Clustering on the edge of the Severn Estuary, where the undulating hills of the South Wales Valleys meet the blustery rollers of the Bristol Channel, the city of Cardiff defies expectations time and time again. Travellers often bypass this old industrial port—images of smog and coal-stained commerce fixed in their mind. Those who don’t, discover a bustling, modern cityscape, pedestrianised to the core and alive with coffee bars and microbreweries.

Yes sir, Cardiff has all but shed its pre-war mechanisation and entered the 21^st century with the unabashed confidence you’d expect of a capital. Examples of its innovation are everywhere too; rising up with the avant-garde architecture of the Millennium Centre on Cardiff Bay, the debating chambers of the Senedd (the Welsh parliament), the myriad student clubs and flavours of the ‘lush’ fine-dining joints in the heart of town. That said, history in this ancient Celtic corner of the United Kingdom is never too far away, and museums apart, Cardiff tour guides are always happy to reveal Norman keeps and tunnels in the medieval Cardiff Castle, and the old manor houses of St Fagans besides.