Cardiff
Fly to Cardiff with Flybe from Belfast City Airport from £25.99 one way, inc. taxes and charges!
Just over an hour flight from Belfast City Airport with Flybe, Cardiff presents visitors with an array of attractions within its city boundaries. The Millennium Stadium takes pride of place in the city centre, providing visitors with an opportunity to tour the 74,000-seater stadium and even try out a seat in the Royal Box!
Just around the corner from the stadium, visitors will find Cardiff Castle, originally built as a fort by the Romans in AD55 and upgraded by the Normans in the 11th Century. In the late 19th Century, an extravagant refurbishment took place, transforming the castle interiors into a Gothic, mock-Medieval palace.
A few minutes walk from Cardiff Castle lies the National Museum Cardiff. The gallery is home to one of the finest collections of impressionist paintings outside of Paris, boasting works by Renoir, Monet and Cezanne.
The new St David’s 2 centre will only work to enhance the city’s reputation as a shopper’s paradise, launching it into the UK’s top five shopping destinations. The development will include top-end shopping names, as well as the largest John Lewis store outside London and a wide range of dining options, including an addition to Jamie Oliver’s latest venture, Jamie’s Italian.
This development will compliment an already unique shopping destination, with the Victorian and Edwardian arcades home to dozens of unique stores and traditional markets offering an alternative to the modern shopping centre experience.
A ten minute journey south of the centre, you’ll find Cardiff Bay, the capital’s newest development. Formerly the hub of the world’s coal industry, the docks are now a popular tourist attraction and home to the Welsh National Opera, a 200 hectare freshwater lake for sailing and watersports and the five star St. David’s Hotel and Spa.
Doctor Who fans can also visit the ‘Doctor Who Up-Close’ exhibition at the Wales Millennium Centre, giving visitors the opportunity to see monsters, costumes and props from the BBC Wales series, much of which was filmed around the Cardiff area.
With flights direct to Cardiff International from Belfast City Airport with Flybe, Cardiff offers a great weekend break destination from Northern Ireland. With longer to spend, why not use Cardiff as a great gateway from which to explore the rest of Wales, perhaps taking in the Brecon Beacons National Park or the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast.