Millennium Stadium - Cardiff Travel Guide

The Wales Millennium Stadium cost £100million to build and brought the construction company to its knees! The stadium is currently the best in Britain and, until there is a decent stadium in London, hosts many of the British football finals. It seats almost 75,000 people. Its first event in 1999 was to host the Rugby World Cup. It is the main home for the Wales rugby and football teams.

The stadium has a roof that can close! Well, only when we want it to, as the South African rugby team found recently when it was left open deliberately to let the rain in!! Wales are used to getting muddy on the rugby field!!! On 31 December 1999 the stadium hosted the world’s largest indoor rock concert.

The stadium is superb because of its location. It is 2 minutes walk from the main train and bus station. When a big event happens part of the city centre is closed to traffic. The roads around the Civic Centre become an enormous coach park.

Above all, the stadium is great for sport!! Wherever you sit, you get a tremendous view of the action. From the upper levels, it feels like you are directly above the pitch. This is what makes the stadium great. I have fond memories of watching Wales beat Italy and Argentina at football :)

Some other people have mixed feelings. Wales’ only Olympic-sized swimming pool was demolished to make way for the Stadium. Car traffic can be bad on match days. It is difficult to get out of Cardiff by car after events (so stay the night, or come by train!). Shopkeepers think that stadium events keep shoppers away. Personally I love being able to wander down the middle of a street!!

Of course, there are never enough bars or toilets in this place. The queue’s can sometimes be very long.

There are also regular tours of the Stadium. I’ve seen other people say they are not worth it. So buy an event ticket instead to see the stadium in action!

Take a walk along the new River Walk which snakes along beside the ...erm ...river and is open most days.

Large multicoloured jester's hat - they are usually on sale around Cardiff on match days :))

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

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Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

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