"Cardiff Bay & Mermaid Quay" Top 5 Page for this destination Cardiff Bay AKA Tiger Bay Tip by ettiewyn

When visiting Cardiff Bay today, it is hard to believe that only twenty-five years ago it was a run down, ugly and miserable area. But it was. After the coal-mining industry had broken down, this part of Cardiff (then called Tiger Bay) became neglected, the docks were empty and fell into disrepair. The nice waterfront you see today consisted of mudflats. Once, this had been the largest coal-exporting harbour in the world, attracting thousands of workers from many countries, but after that industry had collapsed in Cardiff and had moved to other places, there was nothing here.

I have a good German guidebook from 1997 (DuMont Kunst-Reiseführer Wales by Peter Sager), and this is what it says about Tiger Bay (translation by me):

Walking along endless Bute Street from the city centre to the harbour, you get to know the downside of Bute Park: no man's land, a dilapidated area, dreary new housing instead of former slums. Tiger Bay, the notorious dock area, is dead, new Bute Town is not yet born, its revitalization has begun, though: A giant project involving a controversial barrage through the bay of Cardiff. Yet, the melancholy of lost labour is living here.

These were the experiences of one of my favorite travel writers, Peter Sager. When I visited fifteen years later, it had all changed! Now the place is so nice, clean and sparkling that it is hard to believe how it once was. By building the Cardiff Bay Barrage, the bay has been transformed into a freshwater area without any tide. There are modern buildings all over the place, including the important Senedd (the National Assembly Building) and the Millennium Centre. BBC Cymru's new production facility is located here, as well as a new Doctor Who exhibition (Doctor Who Experience) that will open this year (2012).

Mermaid Quay is located directly at the waterfront and is a bustling area of cafés, restaurants and shops. Boat tours leave from the quay as well, you can stroll along the waterfront, and see interesting public art. If you feel like it, you can even walk along the Barrage all the way to the seaside town of Penarth.

It is only when you walk further inland and come to Bute Town, that the sparkling atmosphere vanishes, and some of the buildings look a little run down - just a taster of what it was like here before.

To get to Cardiff Bay, you can either take bus 6 from Kingsway or Wyndham Arcade (leaving every ten minutes, £1,70 single, £3,20 return) or the Aquabus.

Directions: South of the city centre
othercontact: www.mermaidquay.co.uk
Website: http://www.cardiffbay.co.uk