Cardiff Nightlife
Cardiff offers a vast range of nightlife options. The city's club scene is innovative and constantly changing, with a wide choice of venues. There is a huge choice of bars, café-bars and restaurants - traditional, 'trendy' or both at once. All the action happens in the city centre and at Cardiff Bay. The weekend nightlife scene centres around St Mary Street with its wide choice of bars, pubs and clubs. Bohemian-style Mill Lane, otherwise known as the 'Cafe Quarter', offers a good choice of eating options and bars.

Pubs and bars are normally licensed for the sale of alcohol Monday to Saturday 11am ‘til 11pm and Sunday 12pm ‘til 10.30pm, but many places, particularly in the city centre, now have late licences and stay open until 2am or even as late as 4am every day of the week. Nightclubs remain open until at least 2am and many close as late (or early) as 6am, depending on the venue and day of the week. Casinos usually close between 3am and 4am. All casinos and some bars and clubs may refuse admission to those less than 18 years, which is the legal drinking age. Some venues do not admit anyone under 21 years. The price of a drink very much depends on the venue. In the pubs, a pint of beer can start as low as £1.50, although averages are between £2 and £3. In the trendier bars and clubs, prices are often higher.

Bars: It is said that 'there are more Brains in Cardiff' than elsewhere and The Old Arcade, 14 Church Street, an old-fashioned pub serving food and the locally-made Brain's beer, is a good place to test this theory. A wide choice of traditional beers and food is also available close by at the Owain Glyndwr, also in Church Street, opposite St John's Church. A more unusual and eclectic mix of beers and lagers can be enjoyed at Waterguard, Britannia Park. In the bay area, The Wharf, 121 Schooner Way, Atlantic Wharf, has good views across the water and cheap food, while live music (and great food) can be found at The Packet, Bute Street. Ba Orient, Mermaid Quay, is one of Cardiff's most stylish bars, serving imaginative cocktails and delicious dim sum. For a livelier evening, try Zync, 63 St Mary Street, in the Café Quarter, a bar/club crossover with live band events. Also on St Mary Street at number 41 is Soda Bar, a chic watering hole open Thursday to Saturday only. The Old Monk, St Mary Street, is a popular and trendy venue offering excellent value drinks and good food, while Bar Essential, 35 Windsor Place, is the choice of the city's young professionals and visiting businesspeople. The Model Inn, 14-15 Quay Street, is a lively and enjoyable restaurant-bar.

Clubs: Clwb Ifor Bach, 11 Womanby Street, is considered one of the 'coolest' clubs in Cardiff. It is situated over three floors and is one of the few clubs to offer action throughout the week. It showcases an eclectic mix of live music and DJs. The Wednesday night mix of new music, funk, Britpop and indie music is hugely popular. Other mainstream venues include Liquid, Imperial Gate, St Mary Street, and Creation, Park Place.

Housed in the cavernous UCI building on Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff Bay, Evolution is the biggest club in Cardiff and offers a menu of mainstream house, dance and party anthems. A shuttle bus collects partygoers from the New Theatre in the city, every 15 minutes from 2115. Fridays are for over 18s and Saturdays are for the over 20s. Only those in smart clubbing dress will be admitted.

Live Music: Live music is easy to find in many bars around the city - Cardiff has a very active music scene. Entry is often free and where admission is charged it is rarely expensive. Cafe Jazz, in the Sandringham Hotel, is home to the Welsh Jazz Society and hosts top local performers as well as international acts. As well as at the excellent Clwb Ifor Bach, live acts can be found at The Point, Barfly and the University Students Union (although many events are restricted to NUS card-holders only). For really big acts, Cardiff International Arena and occasionally the Millennium Stadium, Westgate Street are the prime venues.

courtesy of www.cityguide.travel-guides.com

The City of Cardiff
The capital of Wales has changed dramatically over the last decade, and there is still major renewal going on, as is evidenced by the amount of building and reconstruction that is taking place. Most noticeable of all, particularly for the visitor emerging from the railway station, is the looming modernity of the Millennium Stadium, which dominates the skyline on the western edge of the city centre. Both in the city centre itself and at the equally impressive Cardiff Bay development, home to the Wales Millennium Centre, the air of optimistic rejuvenation is still strong.

Home to the Welsh National Assembly, Cardiff has virtually reinvented itself since the low points of the 1970s and 1980s. Back then it was difficult to believe that less than a century earlier, the city had been one of the great powerhouses of the British Empire, exporting vast amounts of coal from the nearby Valleys and steel from the huge plants in South Wales. When these industries all but died out during the last quarter of the 20th century, prospects appeared bleak. Yet, thanks to government and European Union encouragement, new employers have moved in to help fill the economic void, and the result is a city that has more to offer and attracts more visitors than ever before.

Even now, however, visitors should not go to Cardiff expecting the cosmopolitan sophistication of larger, longer established capitals. Located in the south of Wales and looking onto the Severn Estuary, the city was only officially recognised as a capital in 1955, and it retains a friendly ‘small town' quality that spirited self-promotion and inward investment have not entirely shaken off, perhaps to its benefit. Even so, it has a vibrant atmosphere and a lively music scene and nightlife, due in part to the presence of more than 30,000 students based at the city's universities.

The central area, with its seven delightful Victorian shopping arcades and traffic-free streets, extends from the railway station to the impressive castle. This is Cardiff's traditional commercial and social heart but, increasingly, Cardiff Bay, 2km (1 mile) or so to the south, has been gaining ground in the entertainment and leisure stakes, as well as becoming an important administrative centre.

Indeed, Cardiff Bay has altered beyond recognition, from its past as the world's largest coal exporting port to a modern sport and leisure complex. It is also Europe's largest waterfront development, and it has a wealth of leisure activities available both on and off the water. The Bay is home to a number of attractions such as Techniquest Science Discovery Centre, Craft in the Bay, The Welsh Assembly at the Pierhead, Butetown History and Arts Centre, Goleulong 2000 Lightship, the Norwegian Church Arts Centre and the Wales Millennium Centre, a stunning international arts centre. The Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village provides further options for family entertainment.

Wales as a whole has grown in self-esteem since the Welsh National Assembly was formed in 1999, and Cardiff has been a focal point in the development of the nation's new, empowered identity. In 2005 it celebrated its centenary as a city and 50 years as Welsh capital, giving it yet another boost of confidence. It can truly be said that the first decade of the 21st century has been highly successful for Cardiff, and there are further developments underway, including a new 30,000-seat stadium for Cardiff City Football Club that is expected to be complete by late 2008 and a major £700 million International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay that will feature a 50m (165ft) swimming pool and a 250m (829ft) Olympic standard canoe slalom centre, both due to open in 2008, as well as a real snow ski dome and a sports arena that will host ice hockey, gymnastics, judo and other sports. The complex will also feature casinos, restaurants, hotels and a 120m (400ft) viewing tower that will offer panoramas across South Wales and the Bristol Channel.

Class Fees
Individual Class: £10 per class (paid on arrival, booked in advance)
NUS Members: £7 (apid on arrival, booked in advance)