With a population of about just under 400,000, Cardiff has enough people to give you that buzzy, energetic feel, but not so many that it makes being in town when the summer tourists arrive unbearable.
It’s not too big, at under 60 square miles, so you can cover all of the city center’s highlights and nearby Cardiff Bay on foot over a weekend.
If you have time, it’s definitely worth exploring the outer neighborhoods of Roath, Pontcanna, and Canton, where there are loads of independent shops, cafés, pubs, restaurants, and an excellent arts center.
You also won’t need to navigate a complicated subway system, because we don’t have one. There is, however, a water taxi, city-center train stations, and a decent bus network.
