Gilbert de Clare, who reportedly controlled the Glamorgan area of Wales in the 13th century, had the building of Caerphilly castle underway in 1268 and the majority of the construction was finished over the following three years.  Caerphilly is the biggest castle in Wales and only second in size to Windsor castle in England for the entire UK. 

The castle and grounds in total take up a massive 30 acres, much of which is artificial lakes that partly surround it.  Much of the castle is in ruins, though there are some complete rooms.  We enjoyed meandering around this large site, up and down staircases, some of them very narrow but with the novelty of arrow slits built into the very thick stone walls.  

Although obviously a drawcard for tourists, we didn’t find it overly busy when we visited, which was in the late morning.  

One little annoyance we did have while there was the seemingly mystical appearance of a cleaner.  We would enter one room, go to take a photo then realised he had his bright yellow “cleaning in progress” sign up and was happily sweeping away.  We thought never mind we can move to the next room that warranted us to again start clicking away at our cameras, or in my case tapping on the sensor screen of my phone.  So we reached the next room, and behold – the cleaner was there with his sign again!  I know myth has it that wizards used to frequent some castles, but after the continued unexplainable appearances of this cleaner I have to ask, are they in fact just myths!

Opposite the huge castle complex is the township centre of Caerphilly. The town has a population of around 33,000 people, though the larger Caerphilly district houses a population of over 177,000.  

The town centre has a nice open air arcade style shopping area, and is surrounded by other shops, cafes, etc.  Though we only spent a short time strolling through the town center, I think if time allows you could easily spend a whole day enjoying the castle, and then the shopping area.

We rated Caerphilly Castle 8 out of 10 Kiwis