A day in Wales: Cardiff Castle and Cardiff Bay, from your London door.
The driver waits throughout.
- From £680 (≈ $920) · whole car · up to 12 hours
Licence PHOP950A day trip to Wales from London by private car: about 3 hours each way to Cardiff for Cardiff Castle, Cardiff Bay and an optional stop such as Caerphilly or Castell Coch. Up to 12 hours, £680 per car in a Mercedes E-Class (3 passengers) or £755 in a V-Class (7), return. Entry tickets are extra.
Short notice? Same-day and next-day trips are often possible — book online or message us to confirm a driver.
Why take a day trip to Wales from London with a private driver?
Door to door
Pickup at your London hotel or apartment, or a Heathrow terminal at no extra charge. Another London airport adds a one-off fee, shown on the booking form. The car brings you back to your door at night.
Your driver waits
The car waits near Cardiff Castle and again in the Bay, so coats, shopping and day bags stay in the boot.
Your pace, your stops
Linger where you like. Swap a stop on the day at no extra cost, as long as the day keeps to its hours.
One price for the car
You pay for the car, not per person, and the price is fixed before you travel. Nothing is added on top.
A licensed London company
TRIPYANA LTD, London · Company No. 16308293 · private hire operator licence PHOP950.
Watch the day before you book
A short film that follows the day in order: your hotel pickup, the drive over the Severn, Cardiff Castle, lunch in Cardiff Bay, and Caerphilly Castle or Castell Coch as swaps.
How does a Cardiff day trip from London run?
Cardiff Castle comes first, so the plan works in winter too.
- 08:00 · Pickup in London Your chauffeur meets you at the door. About 3 hours west over the River Severn into Wales, with no passport or border check, and a short coffee stop.
- 11:00 · Cardiff Castle Roman walls, a Norman keep and lavish Victorian apartments in the city centre. Allow at least 1 hour 30 minutes, or 2 hours with the House Tour.
- 13:15 · Lunch in Cardiff Bay A short drive to the waterfront restaurants of Mermaid Quay.
- 14:30 · The Bay, or a swap Walk past the Senedd and the Wales Millennium Centre to the white Norwegian Church, where Roald Dahl was christened. Doctor Who fans know these streets: much of the series and Torchwood was filmed around Roald Dahl Plass. Or ride 15 minutes on to Penarth, a seaside town with a Victorian pier, or swap the afternoon for one of the stops further down.
- 16:45 · Leave Cardiff About 3 hours home, with one comfort stop.
- 20:00 · Back at your door 12 hours after pickup.
Prefer shopping to the waterfront? The Victorian arcades and Cardiff Market are a few minutes on foot from the castle, as are Bute Park and National Museum Cardiff, free to enter and closed on Mondays.
How much is a private day trip to Wales from London, and what is included?
One fixed price per car, return.
Mercedes E‑Class
3 seats · 2 bags
£680
Extra hour £55
Mercedes V‑Class
7 seats · 7 bags
Family choice
£755
Extra hour £60
Each hour beyond the twelfth is charged at the extra-hour rate on your car’s card; every started hour counts as one.
Dollar figures are approximate; you are charged in GBP.
Included
- A Mercedes and your own chauffeur for the full day, door to door.
- Fuel and parking for the whole day.
- Waiting time at every stop on your plan.
- Extra stops that fit within the day, such as Castell Coch.
- Child seats for any age, fitted free on request.
Not included
- Entry tickets. You buy them directly; prices and booking links are in the next section.
- Meals and drinks. Your driver can suggest a lunch spot in Cardiff Bay.
The V‑Class takes a family of five or six adults, with room for a pushchair behind its wide sliding door. Couples usually take the E‑Class.
When are Cardiff Castle, Caerphilly and Castell Coch open, and how much are tickets?
Prices are for September 2026 to March 2027, checked on 25 October 2026, and each box ends with the official page.
Cardiff Castle
- Hours: from 10:00 Monday to Friday and from 09:00 at weekends. November to February, last entry 16:00 and closing 17:00; March to October, last entry 17:00 and closing 18:00.
- Closed: 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Event days can shorten opening.
- Tickets: adult £16.50, child aged 5 to 16 £11, under-5s free. There is no free entry for visitors: the free Castle Key is for Cardiff residents. The ticket is valid all day, so you can leave and come back.
Caerphilly Castle and Castell Coch
- Hours: both are run by Cadw, the Welsh heritage service. November to February 10:00 to 16:00; March to June and September to October 09:30 to 17:00; July and August until 18:00. Last entry 30 minutes before closing.
- Closed: 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, and in severe weather.
- Tickets: Caerphilly adult £12.90, Castell Coch adult £10.40, or one joint ticket for both at £16.30. Under-5s free.
- Before you go: Caerphilly may accept e-tickets only for now, so book online. At Castell Coch the café is closed until further notice, and conservation work is under way on the walls and chimneys.
St Fagans and Tintern Abbey
- St Fagans: free entry. Daily 10:00 to 16:00 in winter, from 2 November 2026; closed at Christmas. St Fagans Castle is being re-roofed, so only some ground-floor rooms are open, and Llwyn-yr-eos farm is closed.
- Tintern Abbey: Cadw hours as above. Adult £9.40, already 10% lower while scaffolding covers the abbey church.
Travelling in November or December? Cardiff’s Christmas market and Winter Wonderland usually open in the city centre from mid-November. Check this year’s dates before you travel, and plan the market for the afternoon.
What can you see on a Cardiff Castle tour?
The site has been fortified for almost 2,000 years. The Romans built the first fort in the 1st century AD. The Normans raised the keep on its mound in the late 11th century. From the 1860s the architect William Burges turned the house into a Gothic fantasy for the 3rd Marquess of Bute.
