Cardiff is a city with a long history. It boasts a 2000 year old castle, Gothic Victorian architecture and streets named after Medieval Welsh heroes and princes; but these day’s visitors are flocking to Cardiff for something a little more futuristic - alien invasions, time machines and sonic screwdrivers.
Doctor Who Tourism
The new tourism trend is thanks to the BBC’s science fiction drama Doctor Who – which is filmed on location in the Welsh capital. Although several episodes are set in the city, Cardiff, and its visitor attractions, are often disguised and transformed into other cities or even alien landscapes and spacecraft.
Visitors to the city, however, can now pick up a Doctor Who map and discover which locations, such as the Wales Millennium Centre and the Millennium Stadium, have been used for the programme.
Cardiff is also home to the Doctor Who Up Close exhibition – which gives visitors a chance to view costumes, props and monsters from the show up close – including the infamous Daleks and Cybermen, and buy the wide range of Doctor Who merchandise, such as remote control Daleks and a TARDIS fridge.
On Location
Doctor Who, which is now on its third season in the UK, and being broadcast in the USA on BBC America, has also spawned two spin-off shows – the adult orientated Torchwood, and the child-friendly Adventures of Sarah Jane, both of which are also filmed in Cardiff.
With three programmes in production visitors to the city also have a good chance of seeing the TARDIS - Doctor Who’s spacecraft, appear at locations across the capital.
Film crews have been regularly spotted in Cardiff Bay, pub drinkers have witnessed squads of Cybermen marching past their pub, and during filming for the Christmas special in July, shoppers were confused when Christmas decorations were lit up in the centre of Cardiff on the hottest day of the year.
Doctor Who Hotel Package
Cardiff's popularity as a sci-fi destination has even prompted the four star Park Plaza hotel to offer a special Doctor Who package; which includes tickets to the Doctor Who Up Close exhibition and an inflatable Dalek, as well as a stay in the hotel.
Cardiff of course has plenty to attract anyone not familiar with the TV show, but for dedicated Whovians, the Welsh capital has become a must visit city.
