Cathays essentials

Facilities & Services: hospital, police & schools

Nearest Hospital

Heath Hospital

Location: Heath Park , Cardiff , CF14 4XW
University Hospital of Wales. 10 minutes walk from Cathays. Or a short couple of minutes drive.

Local Police Station

Cathays Police Station

Location: Crwys Road , Cathays , CF24 4NA
Opening hours: 0800 - 2200 Monday to Friday

Schools

Cathays High School

Location: Crown Way , Gabalfa , Cardiff , CF14 3XG
From our Woodville Road office: Bus Time: 18 minutes Drive Time: 5 minutes

Cardiff High School

Location: Llandennis Road , Cyncoed , Cardiff , CF23 6WG
From our Woodville Road office: Walk Time: 18 minutes Drive Time: 5 minutes

St Monica's Primary School

Location: Whitchurch Road , Cathays , Cardiff , CF14 3JL
From our Woodville Road office: Walk Time: 11 minutes Drive Time: 3 minutes

Acorns Nursery

Location: 7 Park Grove , Cathays , Cardiff , CF10 3BJ
From our Woodville Road office: Walk Time: 11 minutes Drive Time: 3 minutes

Getting around Cathays

Bus

Cathays is served well by bus links to the city centre, Heath Hospital and Cardiff Bay. Check out the Network Map to find out what bus service to catch.

Rail

Cathays Park Campus is served well by the Cathays train station that actually goes under one of the buildings it's that close to it. Handy link from city centre and north bound station such as Llandaff to the valleys.

Major Road Links

M4 links very close via Crwys road northbound to the A470 and via Newport Road Eastbound A4161.

What's on in Cathays

National Museum Cardiff

Location: National Museum Cardiff , Cathays Park , Cardiff , CF10 3NP
This is on the City Centre side of the Cathays Park area. The National Museum is a truly stunning building, offering a unique historical experience. It takes you from times of dinosaurs (you know, when our parents roamed the lands), right through to Iron Age Wales and finally modern times. It has a quaint café with a quirky, touristy feel to it. For the really impressed there's also a chance to spend some pennies at the very chic museum souvenir shop. The museum is popular with tourists and locals alike. A great day out - and its free entry for everyone - hurrah!

Cardiff Students' Union

Location: Park Place , Cardiff , CF10 3NP
Just what every studentificantion process requires - a three-tier student union. Native to CardiffUniversity, the Union is a fun-times venue that hosts bars, concerts halls and places to have a good munch. It's also available to all universities in Cardiff and non-students wanting to join in and live the student lifestyle. The union is a market-leading venue for live events and hosts some amazing student nights. It's well worth a visit if you fancy staying local to Cathays on a night out.

Cathays Park

Location: Cathays park , Cardiff
On one side of the road you have the carnage and riff raff of the Student Union and on the other you have the Victorian era Cathays Park. It's peace and tranquillity set in the grounds to the rear of Cardiff Museum. On a hot summers day it's a cracking spot for a picnic (note to students: that's a picnic, not a barbecue!). Cathays Park is a beautiful setting, perfect for a leisurely stroll away from the party village of Cathays and great for those accessing the City Centre and needing a more scenic route.

Maindy Leisure Centre & Pool

Location: Crown Way , Off North Rd , Cardiff , CF14 3AJ
A public leisure centre that consists of a gym, swimming pool, outdoor football pitches and hosts Maindy Flyers Bike Club where Olympic Gold Medal winner Geraint Thomas developed his skills.

Sherman Theatre

Location: Senghennydd Rd, Cardiff CF24 4YE
Since 2007, Sherman Theatre has consistently impressed audiences with award-winning productions in both Welsh and English. Committed to showcasing local talent and fostering a love of theatre for all ages, they offer a diverse program and actively support the development of Welsh playwrights and artists.

Eat in Cathays

Mowgli's Indian Restaurant

Location: 151 Crwys Road , Cathays , Cardiff , CF24 2NH
Voted Indian Restaurant of the Year in Cardiff - need we say more? An amazing Indian restaurant that'll give you a generous feed. Students, bring a doggy bag!

Café 37 Diner

Location: 37 Salisbury Road , Cardiff , CF24 4AA
Best known for their breakfasts or “the cure for hangover”. Cafe 37 offers an extensive menu for breakfast and brunch.

Magic Wrap

Location: Student Union , Senghennydd Road , Cardiff , CF10 3QN
Started with just one shop inside the Cardiff Students’ Union building in 2008 feeding hungry students takeaway wraps made with healthy & fresh ingredients, their Mermaid Quay and City Centre venues are equally popular.

The Woodville Pub

Location: 1-5 Woodville Road , Cathays , Cardiff , CF24 4DW
The Woodville Pub in Cathays Students are the best to find a good cold pint. If you're a student in Cardiff this bar will become a second home for you. This is the student bar of Cathays - pub grub and a good drink! Studentification at its best. Just make sure to get the Yellow Cards in order to save some vital funds.

