Cardiff Bay Private Self-Guided Tour

The Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve covers around 8 hectares of land to the north of the Bay. The reserve was created in response to the removal of the Taff-Ely Site of Special Scientific Interest, which was lost during the redevelopment of the bay.

The St David’s hotel is a major landmark in the bay. It was built as part of the redevelopment of the area and it can be seen from almost all locations within the bay

The docks were built by the Marquesses of Bute, whose ancestral home was Mount Stuart, on the Isle of Bute, in Scotland.

Established in 1986, Techniquest is the UK’s longest-established Science Discovery Centre.

Mermaid Quay is a mixed land-use development on the waterfront that opened in 1999. It has over 30 restaurants, bars and cafés, a comedy club, a 5-screen boutique cinema and some shops.

The boardwalk runs beneath Mermaid Quay. To the western side is Ianto’s Shrine, which is a memorial to a man who never existed.

Roald Dahl Plass was an old dockyard entrance so ships would have passed through beneath where the footbridge now stands

The building at the end of Roald Dahl Plass is the Wales Millennium Centre, which is the national arts centre for Wales, and home to eight cultural organisations including the Welsh National Opera and BBC NOW.

The impressive Grade I listed Pierhead Building was the headquarters of the Cardiff Railway Company.

The Senedd is an iconic building that is home of the Welsh Parliament here in Cardiff Bay.

As with most British docks, Tiger Bay became a multi-cultural hub where migrants from all over the world mingled and formed communities.

The bridge that you can see from where you’re standing lies over the entrance to Roath Basin and Roath Dock. Roath Basin is the lake that you can see immediately beyond the bridge, and the basin gives access to Roath Dock, which lies further beyond that.

You are now standing on the barrage that was constructed to maintain the water level in the bay. The inland waterway is kept aerated by 20km of pipes and 6,000 air diffusers that lie on the floor of the bay.

This area is the site of a permanent exhibition and viewing platform. There are usually some nice areas of mini wildflower meadow around this site too.

At this site you will see locks and bridges, sluice gates and a fish pass. The locks keep the Bay at permanent high water. There is a control room, which you should see high up to the left as you approach lock number 1.

There are two harbour walls that protect the entrance to the locks, defending it from high tides and bad weather in the Bristol Channel. You are standing on the northern harbour wal

The area this side of the barrage is called Penarth. There are two imposing buildings on this site. The Marine building lies to the left and the Old Custom House lies to the right.