Things to do in Swansea

This is a city that is positively brimming with historic buildings, castles, renovated marinas, sprawling parks and a state-of-the-art stadium. You only need to walk a few minutes from one of our hotels to get a real sense of Swansea’s history.

Swansea boasts a wonderful selection of modern shopping centres, bustling markets and high street favourites to suit every taste and budget. So if you want to shop until you drop during your visit, be sure to check out our helpful retail guide first.

With one of the best coastlines of any UK city, it couldn’t be easier to enjoy the great Welsh outdoors with its watersports and coastal trails. Meanwhile, the city’s choice of indoor activities includes everything from water parks to go-kart tracks and climbing walls galore

As befits the second largest Welsh city, there are hundreds of cafés and restaurants dishing up everything from spicy Indian fusion food to vegan-only menus. We’ve rounded up the coolest cafés, best restaurants and finest food markets in the city. We hope you’re hungry!

Any city that’s home to a well-known pub crawl – in this case, the Mumbles Mile – is always going to score well when it comes to nightlife. And with dozens of centuries-old pubs, cool modern bars and late-night dancing clubs, Swansea is a vibrant city that’s fun and easy to explore at night.

Despite losing its most recent bid to become UK City of Culture in 2021, Swansea is a thriving cultural hub. The Swansea Museum and the National Waterfront Museum are some of the city’s favourites, while there are also several art galleries that are well worth checking out.

One of the newest stadiums in the UK, Liberty Stadium is a state-of-the-art 20,000-capacity stadium that hosts Premier League football, as well as high-quality rugby. Plus, the stadium – which is just over a mile from the city centre – regularly hosts live music from the likes of The Killers and Little Mix.

A lively city with a bustling entertainment scene, you’ll find everything from live music to stand-up comedy via cabaret acts, pantomimes and musicals. And if you’re more of a sports fan, then head to the Liberty Stadium for a feast of football and rugby, courtesy of Swansea City and The Ospreys.

At under one hour from the nearest international airport and with impressive road links via the M4, getting in and out of Swansea couldn’t be easier. There’s also an extensive bus network, while Swansea’s train station is one of the main travel hubs in the country.