10 hidden gems to discover in Cardiff this summer

How strange that Cardiff Bay’s most overlooked attraction is a celebration of one of the most famous adventures in history. A stone’s throw from Roald Dahl’s Enormous Crocodile, the Scott of the Antarctic monument and exhibition was erected in 2010 to mark the centenary of Captain Scott’s desperate voyage to the bottom of the world, a quest that ended in tragic circumstances. Scott and his crew departed from Cardiff all those years ago, and this excellently weighted homage tells the story through quotes, pictures and more.

South Wales has become a hotbed for craft beer innovation, with Newport’s Tiny Rebel leading the way, but there is something about independent Pontcanna brewers Pipes that really warms the cockles. Excellent beer helps, obviously, accentuated by a convivial atmosphere in one of Cardiff’s most idyllic beer gardens.

Constructed in the 1870s, the William Burges-designed Park House is considered the most important 19th-century townhouse in all of Wales, a gorgeous piece of Gothic architecture that brought new life to Cardiff’s slumbering domestic architectural scene. Today it houses Park House Restaurant and Wine Bar, a fine dining marvel that serves quality on the plate to match the majesty of the building in which it is enjoyed.

A pedestrian walkway that cuts through the grounds of St John the Baptist Church in the heart of Cardiff, the street known as Dead Man’s Alley is a lot more than a quick way to get from Working Street to Cardiff Market. Many of the slabs underfoot are numbered, brass characters that correspond to graves and tombs that were covered in concrete when the access path was created. Cardiff is full of secret treasures that reward those who keep their heads up, but Dead Man’s Alley shows that there is plenty of curiosity waiting down below as well.

The humble sandwich has long been held up as an example of human ingenuity when it comes to the world of gastronomy. What more could one want than the magical combination of fresh bread and even fresher fillings? Found on Charles Street, Bomber’s Sandwich House is the sandwich lover’s sandwich shop of choice in the Welsh capital, with a menu that changes daily but never lets up on quality. You can’t beat a sandwich, and you can’t beat a Bomber’s.

South Wales has plenty of tremendous museums that will inspire and influence, but every now and then a little bit of eccentricity is needed. Does it get any more eccentric than Port Talbot’s Baked Bean Museum of Excellence? In a word, no, no it doesn’t. A love letter to all things baked beans (and to a lesser extent, all things orange), this private museum is a shoo-in for the award of the weirdest museum in Wales. Visits must be arranged ahead of time, but this place is well worth it.

They say that the best way to see the Gwent Levels is either with a microscope or a helicopter, a testament to the intricate biology and vast coverage of these living wetlands. Most visitors are neither armed with microscopes or have access to helicopters, however, thus will have to make do with one of the many gorgeous circular walks that take in this estuarine area of international importance. Several routes are available, the most popular of which begins at the Newport Wetlands Reserve visitor centre (18 miles east of Cardiff). 

Just 32 miles north of Cardiff, Abergavenny has carved itself a reputation for being a town for foodies. The annual food festival is one of the finest in the UK, and the town’s array of cafes and restaurants make for the ideal centre ground between quality and quantity. Hidden away in an office building (and with an even more concealed garden), Fig Tree Espresso transports coffee lovers to another world, albeit a world just off the pedestrian centre of Abergavenny surrounded by greenery and the best caffeine in town.

These monolithic stones can be found at Bryn Serth off the A4047, a short drive from the capital, and were built to honour one of history’s greatest Welshmen. The central stone is said to represent Aneurin Bevan (the architect of the National Health Service) himself, with the other three giants representing his constituents in Ebbw Vale, Tredegar and Rhymney. Bevan remains a titan of Welsh political history and these stones are a suitably titanic homage.

A small town of 1,600 people some 58 miles north of Cardiff, Hay-on-Wye has long become a charming utopia for literature lovers. This is a town of books, where page-turners take precedence over other churlish pastimes, where bookshops jostle for space and complement each other all at the same time. There is a homey quality to Hay-on-Wye that can’t be manufactured, the sort of comfort that is more commonly found in cosy Sunday afternoons with a good book in hand.