Loved My Hen Weekend In Cardiff (Cardiff in General)

Member Name: suz1584

Product:	Cardiff in General
Date:	23/10/09 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Friendly People

Disadvantages: Didn't Like the Bay much

On Friday 16th October me and 4 friends flew to Cardiff from Inverness for my Hen weekend. My review will be based purely on what I did down there which was mainly the nightlife and eating out. (I was too hungover to go shopping!)

Friday evening we arrived in Cardiff at 7pm at the Central train station which took us from Bristol. I noticed that it was really busy and just as the name on the train station it was very central and over the weekend once I got used to the place I would realise just how close it was to everything.

On our way to the hotel from the train station we stopped off to get some things for the hotel, I noticed there was several small convenience stores dotted about so for small things like magazines, juice etc we would be ok but I'm assuming for a bigger shop you would have to travel out of the centre a bit.

We walked to the hotel, we were staying at the Travelodge Central which is located on St Mary's Street, again it was right in the middle of the city and close to everything which was perfect for us. A few of the girls were a bit unsure about the hotel at first as they thought it might be noisy with all the clubs being so close.

Checking in and going to our rooms we were happy to see that our rooms were at the back of the hotel so there was going to be no problems with noise at all. We got ready in our rooms and decided to head out as it was already getting late.

Walking out of the hotel I took a minute to take my surroundings in, the best way to describe what I was seeing is to say it was similar to a holiday resort in Spain. There was loads of pubs and there was girls walking up and down the street handing out leaflets to the pubs stating you get a free shot with the leaflet.

I also noticed that the road had been blocked off and there was only access for emergency vehicles making the road just for pedestrians to walk. Making things a lot safer especially with the amount of people falling about.

We decided to go into the bar nearest the hotel which was Walkabout, it was free entry and we got chatting to the bouncers, they offered us free entry the next night if we gave them one of our tiaras we all had in our hair. (thankfully we had extra ones up in the room) so we promised to take them down the next night.

Once in the pub we noticed it was quite quiet for a Friday night, we didn't know if it was just that pub or if all would be the same. There was a live band playing and it really got us into the spirits of going out for the night. When we went in there was no charge for the night but I know later in the night it was £3 entry.

Onto the next pub, we headed down the road and I thought it would be a bit of a trek but 2 minutes later and we ere outside the Yard, we ordered our drinks and then walked to the back of the pub. We noticed there was seats outside so we settled in the seats out there.

Once out there we noticed it was like a courtyard with a couple of other pubs around, these are not seen from the street outside and I probably wouldn't have noticed them if we hadn't walked to the back of the Yard.

There was several pubs in Cardiff which you can expect from a City. The good thing is that most pubs are close together so there's no need for taxi's anywhere and the public transport is also very close by at very cheap prices so you don't need to worry about spending a lot of money.

One thing I couldn't get my head around was the 24 hour drinking. I didn't realise that a lot of pubs were open right through, I know this is a way to stop people binge drinking but for me it meant that people would get more drunk as they'd have more time to do so and wouldn't think about going home. I'm sure people in Cardiff are used to it now but it was something that I didn't have time to get used to.

Another thing that is open all night is the kebab shops and there was a small side street which had 4 or 5 shops all in a row. How do you choose which one to go to when they all sell the same things? Mcdonalds is on the main street as well and it seemed to be open until the early hours as well.

We went back to the hotel about 5am and I noticed that the road workers were out starting to clean the streets making it look decent again in the morning. I felt sorry for them as they still had to dodge all the drunken crowds in the street.

In the morning feeling slightly worse for wear we decided to go and find something for breakfast and again on the same street we came across a Wetherspooons with there breakfast starting off at £2.80, I thought this was a great price for a cooked breakfast. The pub was very noisy with the football on and for 11am in the morning it was really busy we struggled to find a table.

For the rest of the afternoon we decided to head over to Barry Island for a tour of the beach and to have a quiet day. We got the train from Cardiff Central train station and it only cost us £2.80 for a return.

That evening we decided to have a quieter night due to flying home the following day and we went down to Cardiff Bay for dinner. There was a big centre which had a bowling alley a couple of pubs and a couple of restaurants.

We went to an all you can eat Chinese restaurant, it was £12.95 per person which I thought was a bargain. Unfortunately there was a huge queue so I would advise to phone in advance to book a table. We booked a table and then went for a drink in the bar beside to wait.

Down in the centre seemed to be more for families and younger people compared to Cardiff City. It wasn't overly busy down in the Bay which was nice to get away from the bus lifestyle that's seems to be in place in the centre.

Once we had our meal (which I have to say was the best Chinese I have ever eaten) we went for a walk along the Bay to walk of our meal and visit a couple of the other bars.

There was several photo opportunities including a water feature in the middle of a roundabout, a tall water wall, that is basically a wall with water continuously running down and next to this there was a large open are with tall stands which were lit up red and blue. I don't know what this is for and I have still to look into this as I am curious to find out. A lot of these places would probably have been better in daylight but I enjoyed it all the same.

Finally we went to a couple of pubs in the Bay and as soon as I walked in I felt completely under dressed, I also felt that everyone was staring at us when we walked in. Ok I was dressed up with balloons and a bride to be t-shirt which people could write on but I felt uncomfortable all the same. We ended up only having one drink and leaving.

Without sounding rude I would say that this was more for conservative people for a night out and I didn't feel it was a place I fitted in. The bars were very nice looking and they were really busy but I didn't feel you could be wild and have a laugh.

Overall

I had a brilliant Hen weekend in Cardiff with loads of places to choose from which I'm not used to as I come from North of Inverness so we were all really spoilt for choice. There was lots to do for a drinking weekend but I don't know if I would enjoy it as much for a weekend away with my partner.

One thing that really stood out about Cardiff was how friendly people were. Even the police officers stood with us to get photos taken (they have different hats to Scottish police men so we wanted a photo!)

I would love to go back again with the girls for a weekend as it definitely was a city that made us feel welcome and I felt comfortable being in a City which really just felt like a town to us.

Summary: Would Go Back