OLD QUEEN COAL

GARETH DAVIS looks after all the editorial content at Travel Channel and runs the website. So if you've any comments or complaints, he's the one to get in touch with! He also produces and presents on the channel, primarily the series THE TRAVEL BUG and THE TRAVEL CHANNEL GUIDE TO … And when he has a spare minute, he writes for the travel section of the Sunday Mirror in the UK.

This is the one I've dreaded. I was brought up in the South Wales valleys and Cardiff is the nearest thing I've got to a hometown. I even lived there for a couple of years after university. And see that chip on my shoulder? Well, it's more like the whole bag of Maris Piper. So I'm going to start by playing nice, and stating A. Cardiff is a wonderful place, and B. It's well worth a visit. Particularly this month as Cardiff shines its torch for the last time on its centenary year as a city..

Cardiff is a small place. Its population is just over 300,000 but in this age of the ever-enlarging Europe, with capital cities like Ljubljana population 258,000 and Tallinn population 400,000 coming onboard, surely that's no great shakes. For once, size isn't everything. It certainly hasn't stopped Cardiff.

The city took off in the 1800s, under the tutelage of the Marquis of Bute. One previously insignificant fishing village blossomed into an international emporium and one of the busiest ports in the world. By the early 1900s Little Cardiff was playing the part of Queen Coal. She donned a new Civic Centre; City Hall, Law Courts, University and National Museum all in one. In 1955 when Wales decided to pitch for an official capital, she displayed a signature bullishness, seeing off rivals Swansea and Aberystwyth to secure the title. And the slightly un-Welsh determination to succeed at all costs was again apparent in 1999. Poor Swansea! There was no way the Welsh National Assembly was going anywhere other than Cardiff Bay. That hardheaded dynamism is certainly what sets Cardiff apart from the rest of Wales.

Still, for anyone who's used to bigger conurbations, there's something terribly towney about the place. Urban is not a word I'd use to describe this city. It's still a place where come 6pm on a weeknight workers go home rather than hit the bars or opt for an ad hoc meal out, and as recently as the mid 90s, there was no 5 star hotel, and only one upmarket restaurant - a moment's silence please for the delightful Le Cassoulet, now defunct - until in 1999 along came the St David's Hotel & Spa.

A glistening white and glass cube surmounted by sails, the St David's looked as if it had travelled back through time. It felt that way. The standard of service and facilities seemed light years ahead of anything else on offer in Cardiff. I visited for the first time four years ago. It was good then. It seems even better now. The soaring semi-circular white and slate atrium, the bar with its coloured lighting sifting through the spectrum, and the rooms all sharp, soft Italian lines have never looked better. Marco Pierre White may no longer be commandering the restaurant but the 2-course lunch at £12.50 didn't seem to suffer. And the service is spick, spare, and spot on. Add to that a stunning spa and you have a world-class hotel. Take my word for it; the St David's is one of Europe's best.

The sad thing is it has no rivals. The Hilton also opened in 1999 and seemed set to give it a run for its money but alas! I visited in year one, fantastic, went back in year two, diabolical! The rooms are great but the service shambles from pillar to post. This time round having popped in for a coffee, I almost gave up the ghost and joined the rest of the invisible spirit staff aboard this landlocked Marie Celeste. Instead I left. I never got my coffee. I have to push from my mind the fact that the hotel has a 5 star rating or I start hyperventilating.

Competition on the restaurant scene however is a lot brisker. The Jurassic situation of ten years back has given way to some celestial culinarism. In addition to Tides at the St David's in Cardiff Bay, head to the suburbs - bear in mind Cardiff is small so we're not talking miles here - and there you'll find Welsh gold.

Heading northwest from the city centre, Le Gallois is in Canton. Tragic it wasn't there when I lived opposite in the late 80s! Still it could have crippled me financially. The food is French, the produce Welsh, the ambience European. A cream duplexed space with echoes of art nouveau in its metal screens allows smokers and non to dine at ease. 2 courses are £30 and 3 £35 with wines from £13.25. Highlights of my visit were the chef's starter, a scallop soup all fish and froth, and a pigeon that would have pleased the Happy Prince.

