Arcades, Cardiff

This is a great little shopping arcade opposite Cardiff Castle. The traditional victorian arcade contains a wealth of shops such as a cheese shop, a cake shop, book shop, and even a violin makers workshop on the upper balcony! So whether you want to explore some traditional souvenier shops or sample the amazing array of cheeses at Madame Fromage, you will love this little arcade!

What to buy: Madame Fromage is a great cheese shop with its own cafe. The book shop also looked fantastic but unfortunately it was closed when we went.

By way of update on this tip, I returned in April 2009 to discover that this shop has closed down and I was advised that the whole chain of stores has closed. What a pity.

In its place I would recommend Anne Harvey across the arcade.

I'm not a skinny girl and I was therefore thrilled to discover Elvi in the St David shopping mall. I was drawn by the very glamorous looking clothes in the window and once inside I stayed because of the clothes and the more than helpful staff.

There was a very large selection to choose from in various different styles. All items were well cut and they were slimming - especially a black floor length evening dress complete with swirling panelled skirt.

Perhaps it was because there was a fashion show in the Mall, but the shop offered jugs of orange juice, sweets and bars. If nothing else it was an encouragement not to feel you have to starve to fit into these gorgeous clothes.

They signed me up to their club and gave me a card which entitled me to a 10% discount off the price of all my purchases. I was delighted.

There are lots of arcades in Cardiff - those roofed alleys with tons of shops and sometimes multiple levels. I can't name them all or tell you which ones to visit, but if you just walk around downtown you'll see lots of side entrances to them. I have included a link to an article describing some of them. They are generally clean, bright, and spacious.

What to buy: We found Troutmark Books in an arcade there, which may be one of the coolest used bookstores ever, along with many other varieties of shops selling things like ethnic food, collectibles, gaming paraphernalia, and designer clothing.

What to pay: The prices are generally reasonable,not over-inflated like London.

All sorts
Since the centre of Cardiff is a pedestrian shopping area, all kinds of shops are within easy reach. There are the arcades like Queen's and St David's and Morgan's, streets like Working Street, malls like Capitol and much much more.

Chain stores like Marks and Spencers [a very large one], Bhs, Next, Debenhams, Primark, T K Max, Zara........

What to buy: whatever takes your fancy

What to pay: normal high street shop prices

Not quite Bologna, but Cardiff is known for its covered shopping arcades. These onbviously make perfect sense, considering its rains quite often in Wales. You can shop in the dry!!

The earliest is Royal Arcade, built in 1856, which links St Mary Street to The Hayes. Most of the others also date from the second half of the C19th.

Off the top of my head, I can think of seven covered arcades in the centre of the city. Of course there are also three large modern indoor shopping centres too.

The arcade I visit the most is the Royal Arcade - there is an excellent health food shop, an art suppliers and a cake shop, all of which I often frequent.

My favorite arcade is probably Castle Arcade, which joins High Street to Duke Street. At one end there are some superb trendy clothes shops and at the other a Welsh food restaurant. There are also balconies along either side with smaller stalls and offices.

What to buy: You can buy almost anything in Cardiff's arcades!!!

Good trendy clothes shops in Castle Arcade and excellent shoe shops along High Street Arcade.

Several good cafe's in Morgan Arcade.

What to pay: These are busy city centre shops and usually good value.

Apparently, Cardiff is known as the 'City of Arcades' and there's a network of excellent Victorian arcades dating back a century or more.

The main arcades can be reached from St Johns Street, High St, Duke St or St Mary Street. Each arcade is home to an array of independent shops offering bits ‘n’ bobs for the home and top-notch fashion. Cool.

Check out the High Street and Duke Street arcades for a fetish fumble

Cross the road and head down the Castle Arcade.
If you’re still standing at this point, walk back to St Mary Street and towards the bus station to find the Morgan and Royal Arcades. .

Go back out onto St Mary Street and turn left into the Royal Arcade. .

Other arcades not to be missed out are the Oxford Arcade off the Hayes and the Dominions and Andrews Arcades off Queen Street. Shop ‘til you drop.
Get

The main shopping streets are St. Mary, High, Castle, Duke, and Queen, plus the Hayes. Most of this area has been made into a pedestrian mall, with trees, shrubs, and gracious Edwardian arcades. These arcades, a dozen in all, are the most famous shopping precincts in all of Wales. The best known is the Castle Arcade, constructed in 1887. The interior has a fascinating first-floor wooden gallery with a wooden second floor overhanging it. Dating from 1858, the Royal Arcade is the oldest of the city's shopping arcades. Look for the original Victorian storefronts at nos. 29, 30, and 32. The Morgan Arcade from 1896 is the best preserved. Note the first-floor Venetian windows and the original slender wooden storefronts such as nos. 23 and 24. All in all, the arcades stretch to a length of 2,655 ft. in the city.

Apparently, Cardiff is known as the 'City of Arcades' and with good reason as there are over half a dozen beautiful Victorian arcades in the centre of town, as well as a couple of more modern ones.

All the older arcades are situated on St Mary's St, with many linking across to the Hayes, running parallel to St Mary's.

Perhaps it is a homage to Cardiff's notoriously wet weather that there are so many arcades as they are a great place to shelter from the rain and you can get across a lot of the central part of the town under cover if you are clever about it?

I have to admit that now that it is winter that is my favourite feature about them and I am always disappointed when they are closed in the evenings after a heavy night out on the town!

Starting from the top of St Mary's St there are:

What to buy: Castle Arcade

Built in 1887, this arcade actually has two levels although the top level is mostly empty. It is L-Shaped coming out onto Castle St opposite the Castle, which is no surprise considering its name.

Looking a bit dog-eared but with one of Cardiff's best clothes stores (Barkers) and an interesting bookshop and a couple of nice cafes.

High Street Arcade

Built in 1886 and opposite the Castle Arcade, this comes out at St John's Square, also linking to Duke St arcade in a T-Shape.

At the entrance is the excellent Atlantic Coffee Co cafe and inside is the tasty New York Deli as well as some excellent clothes shops and where I get my hair cut.

Cardiff Market

This large Victorian indoor market on two levels was built in 1886 with entrances on St Mary St and St John's Square. It has a bizarre range of goods on offer including fresh fruit and veg, cheese, fish, coffee & Tea, pets, electronics, second-hand records and the like.

Morgan & Royal Arcades

Perhaps the two nicest arcades, these back out under the Morgan's Department Store and are joined by a connecting corridor. The Morgan Arcade has been recently renovated. There are a number of speciality shops inside these arcades including the fantastic Wally's Delicatessen and the Neal's Yard Remedies shop.

Wyndham Arcade

Situated next to the newly established 'cafe quarter' this Edwardian arcade dating from 1847 features a number of speciality shops including a Cigar seller.

Two other arcades of note are the modern style arcades on the main shopping street of Queen St:

Queen St Arcade

Cardiff's largest arcade with over 40 shops including Mark's & Spencer, Debenhams and the largest Boots I have ever seen, on two levels but lacking the character of the older arcades.

Capitol Arcade

A more upmarket arcade and the newest in the city on two levels. Shops include Virgin Megastore, Oasis, Austin Reed, Jaeger and Kookai.

What to pay: Generally prices are less than those in London