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Where to go out in Cardiff

Cardiff packs a full night out into a walkable square mile. St Mary Street and Caroline Street — Chippy Lane to everyone who lives here — sit at the centre of it, with the Castle Quarter arcades, Womanby Street's live music strip and Mill Lane's terraces all within a few minutes' walk of each other.

The hard part was never finding somewhere. It was knowing which places are actually going off tonight. Realtime shows you live activity from venues across the city, so you can see where people are before you commit to a queue.

118venues on the map
Within 3km of Cardiff
Worth a look

Places to try in Cardiff

A selection of venues on the Realtime map. Open the app to see which are busy tonight.

Cambrian Tap

Cambrian Tap

Pub

Craft-beer joint with meat pies & other bar bites, served in a rustic-chic space with retro accents

51 St Mary St, Cardiff CF10 1AD, UK

Crafty Devil's Cellar

Crafty Devil's Cellar

Brewery

Come and visit us at 16 Llandaff Road Canton Cardiff CF11 9NJ. Open for drinking in and takeaway Wednesday to Sunday.

16 Llandaff Road, Cardiff, CF11 9NJ, United Kingdom

Boombox Karaoke

Boombox Karaoke

Bar

Karaoke and Bar located at Boombox Karaoke

The Old Brewery Quarter, Cardiff CF10 1FG, UK

McSims Pastizzeria

McSims Pastizzeria

Cafe

A traditional Maltese bakery and coffee shop serving delicious drinks and yummy snacks 7 days a week.

113 Queen Street, Cardiff, CF10 2BH, United Kingdom

The main strips

St Mary Street is the spine of a Cardiff night out — big bars, late licences and the overspill from every match day at the Principality Stadium. It gets loud and it gets busy, and on an international weekend it's the busiest street in Wales.

Womanby Street is the opposite end of the scale: independent venues, live music and a crowd that turns up for the lineup rather than the address. Mill Lane and the Hayes lean more towards food, cocktails and outside tables when the weather allows it.

Cardiff Bay is its own night out. Mermaid Quay's waterfront bars and restaurants run at a slower pace than town, and it's the obvious call for an early evening that doesn't need to end at 3am.

Timing your night

Match days rewrite the rules. On a Six Nations Saturday the city centre fills from late morning and stays full, so if you want a table anywhere near St Mary Street you're going in early or not at all.

Outside of that, town builds from around 9pm and peaks between 11pm and 1am. Thursdays run harder than most cities thanks to the student population, and Sunday afternoons in the Bay and around Pontcanna are quietly one of the best-kept parts of the Cardiff week.

Beyond the centre

Pontcanna and Canton do the neighbourhood thing properly — proper pubs, small plates, wine bars and a crowd that mostly walked there. Roath and Albany Road serve the student end of the city with cheaper rounds and later kitchens.

All of it shows up on the Realtime map, so you can check what's busy in Canton before you decide whether it's worth heading into town at all.

More in Cardiff

Other places on the map

The Lansdowne Pub

The Lansdowne Pub

Pub

71 Beda Road, Cardiff, CF5 1LX, United Kingdom

TH

The Botanist Cardiff Bay

Restaurant

6 Mermaid Quay Unit 4, Cardiff CF10 5BZ, UK

The Admiral

The Admiral

Pub

239 Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff, CF11 9AL, United Kingdom

Bonnie Rogues Cardiff

Bonnie Rogues Cardiff

Night Club

42-43 Saint Mary Street, Cardiff, CF10 1AD, United Kingdom

Barbara's Bier Haus Cardiff

Barbara's Bier Haus Cardiff

Pub

4-6 Mill Ln, Cardiff CF10 1FL, UK

The Prince of Wales

The Prince of Wales

Pub

81–83 St Mary St, Cardiff CF10 1FA, UK

Cornerhouse Cardiff

Cornerhouse Cardiff

Pub

25 Caroline St, Cardiff CF10 1FF, UK

Coffi Lab

Coffi Lab

Cafe

Pontcanna, Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

The Owain Glyndwr

The Owain Glyndwr

Pub

10 St John St, Cardiff CF10 1GL, UK

TH

The Waterguard

Pub

Harbour Dr, Cardiff CF10 4PA, UK

SLIZZA PIZZA & PUB

SLIZZA PIZZA & PUB

Pub

42 Llandaff Road, Cardiff, CF11 9NJ, United Kingdom

DA

Davey's Pub (Test Venue)

Pub

28 Egerton Street, Cardiff, CF5 1RG, United Kingdom

Going out in Cardiff — the basics

Where is the main night out in Cardiff?

St Mary Street and the surrounding lanes — Caroline Street, Womanby Street and Mill Lane — are the centre of a Cardiff night out. Cardiff Bay offers a more relaxed waterfront alternative a short walk or taxi from town.

How do I find out which Cardiff bars are busy tonight?

Realtime shows live activity from venues across Cardiff on a map, so you can see where people are heading before you leave the house. It's free on iOS and Android.

Are there offers at Cardiff bars and pubs?

Venues on Realtime post their own offers and weekly specials, and you claim them in the app. What is available changes week to week, so check the map for the current list.

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Find the night out
in Cardiff

See live activity from venues across Cardiff, claim offers from bars and pubs near you, and find your friends on the map. Free on iOS and Android.

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