By 30 January 1920, the ship was in Constantinople and "Cardiff" arrived at Odessa on 4 February and Admiral Hope concurred in the decision to evacuate the city in the face of the advancing Bolsheviks. The ship departed the city the next day, but returned on 11 February and Hope assumed command of all British forces in the city. By late March, the ship was stationed in the Crimea until the Whites were forced to evacuate in November. On 6 November, "Cardiff" picked up Charles I of Austria, the last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, and his wife, Zita at Sulina, Romania, and conveyed them to their exile in the Portuguese island of Madeira, where they arrived on 19 November. The ship was present during the Great Fire of Smyrna almost a year later in mid-September 1922, close to the end of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22. She remained in the Mediterranean until 1929 when she went home for a lengthy refit. During "Cardiff"s time in the Mediterranean, she was fitted with a pair of 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk II "pom-pom" AA guns in 1923–24 and her original rangefinders was exchanged for models during the mid-1920s. From 1931 to May 1933, she was assigned to the Commander-in-Chief, Africa as the flagship of the 6th Cruiser Squadron. The ship returned home that month and replaced her half-sister as flagship of the Nore Reserve in July. The following year, she was transferred to the Chatham Reserve as their flagship and participated in the Silver Jubilee Fleet review for King George V on 16 July 1935. "Cardiff" was also present for the Coronation Fleet Review for King George VI on 20 May 1937. The ship was considered for conversion into an anti-aircraft cruiser in June 1938, but programme delays caused the conversion to be pushed back. A month later, "Cardiff" was recommissioned for service with the 5th Cruiser Squadron on the China Station. The ship departed Hong Kong on 29 April 1939 for the UK where she was again placed in reserve.