Cardiff on Foot - Treasures of the Welsh capital

Cardiff is the capital of Wales and looks the part. Cathays Park is the grandest campus of Edwardian architecture in Britain, with an array of handsome civic buildings in sparkling Portland stone including the University and the National Museum of Wales. 

At the heart of the oldest part of the city, to the north of the rambling Victorian shopping arcades and the fine medieval church of St John’s, is Cardiff Castle. This is walled like the Roman fort it once was, and contains a Norman keep and an astonishing 19th-century fantasy castle in styles from Moorish to Gothic by way of Byzantine and Neo-Classical. This is the work of William Burges, who was given a free hand by his patron, the 4th Marquess of Bute.  

A mecantile city, seagoing vessels were once able to dock in the medieval core, but the port moved out a couple of miles to Cardiff Bay, and then in due course became inadequate for modern shipping. Redevelopment has transformed the waterfront into the city's second hub, and an elegant barrage has turned the bay into an inland freshwater lake. New buildings include the Wales Millennium Centre by Percy Thomas Partners, home of Welsh National Opera, and the Senedd (parliament) by Richard Rogers. 

Simon Rees, who has led many Martin Randall Travel music tours, has lived most of his life in Cardiff.