‘The Principality Stadium is too big’, claims travel writer

The Principality Stadium is too big for Cardiff and looms over the city like a “bully”, a travel writer has claimed.

Writing in The Telegraph, Destination Expert Chris Moss gave his “candid verdict” on Britain’s biggest cities, ranking them from worst to best.

“After the pandemic, I decided to fly less and see more of the UK, especially its cities,” Moss explained in the article published on 16 January. “Visiting and revisiting them has been eye-opening.”

Although Cardiff landed in the middle of the ranking, taking the 11th spot with a Visitor Appeal score of 6/10, Moss was less than impressed by the city’s iconic stadium.

He wrote: “The Principality Stadium is too big for its location, looming over the rest of the city like a big corporate bully.

“On match and gig days it brings crowds and energy to the Welsh capital, but when it’s empty, it occupies a gigantic chasmal footprint.”

The Principality Stadium was built in 1999, originally known as the Millennium Stadium. It is the national stadium of Wales and home to the Welsh rugby team.

The venue also hosts sports events, and various concerts including the Oasis reunion and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in 2025.

However, Moss is not the first to level criticism at the stadium, with poor reviews citing limited access, obstructed views and a “woeful” atmosphere.

Despite the alleged visual imbalance caused by the “behemoth”, Moss praised Cardiff for its other locations including “the castle, the Senedd, Bute Park, the 1891 market, Victorian and Edwardian shopping arcades, the excellent national and city museums, and all the waterfront airiness along the banks of the Taff and the Bristol Channel that is such an asset.”

The review continued: “Envious of Bristol for its perceived glamour, Cardiffians tend to be self-deprecating. But their city, though only made a capital in 1955, has a certain undeniable politico-historical heft and ranks highly in surveys for business growth, family life and overall friendliness.

“A major university, media and intellectual centre, it got its first Michelin star in 2025 for Gorse, in the fashionable suburb of Pontcanna. So whether you want high culture or indulgence, you’ll find it here.”

Overall, Cardiff ranked above Hull and below Leeds, with over 700 respondents to The Telegraph’s ‘Would you visit Cardiff?’ poll responding in the positive, compared with 300 who said they would not visit.

The city fared better than Southampton, which received a two-sentence review in which Moss described it as “a minor player”, and Bradford, which over 1,000 people said they would not visit.

“Magical” Liverpool topped the rankings: “Boasting stellar Victorian heritage architecture and the UK’s two finest modern-era cathedrals, a still buzzing pub scene, improving gastronomy and a small but strong arts scene, Liverpool is a one-off. Its people are storytellers and, more importantly, stars in their own private novels.”

Read the full list of ‘Britain’s 20 biggest cities, ranked from worst to best‘ here.