Forget the guidebook, to really get under the skin of a place listen to someone who lives there. Wales View asked two volunteers to let us in on their personal “recipe” for the perfect weekend at home.

Hannah James, Cardiff:
Cardiff has always been special for me. As a child I loved the seasonal trips to buy school uniform, a dress for the school disco or clothes for summer holidays. As a teenager I couldn’t wait to take the first outing without my mam – going to the cinema with my friends. So, after years studying in Portsmouth it wasn’t hard to decide where to settle down. I headed back to Cardiff and found a very different city to the one I’d left.

Friday Afternoon
Away from the more boisterous side of town, at the Buffalo Bar in Windsor Place you’ll find a cool cocktail list and the Espresso Martini is a classy alternative to a Red Bull. Perfect for a post work unwind or a full-on night out.

Saturday Morning
Off to Cafe Brava, Pontcanna Street. It is a good place to hear groups of friends chatting away in Welsh – it’s a language not surviving, but thriving. The corned beef hash with poached egg is a popular choice.

Afternoon
After a week sat at a desk in the city centre, cycling is a great way to stretch the legs, and get some fresh air. Cardiff has so many parks and gardens it’s Europe’s greenest city.

Starting at Cardiff Castle and the manicured gardens of Bute Park you can follow the River Taff north. After 30 minutes gentle cycling you’re at the foot of a steep climb to Castell Coch – I choose to get off and push for the last 200 yards.

Castell Coch was built in the 19th Century to look like a 13th Century fairytale castle; no little girl can pass it and not imagine Sleeping Beauty in a 100-year slumber. Inside make sure you check out the view from Lady Bute’s bedroom window; it was positioned perfectly so that it looks out over the River Taff flowing down to what was her city residence,

Cardiff Castle.
Before heading home there’s time for some Welsh Cakes from the castle kitchen. You can watch them being cooked on the traditional bake stone.

Evening
You can learn a lot about a country’s culture from its food. For a taste of Wales head to Mimosa in Cardiff Bay where the menu contains all the best of Welsh ingredients – Welsh black beef, sea bass, laver bread and cheese – cooked with a modern twist. If you fancy trying laver bread (that’s seaweed) try cockle fritters with laver bread sauce to break yourself in gently.

Later
On to Gwdi Hw, a new bar that has that something special. Like a 1970s living room with a DJ in the corner, it’s the perfect place to assemble for a night on the tiles. Chain bars and night clubs mean that on a night out one city can seem like a carbon copy of another. But there’s no chance of that happening on Womanby Street. Take Y Fuwch Goch (The Red Cow), if local is your thing try a pint of Brain’s Beer a stone’s throw from where it’s brewed.

Or across the cobbled street there’s Clwb Ifor Bach (known affectionately as Clwb). It was originally a members club for Welsh speakers but these days all are welcome. Tonight there’s indie disco on the ground floor, 80s electro pop on the first and live music at the top. Impossible to leave without a big smile on your face.

Sunday Morning
Downstream to the sea air of Cardiff Bay for a walk along the mile-long barrage that converted the bay into a giant fresh water lake in 1999. The barrage connects Cardiff to the Victorian seaside glamour of Penarth.

Afternoon
Walking up a bit of an appetite, sit on the pier to enjoy some fish and chips and watch the world go by. Refuelled it’s up into town to visit two lovely independent galleries.

You can spend a diverting hour or so in both. Go to Washington for contemporary Welsh paintings and ceramics and Ffotogallery – well you can guess what that exhibits.

Head back to Cardiff on the waterbus that runs from Penarth to Cardiff Bay and on to the Millennium Stadium. Looking across the bay three buildings stand out – and sum up Cardiff’s recent transformation.

There’s the contemporary style of 5 star St David’s Hotel and Spa, with its sail-shaped roof; the roof lantern and cowl of the Senedd, which signifies the political independence Wales now has and the copper dome of the Wales Millennium Centre, proud home of our thriving performing arts scene.

