The Scott lighthouse
A white 1915 memorial to Captain Scott's Antarctic voyage that sailed from Cardiff, and the park's most photographed corner.
A small white lighthouse stands at the end of a lake that faces no sea: that is the oddest and loveliest thing about Roath Park. It is a memorial, raised in 1915 to Captain Robert Scott, whose ship sailed from Cardiff in 1910 for the South Pole and never brought him home, and its reflection on the water has become one of the images the city uses to introduce itself. The lake is entirely man-made, about thirty acres dug in the 1890s on land the 3rd Marquess of Bute gave the town in 1887, and the park opened in 1894 as the model Victorian pleasure ground the city wanted for its residents. Entry is free and the park opens from 07:30 until half an hour before sunset, which means gates shut around 15:30 in deep winter and stay open until about 21:00 at midsummer. The lakeside promenade is flat and paved, ideal for pushchairs, and its 2 km loop takes about forty minutes at an easy pace; swans, geese and ducks crowd the banks with a boldness that can startle small children. From Easter to September pedal boats and rowing boats go out from the boatstage at £10.67 per half hour per boat (£19.17 for an hour), from 11:00 to 19:00, daily in school holidays and weekends only in term time, weather permitting. South of the dam sits the Botanic Garden, with a rose garden, a large adventure playground, a café and toilets, and the one building here that charges admission: the conservatory, £2.60 for adults and £1.35 for children, for tropical plants and fish tanks, open 10:30 to 16:00 in summer and to 15:00 in winter, closed only on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Its real value is a wet afternoon with children; on a sunny day skip it without regret. One serious caveat: Cardiff Council must carry out compulsory works to widen the dam spillway, expected to last 12 to 18 months, and the lake will most likely be drained for the duration, with parts of the promenade and the playground closed. No start date had been fixed at the time of writing, so check the Outdoor Cardiff website before making a special trip for the lake. The park lies about 3 km north-east of the centre, fifteen minutes by taxi or bus, and parking is on the surrounding streets only, which fill fast on sunny weekends.
A white 1915 memorial to Captain Scott's Antarctic voyage that sailed from Cardiff, and the park's most photographed corner.
Pedal and rowing boats hired per boat rather than per person, easy for a family with small children; ask for life jackets at the boatstage.
Roses, a big adventure playground and a café, plus a cheap tropical conservatory that earns its keep on a rainy day.
Lake Road West, Roath, Cardiff CF23 5PG
With children on a sunny day, yes: the boats, playground and swans will fill two hours in a way Bute Park cannot. A visitor on a single day without children can stay in Bute Park behind the castle and skip Roath without loss. And if the lake is drained for the dam works, the answer is no either way.