{"id":15896,"date":"2023-04-03T08:09:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T08:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/?p=15896"},"modified":"2023-04-03T08:09:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T08:09:49","slug":"castles-to-visit-in-cardiff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/castles-to-visit-in-cardiff\/","title":{"rendered":"Castles to visit in Cardiff"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the capital city of the country with more castles per square mile than any other county in Europe<\/a><\/span>, there are unparalleled adventures for history lovers and adventurers alike. Perfect for impressing visiting family members or for a day out with your housemates, these castles in Cardiff should be at the top of your list.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cardiff Castle\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Located in the centre of Cardiff, <\/span>Cardiff Castle<\/span><\/a> is widely known as Cardiff\u2019s crown jewel. The medieval motte and bailey castle provide a great insight into the city’s rich history of <\/span>invasions<\/span> <\/a>over 2000 years. You can learn about the development of the castle and the 1866 addition of the gothic towers as the castle is passed through <\/span>many noble families.<\/span><\/a> From hosting Blondie, Rag \u2018n\u2019 Bone Man and Tom Jones concerts to being the backdrop for ice skating at Winter Wonderland, this Castle is at the heart of Cardiff city life. Times and prices for visitors can be seen <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>, on my first visit I brought a \u2018Castle Key\u2019 which allows you <\/span>free entry to the world-class heritage site for 3 years<\/span><\/a> – this is for people who live in Cardiff only.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

St Fagans Museum of History\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Being a Grade 1 listed building, St Fagans castle is regarded as <\/span>\u2018one of the finest Elizabethan manor houses in Wales\u2019<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>St Fagans Museum of History<\/span><\/a> is less than an hour away from Cardiff University, making it an easy destination for a day trip. Just take the<\/span> 61 bus from Cardiff Bridge to Pentrebane<\/span><\/a>, get off at Shamrock Road and the castle is only a 20-minute stroll away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Castell Coch<\/b><\/p>\n

Thought to be a \u2018<\/span>plaything of the rich and powerful for over 700 years<\/span><\/a>\u2019, <\/span>Castell Coch<\/span><\/a> has a fascinating history of being originally built to protect the city of Cardiff to being invested in by the wealthy for rebuilds to turn it into an excellent example of Gothic Revival architecture it is today. This castle is easily accessed from Cardiff University, only a 35-minute train ride from Cathays to Taff wells, then a relaxing 30-minute walk through Taff Wells to make it to the castle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caerphilly Castle<\/b><\/p>\n

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Photo by Maxwell Andrews on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Described as the <\/span>\u2018mightiest medieval castle<\/span> in <\/span><\/a>W<\/span>ales, <\/span>Caerphilly Castle<\/span><\/a> is the result of an intriguing story of a worrisome Prince of Wales seeking protection requiring a monumental castle to be built. Equally easy to access from Cardiff University, this castle, only second in size to Windsor, is a 30-minute<\/span> train ride from Cardiff Queen Street<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fonmon Castle\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Located right next to Cardiff airport, this castle is easily accessible by getting the <\/span>train<\/span> <\/a>to Rhoose, then the 304 bus. Despite only being an hour away from Cardiff University, <\/span>Fronmon Castle<\/span><\/a> and its gardens takes you into a world away from the city. Perfect for children, there are many things to do including exploring Jurassic Wales, venturing through the castle and gardeners and even a <\/span>Mad Hatter\u2019s Tea Party<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve previously explored<\/a>, it\u2019s so valuable to immerse yourself in the local history and learn about where we live while studying in Wales, visiting the castles on this list is a great place to start your historic adventures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the capital city of the country with more castles per square mile than any other county in Europe, there are unparalleled adventures for history lovers and adventurers alike. Perfect […]","protected":false},"author":6948,"featured_media":15897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12,15,756,20],"tags":[21,358,47,78,84,87,88,1032,904,566,1003,966],"class_list":["post-15896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living-away-from-home","category-only-in-cardiff","category-settling-in","category-things-to-do-in-cardiff","category-travelling","tag-cardiffuniversity","tag-advice","tag-cardiff-university","tag-experience","tag-first-year","tag-friends","tag-fun","tag-reflections","tag-things-to-do","tag-things-to-do-at-cardiff","tag-top-tips","tag-wales"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6948"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15896"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16063,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15896\/revisions\/16063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/insiders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}