The Best Galleries and Museums in Cardiff, Wales

This museum and art gallery is Cardiff’s cultural heavy weight, housed in a large and imposing building in the centre of the city. There’s so much to see that you could easily spend a whole day here. To start with, there’s a large collection of prestigious art, Welsh and otherwise, as well as touring and temporary exhibitions.

Then there’s the impressive geology and natural history collections, which include a treasure trove of crystals specimens, the humongous skeleton of a humpback whale which washed up on the beach at nearby Barry Island and a “journey through space and time” of Welsh history, starting at the big bang and ending at the last ice age.

For children there’s the Clore Discovery Centre, with interactive activities and the chance to see and handle some of the museum’s special specimens and archives normally kept under lock and key.

This free museum, set across 100-acres of parkland is a must for anyone visiting Cardiff. It’s a little bit out of the city and you’ll need to take a bus there if you have no means of transport, but the trip will be worth it.

Being an open-air museum, you get to experience traditional Welsh countryside life here, with a farm, fields of sheep and a village with old fashioned shops housed in over forty original buildings from different periods in Welsh history. In them, you can buy Welsh delicacies, baked goods and bags of sweets.

There’s St Fagan’s Castle, a Grade 1 listed 16th-century manor house with its heavenly gardens of fish ponds, groves and fountains, you can have the chance to try and learn about traditional Welsh crafts such as pottery and blacksmithing and also the woodland full of wildlife.

This is a leading gallery specialising in Welsh art. Expect a choice selection of established and emerging Welsh artists. The gallery mixes regular solo and group exhibitions with a revolving display of new paintings, sculptures, ceramics and limited editions. Find it near the National Museum and Galleries of Wales.

g39 is an artist-run gallery in a warehouse, focused on sharing art rather than selling it. You’ll find major exhibitions, experimental projects and intimate events by contemporary artists from Wales and elsewhere, both established and emerging.

The Norwegian Church is an arts centre with a lively cafe and art gallery. One of the biggest pulls is the setting in Cardiff Bay, with its expansive views over the water.

As well as being where the famous children’s author Roald Dahl was baptised, the church is also an important historical landmark from the industrial revolution, where it provided a place for Norwegian seafarers to meet.

Back then Cardiff Docks was a flourishing, affluent port as the world’s greatest exporter of coal. Today Cardiff Bay is thriving once again, thanks to a regeneration project and a mix of restaurants, bars and cultural attractions drawing in the crowds.

This science and discovery centreis great fun, for kids as well as adults. There’s a host of colourful, clever and fully interactive exhibits, including the favourite hall of mirrors and 360° planetarium.

However, for a fully child-free experience while still indulging your inner child, you could go to the Admiral After Hours evening events, where you can get your hands on the 120 exhibits, do the Techniquest quiz or go to one of the entertaining workshops and talks, featuring spectacular science experiments.