Superfans of Doctor Who will be well aware that not everything is filmed in the studio! From castles to beaches, all you need is a trip to Cardiff to explore some of the places seen in this iconic programme.
Check out our guide to eight filming locations you can visit in Cardiff and the surrounding area. We’ll also take you through the best Doctor Who guided tour in Wales’ capital city—perfect for any Whovian!
Remember the episode where the Doctor and Clara came across a hidden entrance to a secret alleyway? Well, it actually exists and is only a 10-minute walk from our Leonardo Hotel Cardiff! Walk along Westgate Street and you can find the gap in the wall that leads to the secret street.
Located in Cardiff Bay, the Wales Millennium Centre is Wales’ national art centre which stages opera, ballet and musicals. It has also been a major filming location for several Doctor Who episodes, featuring in ‘New Earth’ as the Cat Hospital and ‘The Girl Who Waited’ as the Two Streams hospital.
Not only that, but it was also used in ‘The Sound of the Drums’, season three, and ‘Vincent and the Doctor’, season five, making it a must-visit location for Doctor Who fans. The Wales Millennium Centre is open to visitors and less than a 20-minute drive from Leonardo Hotel Cardiff.
Established in 1907, the National Museum of Wales (also known as the National Museum Cardiff) is one of Cardiff’s top tourist attractions, home to world-class natural history and art. The museum has been used for several Doctor Who episodes, including ‘Dalek’, ‘The Lazarus Experiment’, ‘Planet of the Dead’ and ‘The Big Bang’. It also featured in ‘The Day of the Doctor’, which saw previous lead actors such as David Tennant and Billie Piper return for the show’s 50th anniversary.
Best of all, the museum is only a five-minute walk from our Leonardo Cardiff hotel! Explore fascinating galleries such as The Evolution of Wales, which will take you on a journey from ancient times to the present day.
Located in the heart of Cardiff City Centre, Cardiff Castle has been used for many Doctor Who scenes. This structure is one of Cardiff’s most important heritage attractions, steeped in over 2,000 years of history.
Walk around and discover medieval and Victorian areas of the castle, including the Library, which featured in ‘Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS’ as the TARDIS Library. You can also spot the castle in ‘The Rebel Flesh’, ‘The Almost People’ and ‘The Snowmen’, the 2012 Christmas Day Doctor Who special. Cardiff Castle is less than a 10-minute walk from our Leonardo hotel.
Opened in 1948, St Fagans National Museum of History is an open-air museum documenting how the people of Wales have lived and worked over time. Most notably, it was used as a setting in ‘Human Nature’ and ‘The Family of Blood’, a two-part Doctor Who episode which first aired in May 2007.
Set in 1913, the story sees the Doctor take on a new persona as John Smith, an English school teacher, to hide from a family of aliens. St Fagans National Museum of History is only a 21-minute drive from our Cardiff hotel, so make sure to stop by while visiting the city!
Named after celebrated British novelist Roald Dahl, the Roald Dahl Plass is a public space in the heart of Cardiff Bay. In Doctor Who, the Roald Dahl Plass is located on the Cardiff Rift, a fictional wormhole and gateway for aliens to enter our world.
This filming location was first used in ‘Boom Town’, season one, and also appeared in Torchwood, Doctor Who’s spin-off series.
Did you know that Cardiff University was a filming location for a number of Doctor Who episodes? The Cathays Park campus’s Main Building was consistently used as St Luke’s University, Bristol during the 10th season. What’s more, Alexandra Gardens, near the university’s Bute Building, featured in season three’s ‘The Last of the Time Lords’. These beautiful gardens are only a nine-minute walk from our Leonardo hotel and well worth visiting.
A 52-minute drive from Leonardo Hotel Cardiff, Southerndown Beach is one of South Wales’ most beautiful stretches of coastlines. However, Doctor Who fans may recognise it as Bad Wolf Bay! This beach has starred in various episodes. It was most famously the setting for the emotional farewell scene between the Doctor and Rose in ‘Doomsday’, season two.
Officially known as Dunraven Bay, this beautiful coastal location attracts thousands of visitors annually. Head here for idyllic walks and spectacular views. It’s also a fantastic place for fossil hunters and has some of the most impressive rock pools along the coast.
Once you’ve finished exploring Cardiff’s Doctor Who filming locations, continue the fun with the Cardiff: Doctor Who Walking Tour.
Beginning at Cardiff Castle, this 2.5-hour Doctor Who tour is ideal for any Whovian. Your knowledgeable guide will take you to memorable filming locations around the city and explain how they helped shape the show. The tour also explores how terrestrial scenes were filmed in Cardiff, giving visitors the opportunity to learn more about Doctor Who.
Planning a trip to Cardiff to visit these Doctor Who filming locations? Our Leonardo Hotel Cardiff offers the perfect base in the city, close to Westgate Street, the National Museum of Wales and other top filming locations.
With spacious guestrooms, free Wi-Fi and an excellent restaurant, our hotel has everything you need for a relaxing stay. It’s also only an eight-minute drive from Cardiff Queen Street station—ideal if you’re travelling to Wales by train.
Read our Cardiff city guide to discover fun things to do in the city, from shopping to unmissable days out.
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