Where to watch rugby in Cardiff
It's that time of year everyone in Wales looks forward to more than any other. Rugby is back! And if you can't get to the game itself, you'll surely be planning to watch it somewhere. But what are the best venues to watch the rugby in Cardiff?
With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of live sports venues in Cardiff that will point you in the right direction. And there’s a wide range of options to choose from. We’ve included venues that work well for varying group sizes, so any Cardiff stag weekend will be covered too.
What is Welsh Games?
Welsh Games embraces all the stereotypes of South Wales in one great day out, comprising of 9 totally hilarious games suitable for all sorts of groups.
If you have an upcoming, Stag do, Hen Weekend, Birthday Party or Team Building Day, then why not give us a try?
7 best venues for live sports in Cardiff:
Shooters Bar
This is probably the best location where to watch rugby in Cardiff, loads of space, screens and focus on live sport, while also being a good location for part of your stag weekend in the city. It’s got a couple of big screens with good resolution quality, plus a number of smaller screens over the long bar.
It’s located behind Bierkeller, underneath Vue Cinema on Wood St, right next to the Principality Stadium. The bar is fairly standard in terms of the drinks selection, and it’s not the cheapest, but if you want a cold lager and great live rugby viewing then it’s a good one to go for.
Elevens Bar & Grill
Owned by Brains Brewery and Gareth Bale himself, Elevens Bar & Grill dubs itself as a “premium sports bar and restaurant”, so it’s put a lot of effort into being a solid venue so a great choice when considering where to watch rugby in Cardiff. It’s laid out with sporting memorabilia inside and has a good number of 4K screens inside to catch the game on.
You can find it at the top of Womanby Street, opposite Cardiff Castle and it serves a good number of traditional ales, along with Bale’s own golden ale. It has a fairly fancy grill-style menu serving burgers, steaks and pizza.
Prince of Wales
Henry’s
The Prince of Wales is the largest Weatherspoon pub in Cardiff and it’s well set up for live sports. It’s got a number of small screens dotted throughout the two-floor venue, but its biggest and best is on the second floor next to the bar.
It’s located on the corner of St Mary’s St and Wood St, close to the Principality Stadium and Cardiff Central Station. As a Weatherpoon pub, it’s a good place to go for a cheap pint and serves basic pub meals if you’re looking for some food with your live sports.
Henry’s may not seem like an obvious choice where to watch rugby in Cardiff, but it does have its perks. The most important of these is that it has table service, so you don’t need to leave the action to get another round in or to order a few more snacks for the table.
The screens work well enough, but they’re not the biggest in Cardiff, so if you’re looking for pure live sports fidelity then it might not be the best choice. However, if you’re in Cardiff on match day and you’re looking for an alternative option to some of the busier venues, Henry’s could be worth a look in.
It’s located on Park Place, just off Queens Street, opposite Jurys Inn. It’s got a good drinks selection, especially for cocktails and spirits, and has a large food menu that features great steaks, burgers and sharing platters.
Cardiff has always offered heaps of choice when it comes to great bars, clubs and music venues, but Coyote Ugly definitely brings an extra dose of fun to the capital. If you’re easily offended, this is not the place to spend your evening: quite a few people get soaked, lose a few items of clothing along the way, and behave in a raucous manner. Classy and quiet it is not.
Wild and chaotic it is – and if that’s your idea of fun, it delivers it in bucket loads. Hire yourself one of the 40 booths, tuck into some American barbecue food to thoroughly line your stomach, and then get stuck in to some serious drinking and dancin’!
The Queen’s Vaults
This is more of a traditional pub, but it’s located right in the middle of town on Westgate Street, opposite the Principality Stadium. It’s got smaller screens to watch the sports over the bar and a big screen in the main bar area, so you never need to miss too much of the game. It’s also got a fair few pool tables, so you can play your own games as part of a stag weekend, as well as catching the sport.
Food is traditional pub fare with good size portions, and the taps on the bar include household name lagers and beers.
Walkabout
This Aussie-themed watering hole is big on fun and low on frills. It has one of the biggest screens in Cardiff and a lot of space, but it can still get busy on big match days. Downstairs is the best location for live sports with its huge screen, although, in all fairness, there are screens in every direction, so you can’t miss the sports, also a great central location where to watch rugby in Cardiff.
It’s located at the bottom of St Mary’s Street and does fairly basic food and drink.
Blackweir Tavern
If you want to kick things off outside the city and still catch the sport at a quieter venue in Cardiff then the Blackweir Tavern could be a contender. It’s located up North Road, just before the University buildings on the way into town from the A48 and has a few decent size screens, without it being a focus for the venue.
It serves basic pub grub and the bar is pretty standard, so don’t expect much in the way of fine dining or craft ales. However, it has a couple of pool tables and doesn’t usually get too busy.