Vulcan Lounge

Location: 2 Wyvern Road , Cardiff , CF24 4BH
A modern bar in the centre of Cathays, The Vulcan is a great place for a social drink and for a relaxing evening with friends. It also serves a modern European selection of food.

Gassy's

Location: 39 Salisbury Road , Cardiff , CF24 4AB
If you enjoy beers, burgers, live sport and music then this well-established nighttime favorite is for you. Recently refurbished, Gassy’s earned a good reputation among students for their friendly staff and reasonably priced drinks.

Coco Gelato

Location: 133 Woodville Road , Cardiff , CF24 4DZ
Coco Gelato, as the name suggests, serves real Italian ice cream and much more... The waffles and sundaes are main course sized treats. Freak shakes like “Ferrero Forever” or “Salty Sam & the Caramel Gang” are definitely worth a try!

Calabrisella Cathays

Location: 51 Cathays Terrace , Cardiff , CF24 4HS
Don’t mistake Calabrisella for another pizza takeaway in Cathays. They took over a small fish and chip shop in Canton and quickly became the local’s favorite in 2014. The Cathays branch offers more indoor seating and the same authentic taste.

CPS Homes Guide to Living in Cathays, Cardiff

Welcome to the hub of student life

With 2,468 Multiple-Person Households (Mostly student houses), this made up 40% of the total households, Cathays is Cardiff's student hub. And house parties aside, the bright lights of Salisbury Road is The Strip where most of the action takes place. It's only here that ‘walk of shame'-spotting is a popular hobby. Then there's Cathays' official sport: dodge the seagull.

"Seagulls, smelly bins and students doing the walk of shame after a night out would all feature on a morning walk from home to lectures, but these all just added to Cathays' unique brand of charm," says a local resident.

Given the likelihood that the name Cathays (‘hayes' means ‘open area' in Welsh) referred to wildcats that once roamed here, it's a shame there aren't a few still around to help with the seagull problem.

A hard Cathays night

But there's more to Cathays than the bewildering network of terraced streets, student houses and angry birds.

With lots of bars, more places to eat than you can shake your fork at, and more than 12,919 students wanting to have a good time, Cathays is Cardiff's party hub. And house parties aside, the bright lights of Salisbury Road is The Strip where most of the action takes place.

As an electoral ward, Cathays covers Cardiff city centre, so from a political point-of-view you don't actually leave Cathays on a night out in town. This includes Cathays Park, with its world-class Civic Centre featuring Crown Court, National Museum, City Hall, plus much of Cardiff University's extensive campus.

And just over the train line there's the beautiful Sherman Theatre. where you can appreciate performances by up and coming Welsh artists.

To the west lies the open greenery of Bute Park, while to the north the tranquility (and eerie gothic Victoriana) of Cathays Cemetery, the UK's third largest municipal cemetery, and Roath Park's ‘Quiet Park' (as we knew it as kids) and ‘The Rec'.

All offer respite from the tight-knit residential area we know and love as Cathays, which starts to the east of the train line over which the Student Union is built. Rapidly thrown up over the last quarter of the 19th century, the district is home to just over 20,000 people, a whopping 55 per cent of whom carry NUS cards.

There are 1,408 student houses here, compared to the next largest student area, nearby Plasnewydd, with just 654. It's hardly surprising the term ‘studentification' is used in relation to Cathays, which is home to more than a third of the city's 36,304 students.

Quieter progress

Many insist there remains a sense of community and place, in spite of these changes.

"I think Cathays really is a great place to live for all sorts of people," says local resident Beckidy Smith. "I know families, young professionals and older people who all live in the area.” "It's so convenient, because it's walking distance to town and there are so many great shops and amenities. You're never more than ten minutes' walk from what you need and it's the sort of place where you could strike up a conversation with someone you meet in the street."

Journalist and new dad Steven Day has lived in Cathays for the past decade, from when he himself was a student. He's recently seen an increase in non-students moving in.

"My wife and I have become accustomed to the Cathays-style of living with everything nearby so we decided to stay within the area when we moved house," says Steven. "There is a great community feel about Cathays and you can't beat it for that."

"Many independent cafes and restaurants continue to thrive in Cathays despite the competition thanks to the student population. The Pot Cafe opened in 2015 on Crwys Road originally serving breakfast and brunch to students, it’s now a successful French Bistro (now The Pot Bistro) offering bottomless brunch and dinner on Whitchurch Road.

Relations between students and permanent residents are also improving, says Steven. "There's more respect now between students and non-students than there has ever been during my time living here," he says.

Indeed, Cathays – and Cardiff generally – feels empty without its students (you can even find a parking space in Cathays). Each year the city welcomes an army of academics with open arms.

Testimonials

"My wife and I have become accustomed to the Cathays-style of living with everything nearby so we decided to stay within the area when we moved house. There is a great community feel about Cathays and you can't beat it for that". – Journalist Steven Day

"I think Cathays really is a great place to live for all sorts of people. I know families, young professionals and older people who all live in the area." – Student Beckidy Smith.

Click on the links above to know more about Cathays