Venue

Escape city life and step into tropical paradise of an aquarium in the heart of the buzzing city of Birmingham. At the National SEA LIFE centre you can take an amazing marine voyage beneath the waves and experience so much more! 

Our new attraction, Sea Stars, opened this year. This shows off a colourful array of starfish from across the globe. Visitors can peer inside pods shaped like goldfish bowls for up-close views of incredible creatures that can measure up to a metre wide. For a moment it really feels like you are in their underwater world.

Penydarren was the site where the World's first Steam Engine ran on rails. Designed by Richard Trevithick, in 1804 his steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil.

A full-scale working reconstruction of the Pen-y-darren locomotive was commissioned in 1981 and delivered to the Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum in Cardiff; when that closed, it was moved to the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. Several times a year it is run on a 40m length of rail outside the museum.

ExCeL London, the exhibition and international convention centre, is the host venue for a variety of events from award winning exhibitions and conferences to international association meetings, product launches, banquets, award ceremonies, sporting events and great days out.

Here at Merlin we offer outdoor pursuits including rock climbing, hill walking, mountaineering, kayaking, gorge walking and caving. We're based in Cardiff and have ready access to beautiful activity venues in South Wales and further afield.