Cardiff Backpackers Hostel

The Cardiff Backpackers Hostel has everything you could want. Bar, shop for essentials and souvenirs, internet, laundry, and the cleanest most orderly hostel kitchen we have seen! The bedrooms may be a little on the cramped side, but the beds are ok and it is clean. The door doesn't have a lock, but you can get a locker key (5 quid deposit – refundable) so you can lock up your stuff. There is also a security door to get up to the bedrooms and to get in off the street you need to be let in by staff.

The bathrooms are ok. A nice touch is the free toiletries shelf in the bathroom (akin to the free food shelf in the kitchen). Someone has put a lot of thought and care into the planning of this hostel which is much appreciated. Free tea and coffee all day and toast, butter and a range of jams were available free for breakfast in the fabulous kitchen. The hostel is fun and relaxed but very well run and organized.

Cardiff Backpackers is located a short walk from the bus station, central train station and Cardiff castle. It's a little confusing to orient yourself when you first get to Cardiff, but the easiest way to exclain how to get there is from the castle, walk down Castle Street in the opposite direction to the shopping mall. Cross the bridge, walk a little more, then go left onto Lower Cathedral Street. You can see the hostel from Castle Street if you look for the yellow and purple building on the corner. From the bus station or central train station go down Wood street and over the bridge, then go right after a couple of hundred meters onto Clare Street. The hostel is a couple of hundred meters down Clare Street on a corner at a mini round-about.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review