Tell a Londoner you are heading to Cardiff for the weekend and the response will probably be a quizzically arched eyebrow. The Welsh capital, which was largely built during Britain’s 19th-century coal boom, isn’t generally considered one of the country’s most attractive cities. But times are changing. Major regeneration projects since the 1990s — a new performing arts center, a revamped waterfront and a 74,000-seat stadium, to name a few — have given the city a fresh face. Don’t worry, though, Cardiff still has its edge: the punk rock scene is as vibrant as ever, and Welsh rugby fans have never cheered louder.

FRIDAY

3 p.m.

1. Welsh Politics

Wales is very much a part of Britain, but a 1997 referendum gave the Welsh people the right to make their own laws on a specific range of topics, a power that Wales had not held since the 13th century. The new Welsh National Assembly needed a home, so the government brought in Richard Rogers, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect (along with Renzo Piano) behind the Pompidou Center in Paris. The resulting structure, known as the Senedd, is shaped like an enormous glass-enclosed tree, with the assembly chamber located at the roots. Free tours are available several times a day, led by guides who are brimming with information on Welsh politics and history.

4:30 p.m.

2. A Waterfront Wander

Today, Cardiff’s harbor is a polished little district filled with busy restaurants, bars and boutiques, but it hasn’t always been so charming. A century ago, this was one of the busiest ports in the world, with a peak of 12 million tons of coal leaving the harbor in 1913. The harbormasters managed the comings and goings of all of those ships from their offices inside the Pierhead, a building on the edge of the water that looks like a smaller, red-brick version of Big Ben in London. Today, the Pierhead houses a small exhibition that describes how coal transformed the city during the 19th century: Cardiff’s population grew more than 25-fold in 100 years, all thanks to the sooty stuff from the valleys around South Wales. A stone’s throw from the Pierhead, the Open Boat tour company offers 20-minute spins around the harbor for £3 a person (or $4.70 at $1.55 to the pound); theopenboat.co.uk.

6 p.m.

3. Harbor Dinner

Most of the dining options in the restyled waterfront, which has been called Mermaid Quay, are upmarket British chains, but there are a couple of local gems in the mix. One of them is Bosphorus, a popular Turkish restaurant that’s perched on a small jetty. Try the hunkar begendi, lamb served with smoky eggplant purée (£11.50), and end with apricots stuffed with fresh cream (£2.95).