This was just one surprise that greeted me in this whimsical country that seemed so filled with the kind of myth and magic that kids love. It was in Wales that author Lewis Carroll met the young Alice who inspired Alice In Wonderland. And it's no surprise that Harry Potter's creator, J.K. Rowling, grew up in Wales or that Roald Dahl, the imaginative perpetrator of such classics as the Big Friendly Giant and James And The Giant Peach, was born and baptized in Cardiff, Wales' capital city. You'll be close when you pass the fantastic Animal Wall bordering the castle with its carved sculptures of anteater, sea lion, raccoon and vulture jutting out from the stone.
Kids can participate with art materials as soon as they step through the doors.
The hands-on Fantasmic space with its mirrors and Morphing Machine, the Family Art Trail quest, and the Dream Factory area where kids can make their own postcards are all fun for parents, too. This mini Ontario Science Centre, situated in the renewed port area of Cardiff Bay, lets kids see their shadows, launch a hot-air balloon, or discover centrifugal force in a Gyrochair. During the summer, theatre performances of such tales as Sleeping Beauty, craft activities, story telling, and a Children's Festival entertain the kids. It's an easy under two-hour train journey from London to action central in Cardiff. When you arrive, ask at the Visitor Centre about the Cardiff Card that gives local bus and train transportation, discounts at restaurants, bus tours, and free entry into 15 attractions including Cardiff Castle, Techniquest and the Millennium Stadium.