department store John Lewis, the biggest branch outside London.
St David's
(
&
029/2036-7600;
www.stdavidscardiff.com), with entrances on Queen Street,
The Hayes, and various other streets, is the city's leading mall with more than 100
shops, plus its own restaurant quarter, East Side. The
Capitol Shopping Centre,
also on Queen Street, is another indoor complex.
Cardiff Central Market,
St. Mary Street, is a classic Victorian indoor market, all
iron pillars and glass roof with a wrought-iron balcony around the upper level. It's the
place to buy local meat, cheese, laver bread (seaweed), and sugary Welsh cakes, as
well as books, records, and much more. On Sunday mornings the Riverside Farmers'
Market takes place on the embankment of the River Taff.
Cardiff 's shopping streets are filled with grandiose buildings, many of them
Edwardian; a good example is the
James Howell
department store on St. Mary
Street (part of the upmarket House of Fraser chain), all designer fashion on the inside
but Corinthian and Ionic columns on the exterior.
Spiller's Records
on The Hayes
claims to be the world's oldest record shop, selling discs since 1894, and it's still a
place to browse for music.
Jacob's Antiques Centre,
West Canal Wharf
(
&
029/2039-0939
), near the rail station, is a four-floor red-brick warehouse with
more than 50 stalls selling vintage clothes, bric-a-brac, furniture, and books. There
are various other shops selling vintage clothes and accessories.
Entertainment & Nightlife
THE PERFORMING ARTS
The
Wales Millennium Centre
(
&
029/2063-6464;
www.wmc.org.uk),
is a £100 million giant on the banks of Cardiff Bay with poetry in enormous letters
cut out of its copper facade. Its 1,900-seat auditorium (along with the Weston Studio)
is home to a clutch of arts groups, including the Welsh National Opera and the
Dance Company of Wales. The Centre, opened by the Queen in 2004, attracts major
international companies, but also puts on performances of everything from stand-up
comedians to the musical
Mamma Mia!
Ticket prices vary, depending on the attrac-
tion. Tickets for some shows are below £10, others approaching £50.
St. David's Hall
(or
Neuadd Dewi Sant
in Welsh), The Hayes (
&
029/2087-
8444;
www.stdavidshall.co.uk), dates back to the early 1980s, and is a modernist
venue that vies with the Millennium Centre for the title of Cardiff 's leading concert
hall. It is a constant host to ballets and orchestras, interspersed with more main-
stream concerts. The adjoining
New Theatre
(
&
029/2087-8889;
www.new
theatrecardiff.co.uk) actually dates from 1906 (it's hosted the likes of Sarah Bern-
hardt and Jelly Roll Morton) and puts on musicals and pantomimes.
Cardiff Inter-
national Arena
(
&
029/2022-4488;
www.livenation.co.uk/cardiff) is a large
indoor venue on Mary Ann Street and hosts major music and comedy acts.
LIVE MUSIC, COMEDY & NIGHTCLUBS
Clwb ifor Bach
(the
Welsh Club
), 11 Womanby St. (
&
029/2023-2199;
www.
clwb.net), focuses on home-grown acts, and still gets those who have made the leap
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