Cardiff and vicinity

You're going to be full up I'd expect, but Caerphilly is an excellent castle and it's less than a half hour out. Close-in, the harbor tour gets you off your feet for a while.

If you like museums, they have a wonderful one there with natural history, geology, and art (many Impressionist paintings). Like Ed, we also liked Caerphilly and the harbor.

Doesn't look as if it is running this summer, but if by any chance the Tardis set tours are on, either go early or book in advance, as they fill up quickly and they only have limited capacity.

We did the exact same thing last year (May 2014), during our month-long UK vacation. Our then-14 year old son is a HUGE Doctor Who fan.

We pre-purchased our tickets on the internet.

Late-morning train from London to Cardiff, p/u our rental car, dropped it off at our hotel and walked to the "Doctor Who Experience" (15 minute walk).

We spent about 3 hours at the DWE and had a great time (even me, a non-fan, loved the costuming and make-up displays!). It's HUGE, a combination museum (very interesting) and the interactive experience (which you walk through). Photography IS allowed and there is a LOT to photograph. Tell your girls to make sure their cameras are charged or carry spare batteries! I took pictures of every display so that ds could enjoy his initial walk-through of the museum (he, then, went back and did his own photography).

There was a big storm going on and we had the entire place to ourselves (there were only 4 other visitors!). So, we could really enjoy taking our time and ds was thrilled to have seen everything! They have a nifty gift shop, too (of course!) and we bought a few items we'd not seen elsewhere.

It was one of the big highlights for our son on that trip.

With the worst of the storm letting up (though, still, heavy rain and wind) by the time we left DWE, we wandered around nearby DW filming sights (ds already knew them all) before heading back to the hotel.

We left Cardiff the next day.

Our hotel was in a great location for walking to the DWE: Future Inn Cardiff Bay. Very clean and up-to-date, not pricey and had a good breakfast. Free parking, too.

EDITED TO ADD: I see that you need to check with the DWE to see if it will be open when you will be there. I HIGHLY recommend you do this. Seeing filming sights is fun, but the Experience is THE thing your girls would really love. Hate to disappoint them on arrival, if you can't go in! Contact the Experience before you leave the US!

Hi, my daughter and I are leaving for London tomorrow and will be making the "pilgrimage" to Cardiff for all things Doctor Who. I have pre-purchased the 4 hour DW bus tour and I know that the DWE is not only running, but they have added walking tours you can add to the ticket. I decided not to pre-purchase them because we will be there for several days and I am fairly sure we can get an entrance time and also there is no real bargain buying them in advance. I will write a trip report from there and let you know how it goes.
Cheryl

Firstly, you should really have put this query in the Wales forum as Cardiff is not in England. However, having said that, it would seem that few people on this American site seem to go to the Wales forum. Please see my response to a previous post about Cardiff & Dr.Who here: >https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/day-trip-to-cardiff-bay

www.visitcardiff.com

www.visitwales.co.uk

For Dr.Who fans only :>http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/doctor-who-series-8-filming-6988490
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/doctor-who-series-8-filming-7345456

There is separate Wales forum? I live only 30 minutes from Wales, but would not think of looking for a separate Wales forum and offering my views. Since this site got rid of its simple "latest posts" option, I have only looked at England.

Sure.

Wales, England, and Scotland are all separate nations so they get their own forums (except that Wales and Scotland are really part of England so shouldn't have forums), and Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom don't exist.

Pay attention.

Us Americans really understand this geography business.

" (except that Wales and Scotland are really part of England so shouldn't have forums),"
I expect you're now high up on someones hit list for making that comment. :-)

I think you will find that Ed is making the comment 'in jest'. He (or she) is one of the most knowledgeable respondents on these forums.

To clarify: Great Britain is Scotland, Wales & England; the United Kingdom is Scotland, Wales , England & Northern Ireland - all of whom send MP's to Parliament in London. Scotland, Wales & NI also have devolved seats of power. (As this post was originally about Dr.Who in Cardiff's Bay area, you might like to know that 5 minutes walk away is the 'Senedd' = Welsh Government building - to which the public can have access to see debates or just look at the modern architecture).

This autumn, Scotland will vote on whether to become an independent nation & therefore leave the UK. This is because the Scottish Nationalist Party gained power at the present devolved Government in Edinburgh. In Wales, the Welsh Nationalist Party (Plaid Cymru), would also like for Wales to become an independent state. However, PC are unlikely to gain power in Wales as they strongly support the use of the Welsh language - which is spoken by about 18% of the population. The majority English only speaking people in Wales generally do not support PC.

'Bob' - you live in Bristol and would not think of checking the Wales forum or even realise it existed. That is also the 'problem' with foreigners who just go to the England forum. Hardly anyone seems to be using the Wales forum.

" (except that Wales and Scotland are really part of England so shouldn't have forums),"
I expect you're now high up on someones hit list for making that comment. :-)

Nah, Ed is forgiven. For everyone else, we have flip charts and powerpoint presentations. Just short ones that come with comfort breaks every two hours over the three days they run. Teas and coffees provided.

The jibe was aimed at the ludicrous forum structure. Unfortunately it parallels the thinking of too many Americans.

At a gathering of mostly educators the other night one gal plunked the RoI into England and when challenged stated that she obviously and more correctly should have said it was part of Great Britain. A sympathetic colleague allowed that he could never remember if Australia was part of New Zealand or if it was the other way around.

I was on the early run out of Scrabster in the fall. Another vehicle was a minibus with a dozen of my countrymen aboard -- uniformly dressed in special travel clothing that would have fit right in on a 1930s safari. Among the gems of wisdom:
. They'd come from Skye and were excited to be now headed to more of the Outer Hebs.
. They didn't know what they were going to see on Orkney but the driver would tell them shortly prior to arrival.
. They were definitely going to see either a jewelry or a pottery factory.
. They were unaware that stone circles exist except for the one down on the Salisbury Plain.
. The WWI / WWII expert was unaware of Scapa Flow or the Churchill Barriers.
. I was exceptionally brave to be traveling alone in a foreign land.

Y'all have to forgive us. We try mightily to be supisticated.

Laverbread, for anybody wondering, is a type of seaweed.

Thank you for all the great responses. Sorry for any offense caused by asking in the England forum. That's the country we'll be in longest and I default to that sometimes without thinking.