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Travel Advice on Getting to Cardiff, Wales
Getting to Cardiff by Air
Cardiff airport (www.cwlfly.com) is situated approximately 15km South West of Cardiff city centre. Upon arrival at the airport visitors can travel on to the city centre by taxi, train or bus.
Leaving the airport by Taxi: Checker Cars is the official taxi operator for the airport. The taxis are located just outside the arrival hall and can be pre-booked by emailing cardiff@checkercars.com or by telephoning +44 (0)1446 711747. The approximate cost of a taxi from Cardiff Airport to Cardiff Central Station is £31 and the journey will take approximately 35 minutes.
Leaving the airport by Train: A rail link connects Cardiff International Airport (Rhoose) and Cardiff Central Station, however you must use the free shuttle bus to get to the train station, which is situated approximately 1 mile away from the airport. Once at the station, trains leave every hour and a single ticket costs £4.30 (correct at time of writing – please check www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk for up-to-date prices). The train journey will take approximately 33 minutes.
Leaving the airport by Bus: Cardiff Bus operates the T9 Airport Express bus service between Cardiff Airport and Cardiff Central Station. The service runs as frequently as every 20 minutes and tickets cost from £5. See www.traveline.cymru for timetables. The train journey will take approximately 41 minutes.
Getting to Cardiff by Train
You can reach Cardiff city centre by train from virtually any location within the UK.
For visitors travelling from London, Great Western Railway (GWR) operates an hourly train service from London Paddington and the total journey time is just 2 hours. The cost of a ticket varies depending on the time of travel. See www.gwr.com for more details.
The travel times for some popular train routes are listed below:
- Birmingham (2hrs)
- Bristol (50mins)
- London (2hrs)
- Liverpool (3hrs 35mins)
- Manchester (3hrs 20mins)
- Portsmouth (3hrs 35mins)
- Southampton (2hrs 30mins)
- Swansea (55mins)
Getting to Cardiff by Bus/Coach
National Express connects all of the UK’s major cities with its scheduled coach services. For visitors travelling from London, a regular service leaves Victoria coach station (almost hourly) and the journey time is approximately 3 hours 25 minutes. See www.nationalexpress.com for full details of prices and routes.
MegaBus also operate a scheduled coach service between London and Cardiff, with a total journey time of approximately 3 hours 30 minutes. See www.megabus.com for full details of prices and routes.
Getting to Cardiff by Road
The major road route into Cardiff is the M4 motorway.
From the East: Visitors travelling along the M4 from the East are advised to leave the M4 at junction 32 and follow the A470 (1st exit at roundabout) into the centre of Cardiff.
From the West: Visitors travelling along the M4 from the West are advised to leave the M4 at junction 33 and join the A4232 (3rd exit at roundabout). You then have the option of either exiting the A4232 at the next roundabout and following signs for Cardiff city centre, or alternatively, if you remain on the A4232 it will eventually lead you to Cardiff Bay.
From the South West: Visitors travelling from the South West of England should head North along the M5 motorway and then follow signs for South Wales and the M4.
From the Midlands and North: Visitors travelling from the Midlands and the North of England should head for the M50 motorway (junction 8 on the M5 motorway) and then onto the A40 (signposted South Wales, Monmouth). Continue along the A40 until you reach Monmouth when the road becomes the A449. Continue along the A449 until you reach the Coldra roundabout where you should take the 5th exit to join the M4.