The Castle Ticket covers the Castle Apartments, the Norman Keep, the Roman wall and the Battlement Walks. It also opens the Wartime Shelters, used during air raids in the Second World War, and the Firing Line museum of Welsh soldiers.
For the richest interiors, join the guided House Tour. It opens rooms you cannot otherwise enter, such as the Winter Smoking Room, the Nursery, Lord Bute's Bedroom and the Roof Garden. It lasts about 50 minutes, starts on the hour and costs £5 for an adult. Places are limited and it cannot be booked ahead, so buy it at the Ticket Office as soon as you arrive. The route uses narrow staircases.
Which South Wales stops can you add to a Cardiff day?
Cardiff Castle and the Bay fill most days, but four more sights sit within easy reach. Choose one in place of the Bay afternoon, and your driver shapes the timings around it.
- Caerphilly Castle. The biggest castle in Wales, begun in 1268, ringed by moats and lakes, with a famous leaning tower. It is about 20 minutes north of the city centre, and its Great Hall has reopened after two years of restoration.
- Castell Coch. A fairy-tale red castle in the beech woods above Tongwynlais, rebuilt by William Burges from the 1870s. It is compact, so it suits a shorter visit, and it lies on the way to Caerphilly.
- St Fagans National Museum of History. An open-air museum of rebuilt Welsh cottages, farms and workshops on the western edge of Cardiff. Children love the space to roam.
- Tintern Abbey and the Wye Valley. Roofless Cistercian abbey ruins beside the River Wye, near Chepstow on the way home. Mention it when you book and your driver plans the timings.
All three castles in one day? From March to October, with a short lunch, Cardiff Castle, Castell Coch and Caerphilly fit, though the day may run one hour over. In winter their earlier closing leaves time for only one of the two.
The Brecon Beacons and the Gower coast need a night in Wales: the same driver stays with you at £100 per night. For mountains and lakes further north, the two-day Snowdonia tour from London keeps the same car and driver.
Bath on the way home makes a long day. The Stonehenge and Bath day trip gives it a full day of its own.
Coming for rugby or a concert at the Principality Stadium? Roads near the stadium close before big events. Tell us the date and your driver plans drop-off and pickup points around the closures.
How do I book the Cardiff day trip?
Pick your date and car
Enter your London pickup address on the form below; 08:00 suits the plan. Want a different afternoon stop? Say so in the booking notes.
Pay your fixed price
Pay now by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, or pay the driver on the day.
Confirmation by email
Your booking is confirmed by email at once, with the pickup time and the plan for the day.
Book online now. Choose the date, a pickup time and your car. The fixed price for the whole car appears before you pay.
What do our day-trip guests say?
Guests’ own words from our private trips out of London, quoted as written.
“Excellent experience Moosa is great and skilled person
Highly recommended”
“Dear abdulraouf , You provide to us the best experience ever and we enjoyed our time in every single trip we had .Thank you for making our trip memorable. And we wish you all the best”
Review published on Google Maps“They truly care about their customers and maintain excellent standards of cleanliness…Their punctuality is impeccable”
Review published on Google MapsQuestions before you book
How far is Cardiff from London, and how long is the drive?
About 150 miles (243 km), which takes about 3 hours each way by car from central London, a little longer with a coffee stop. Your driver times the return around traffic.
Is one day enough for Wales from London?
Yes, for Cardiff and South Wales. You get about 5 hours 45 minutes in and around Cardiff: enough for the castle, lunch in the Bay and one more sight. North Wales and Snowdonia are too far for one day and need two.
Can we visit Cardiff Castle and Caerphilly Castle in one day?
Yes. Cardiff Castle fills the morning and Caerphilly takes the place of the Bay after lunch. From November to February, aim to reach Caerphilly by 15:30, its last entry. Add it in the booking notes.
Is a day trip to Cardiff from London worth it?
Yes, if you want a castle, a waterfront and Welsh culture in one day. Cardiff Castle alone repays the journey, and with a private car the drive there and back is the restful part of the day.
Is the driver also a tour guide?
No. Your chauffeur is a professional driver, not a guide, and does not come inside the sights. Cardiff Castle runs its own guided House Tour, and the Cadw castles tell their story with displays on site.
What if we want to stay later in Cardiff?
Tell the driver or add it when you book. Each hour after the twelfth is charged at the extra-hour rate for your car, shown with the prices above. Dinner at Mermaid Quay before the drive home usually adds one or two hours.
Is the day suitable for older travellers?
Yes. Your driver drops you close to each entrance, and a folding wheelchair travels in the boot. At Cardiff Castle the Norman Keep and the Battlement Walks involve steep steps. Less mobile guests can stay in the grounds while others climb.
How much is the Cardiff trip in US dollars?
About $920 for the Mercedes E-Class and $1,000 for the V-Class at today’s rate — estimates only. Fares are set and charged in pounds sterling, so your card issuer’s exchange rate on the day decides the exact dollar amount. The price covers the car, not each passenger.
Can I cancel?
Yes. Cancel at least 24 hours before pickup and any card payment is refunded in full; inside 24 hours the fare is charged. On a snow or red-warning day we move the trip to another date free, or refund it in full.
Other day trips to book
2-day Snowdonia tour
Betws-y-Coed, the Llanberis Pass and a royal castle, with one chauffeur for both days.
Stonehenge tour from London
The prehistoric stone circle on its own, or with the golden Roman city of Bath for our longest day out.
Cotswolds tour from London — Bibury, Burford & Bourton
Arlington Row at Bibury and the honey-stone villages — stop wherever you like, on your own timetable.
One price per car, London to Cardiff and back.
Pick the date and the car on the form above. More destinations are under day trips from London by private car.
How long is the drive at each hour of the day? Our hour-by-hour drive times for day trips from London