The Millennium Centre is the perfect place to finish the weekend relaxing with a coffee. Time it perfectly and you can be there between 1pm and 6pm when there’s a free musical performance in the foyer every day.

Useful links
www.visitcardiff.com

Heledd Williams, Aberystwyth
Home to me is Aberystwyth. Funny really as I’ve lived away from Aber more years than I actually did growing up there, but it’s still home. It’s an historic university town by the sea where there are more seagulls and sheep on the surrounding mountains than there are people. I tend to head home at least once a month to see my mam and dad and my wonderful 96- year-old mamgu (Welsh for grandmother).

Friday Afternoon
After more than two hours in the car it’s time to walk it off along the Promenade to Constitution Hill and to ‘Kick the Bar’. It’s a local tradition that sees walkers come to the end of the prom and physically kick the bar (the railings at the end of the prom) with both feet before walking back up the prom towards the pier, castle and the harbour. The story is that kicking the bar brings you luck and prosperity. The locals are used to it, but visitors look on with confusion.

In the summer months it’s a treat to walk up Constitution Hill and look out across Cardigan Bay. On lazy days I take the funicular railway to the top instead and then walk down. From the top of the hill, on super-special days you can count porpoises and dolphins in the bay.

Evening
It’s time for an Aber gem, Gannet’s Bistro. It’s the place to meet the locals, hear the news and eat fish caught straight from the sea, which is just feet away.

Saturday Morning
Saturday begins with an appreciation of the view from my parent’s house – Cardigan Bay in its full glory. Then it’s down to town for a cappuccino and a homemade custard slice in the Penguin Cafe. It’s an opportunity to catch up with more local news and to hear the locals greet one another in Welsh, English and the odd word of Italian (the Penguin is owned by an Italian family).

Afternoon
Walk around the town and a stop-start journey down Great Darkgate Street. There’s always someone you bump into. Then it’s down to Morgan’s the Butcher to stock up with meat and sausages to take back to Cardiff with me. My favourites are the pork and mango sausages although I am partial to the lamb and mint too. They also make the best homemade faggots, which are just huge.

Evening
You may appreciate by now my love of the sea, so where better to have dinner and drinks on a Saturday night than Gwesty Cymru. This is a 5 star restaurant with bedrooms and it’s just fabulous. The food is fresh, local and you can more or less see the fishermen catch the produce from across the road.

The menu is varied and offers a little of everything from locally caught fish, locally farmed meats to locally grown vegetables. Also the menus are completely bilingual – so a good chance to brush up on some Welsh words. Plus they have a bijou cellar bar a great place to chill out and sample a

Sunday Morning
A walk to the station to the Vale of Rheidol Railway, which is a narrow-gauge heritage railway that runs between Aberystwyth and Devil’s Bridge. I sit down, relax and take in the slow steam train experience that huffs and puffs its way up the valley to Devil’s Bridge – just over 11 miles

The scenery is amazing. An hour later, worn out with so many “oohs” and “aahs” we arrive at Devil’s Bridge. There are actually three bridges, one built above each other. Legend says that the first bridge was built by the Devil as it was too difficult for mortal people to build. The story goes that the Devil built the bridge in return for the soul of the first life to cross the bridge, but he was tricked by an old woman. She threw bread onto the bridge and her dog followed – becoming the first life to cross the new bridge.

A few hundred steps get you down to the base of the Devil’s Bridge Falls. Then it’s a staggering few hundred steps back up Jacob’s Ladder to the train and a relaxing calm journey back to Aber – plus time to get your breath back. Afternoon It’s time to head back to Cardiff. One month to go and counting until my next visit home.

Useful links
www.tourism.ceredigion.gov.uk

Author Bio: Duncan writes about all things Welsh, and specialises in UK Breaks, activity holidays and UK family holidays.

Category: Travel
Keywords: UK breaks, activity holidays, UK family holidays