How to spend the warm summer months in and around Cardiff

Cycle around Bute Park:

• Bute Park is Cardiff’s largest park so what better way to explore it than cycling around!
• If you have brought a bike with you to Cardiff then you’re all set! If not, there a various places within Cardiff to hire one. There are a few Brompton Bike Hire lockers throughout Cardiff that have folding bikes available to hire, as well as bike hire companies, such as PedalPower.
• Price: £5 for 24 hours for Brompton Bike hire. At PedalPower, prices start at £7 for the first hour, then £3 every additional hour, for a student (for PedalPower, you must book online first). 

Eat an ice cream in Penarth Pier:

• Penarth is a picturesque seaside town on the outskirts of Cardiff. With a pebbled beach and a pier with a pavilion, it’s a great place for a stroll and an ice cream!
• Penarth is easily accessible via train. From Cathays train station, it is a 30 minute journey (20 minutes from Cardiff Queen Street station). Alternatively, there is a bus to Penarth from Wood Street in the city centre (92).
• Train fares start at £3 return with a railcard and £4.60 without. Bus fares are £2.20 each way or £4.40 for a day ticket 

Visit the famous arcades in Barry:

• If you’ve watched Gavin and Stacey, you will be familiar with the iconic town of Barry. Explore the beachfront, get some fish and chips and go to the well-known arcades, including the famous ‘Nessa’s Slots’. For the Gavin and Stacey fans, Gwen and Stacey’s house is on Trinity Street, with Uncle Bryn’s house just a few metres away.
• Barry is easily accessible by train, just a 32 minute journey from Cathays train station, which brings you just five minutes walk to the beach and main attractions. You could also get the 96 bus from Wood Street, city centre, an 18 minute walk to the beach from the bus stop.
• A return train ticket costs £4 with a railcard and £6.10 without. The bus costs £2.50 each way or £4.50 for a day ticket.

Roath Lake Pedalos:

• Just five minutes from the Conservatory is Roath Lake, where in the warmer months (Spring and Summer), you can hire a pedalo for up to four people.
• Prices start at £8 for half an hour, increasing to £15 for a full hour.

Get the boat to Cardiff Bay:

• Instead of getting the bus or train to Cardiff Bay, why not get a boat? A boat runs every hour (weather permitting), either from Bute Park or the Castle grounds to Cardiff Bay. It is a very relaxing 25 minute journey and an opportunity to see lots of sites, including the River Taff and Principality Stadium. Once you get there, there are lovely walks along the waterfront- bonus points if you find the enormous crocodile bench!
• There are two different boat companies, Aquabus or Cardiff Boat (Princess Katharine). The Aquabus runs every hour, on the hour, from 10:00-17:00 from the Castle Grounds. You can buy a ticket on board but the only way to guarantee a ticket is to book online (https://aquabus.co.uk/). Princess Katharine run at half past the hour, every hour. Board at the water bus stop in Bute Park, near the city centre. There is no option to book online for this one (https://www.cardiffbus.com/cardiff-boat-tours-princess-katharine) I would recommend arriving 10 minutes before departure for either boat.
• Both boats are £7 one-way. You can always get a bus or train back if you do not want to pay it twice.

Paint at Peggy's Pots:

• Peggy’s Pots is one of Cardiff’s hidden gems in my opinion. You can pick whatever you want to paint ranging from coasters to ornaments, to bowls, to vases. There are also courses to make your own pottery. Some days are walk-ins only, whereas as some it is most sensible to book a slot (https://www.peggyspots.co.uk/). Check out their instagram for inspiration @peggyspots
• There are a few buses that can drop you off just two minutes away from Peggy’s Pots. These include the C1, 13, 17 and 18- and they’re very regular too!
• The price is dependent on what you choose to paint. Smaller items like coasters are the cheapest, starting from £5. Buses are a standard rate of around £2.20 each way.