Interesting places to walk in and around Cardiff

Hi! I'm Gavin. I'm a Taly South RLA, doing my second year in Modern Languages. In the year and half-ish that I've spent as a Cardiff student, I've done my fair share of wandering around, and I thought that it would be worthwhile to talk about some of my favourite locations, and walks that I've done. 

I should note that this isn't so much about hikes, or any trails or paths that you can follow - the Cardiff area certainly has no shortage of those - but I've yet to experience many of them. A topic for another month, maybe? At any rate, these are just a few of the places that I've enjoyed walking around in Cardiff, and where I think it might be worth having a wander if you're also a Cardiff student.   

Bute Park 

Bute Park probably won't need much introduction for most Cardiff students because of how close it is to the majority of Uni buildings, but it's one of my favourite places to walk nonetheless. Its relative size means that there are a lot of different ways you can walk around it, and things to see, without necessarily repeating yourself all the time, and the fact that it's so close to Uni life means that it's ideal for when you just want a nice place to sit down and eat your lunch, or if you just need to get outside, get some fresh air and clear your head for a bit. After all, it's right there, so why not use it? 

My favourite thing to do here is to feed the ducks - you can always find some on the river at the southern end of the park, and it never fails to make my day a bit better.

Cardiff Bay + Penarth

If you fancy a bit more of a trek, you could try heading out towards Cardiff Bay. In my experience it's roughly a 35-45 minute walk from the Cathays area, so when combined with all of the wandering around that someone like me would typically do when they get there, as well as the walk back, it can be a pretty tiring one - you might want to consider taking an OvoBike or bus there. Cardiff Bay has a lot of great views as well as interesting buildings to see, like the Millennium Centre and the Senedd (pronounced 'sen-eth').

If, when you get to Cardiff Bay, you carry on along the Cardiff Bay Trail, you can end up in Penarth. The Penarth seafront is also definitely a worthwhile place to visit if you don't mind a bit of extra walking on top of everything you've already done. I find it interesting that it feels like its own separate little seaside town, complete with its own seafront and pier despite being so close to Cardiff.

Roath Park

It's a bit of a walk from the Cathays area, but I think that Roath Park is one of the most picturesque places in Cardiff, and is definitely worth a look if you want something to do for the day. It's located around a massive lake, which you can walk all the way around. It's a pretty unique sight to see such a relatively large lake right in the middle of an urban area. It also has a ton of water birds! I remember seeing ducks, geese, coots and swans when I visited a couple of months ago. There's also a charming cafe called Terra Nova and there is often an ice cream van there too!

Unfortunately, I can't guarantee it will be anywhere near as nice a day as it is in this picture! When I visited it was very overcast, as is pretty often the case in Cardiff - however that's hardly surprising when you live in the UK's rainiest city.

I hope you enjoyed reading, and that I might have given you an idea or two about places to go in the Cardiff area. Thanks!