I had booked a surprise weekend trip for my husband's birthday but didn't want to have to drive for more than three hours, tops.

Which I why I settled on Cardiff, especially as it seems to be the place to go and be seen at.

So I went on the Internet to find a hotel. I wanted something special but not too pricey. And after 20 minutes of checking out the availability of a short list of five, I decided on the Park Plaza. This is a four-star deluxe hotel, located right in the heart of Cardiff city centre.

We left home in Oxford on Friday, just before 9am, and we were pulling up outside our hotel at 10.30am: A straight run down with almost no traffic. Talk about good omens.

Our room was ready, so we dropped off our bags and went to explore.

Naturally, I wanted to hit the shops first...

And wow, are the opportunities endless. You have the main streets (which, by the way, are all pedestrianised) but then there are also the old Victorian arcades, a little like The Lanes in Brighton.

Thankfully, the Victorians loved their shopping centres under cover. Nowadays, the quirky little shops and boutiques are a delight to peruse.

A tip — Hard Rock Café is in the Brewery Quarter, and boasts a great menu for lunch and cocktails.

In the afternoon, we visited Cardiff Castle, which again was ten minutes' walk from our hotel. We decided not to do the house tour, but instead walk the grounds.

All around are plaques that tell you lots of grisly tales of who lived, died or was imprisoned there, and consequently it presented plenty of great photo opportunities.

Later that evening we tried a Thai restaurant I had found online.

Reassuringly, It turned out to be one of the best we have been to, and we have visited Thailand many times. Indeed, this was as near to authentic as possible.

Saturday, after breakfast, we drove down to Cardiff Bay (about ten minutes drive away — and yes, in Cardiff, everything seems to be 10 minutes drive away) to visit the Doctor Who exhibition in the Red Dragon Centre.

And in case you didn't know, Cardiff is the home of both Doctor Who and Torchwood.

The exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to see some of the monsters, stunning costumes and spectacular props featured in the series.

And in fact, we could have spent the whole day there (I, of course, kept looking over my shoulder in case I spotted John Barrowman, but alas, he was nowhere to be found that day).

Anyway, all in all, it was a great getaway, and we left feeling exhausted.

We had a great two days and left thinking how cool Cardiff is.