Northeast of the city centre is Cathays, infamous den of students and chip shoppery, salvaged by the presence of the Armless Dragon. Here a smoke-free zone serves up modern British cooking with a French flavour and plenty of good Welsh produce. Starters from £5.75 are themed - Land, Sea, or Earth. The latter consisted of spicy parsnip soup followed by mushroom bavarois, a laver or seaweed ball, and Glamorgan sausage all on the same slate; the culinary equivalent of a rugby scrum. I followed up with more pigeon. Mains are from £13. My only criticism is the bar area outback where it is possible to smoke. It smacks of a dentist's waiting room somewhere in the Welsh valleys.

One venue I wouldn't recommend which was primarily an exercise in nostalgia for me is lunch at Pillars on Queen Street. This is where as a child I used to go for lunch with my mother. The Pillars experience is the equivalent of trying to eat during a battle scene from "Master & Commander", it's noisy, does nothing for your digestive system, and there's always the danger the din will leave you deaf or you'll kill someone. "Steak'n kidney!!! Who ordered steak'n kidney??!! With chips!!!!!!!!"

Between mouthfuls Cardiff offers a few choice attractions to keep the visitor on their toes. Central to both city and any visit is the Castle. Right in the heart of the main shopping district, wherever you find yourself, the Castle seems to be there. It’s primarily a 19th century creation of mega millionaire the third Marquis of Bute and his architect William Burgess though the foundations date back to Roman times. A guided tour of the Victorian apartments reveals a world that reeks of stupendous over-the-top romantic medievalism. I was twelve when I last saw the Banqueting Hall, Arab Room, the Chaucer Room and the Roof Garden last and I’d forgotten just how fantastic they are. Admission to the grounds and guided tour is £6.

A three-minute walk from the Castle is the National Museum & Gallery. This was another attraction I hadn’t visited since childhood and what a difference! A state-of-the-art twenty first century museum that deserves being pored over at leisure. Highlights for me were the Evolution of Wales exhibit, all sound effects, dinosaurs and kiddy hands-on fun; and the archaeology section, though art buffs will no doubt be drawn to the second largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in Europe. Admission is admirably free.

The city centre's other big draw of course is the shopping. No, you won't find branches of Gucci, Prada, or Farhi but you will find what I think is one of the most user friendly shopping centres in the country. Cardiff's indoor Victorian market I'm afraid isn't a patch on Swansea's. The highlight here is a string of late nineteenth century arcades which run primarily between St Mary's Street, St John Street and The Hayes. Serious labelites should head for Wardrobe in the High Street Arcade, Woodies Emporium in Morgan Arcade and Howells, the ubiquitous House of Fraser with all that a mens' department there entails.

The nightlife of a weekend is heady or hellish depending on your take when it comes to avid drunkenness and chip wrappers fighting for attention on the same street; that street is Caroline Street also known as Chip Alley. When the clubs and bars run down - and that can be as late as four in the morning - everyone heads there for a greasy pick me up.

So Cardiff. The one that got away. I'm talking about me. There's no denying I have a huge soft spot for it but it still irritates the hell out of me. For example, the fact that there isn't sufficient demand for taxis during the week so when everyone heads out on Friday and Saturday night, you can't get one for love nor lust. But don't let me put you off. Indeed, let me encourage you. Cardiff is well worth a weekend of exploring though more than two days could leave you yearning for somewhere a little larger.

To find out more about cardiff visit

Travel Details:

Return fare with First Great Western to Cardiff Central from £23.50
Tel 08457 000 125
www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk

Virgin Trains operate to Cardiff Central from Brimingham, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester
Tel 08457 222 333
www.virgintrains.com

Double room at the St David's Hotel & Spa from £235 per room
www.thestdavidshotel.com
Tel 029 2045 4045

What do you think of Cadiff? I'd love to hear any advice you may have DROP ME A LINE

December 2005