Swansea Life and Visitor Travel Tips

(Swansea, West Glamorgan, South Wales, UK)

Swansea is a vibrant and modern city with many historic features scattered all around the area. With a diverse selection of attractions, central Swansea is home to a fairly compact city centre, where you are able to find places to stay, shop and eat out with ease. Plenty of nightclubs are also clustered around Swansea city centre, while other highlights include the award-winning marina complex and also a number of sandy beaches.

Life in the city is lead at a fairly fast pace and the main business sectors include the leisure industry and tourism, with both accommodation and restaurants making up more than 25 percent of Swansea's overall economy, with education, health, banking, finance and the public sector also being further important economic sectors.

Tourism and Tourist Information

The main tourist information centre in Swansea lies in the very heart of the city, close to the Grand Theatre and also the Quadrant Shopping Centre. When arriving in the city, be sure to make the helpful tourist centre your very first port of call, to make sure than you don't miss out on anything. The staff will be able to assist you with booking hotels and other local accommodation, advise on the most suitable places to eat out according to your needs, and provide information about any unmissable events during your stay. Also available are the usual leaflets, guide books and city maps, as you would expect, together with a range of postcards, souvenirs and details about local walking and cycle trails.

Swansea Tourist Information Centre (TIC)
Address: Plymouth Street, Swansea, SA1 3QG, Wales, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1792 468 321
Fax: +44 (0)1792 464 602
Email: tourism@swansea.gov.uk
Open hours: January to March, September to December, Monday to Saturday - 09:30 to 17:30; April to September, Monday to Saturday - 09:30 to 17:30, Sunday - 10:00 to 16:00

Other useful tourist information can be found at the following locations, both in the city and nearby. The city's library along Alexandra Road features much more than just books, being home to a large collection of music, DVDs, videos, magazines, daily newspapers and also free Internet access.

Swansea Central Library
Address: Alexandra Road, Swansea, SA1 5DX, Wales, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1792 516 750
Email: central.library@swansea.gov.uk
Open hours: Monday and Tuesday - 09:00 to 18:00, Wednesday - 09:00 to 20:00, Thursday - 09:00 to 18:00, Friday - 09:00 to 20:00, Saturday - 09:00 to 17:00

Mumbles Tourist Information Centre (TIC)
Address: Mumbles Methodist Church, Dunn's Lane, Mumbles, Swansea, SA3 4BU, Wales, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1792 361 302
Fax: +44 (0)01792 363 392
Open hours: January to June, September to December, Monday to Saturday - 09:30 to 17:30; July and August, Monday to Saturday - 09:30 to 17:30, Sunday - 10:00 to 16:00

Language

A fairly large proportion of locals in Swansea are able to speak Welsh, numbering around 30,000 in total, which equates to more than ten percent of the overall population. However, most locals in the city tend to speak English and even the Welsh-speaking individuals are usually also fluent in English. The Welsh accent is immediately recognisable and this dialect varies greatly in strength around the city, with the strongest Welsh accents tending to lengthen vowels and always use the word 'like' to end some sentences.