The Newskiosk

The Newskiosk offers frenzied travellers an opportunity to re-​up before they climb aboard one of Cardiff’s many transportation options, be it taxi, train or bus.
It serves its purpose as a purveyor of sweets, magazines and smokes, but it’s nothing special, and they don’t sell anything you can’t get in Londis or WHS Smith nearby.
It looks a bit out of place on the periphery of the bus station, but in actuality it’s perfectly positioned to intercept all of the passersby with its tempting display of cigarettes, chocolate and crisps.
The magazine selection is quite poor — I’ve tried to buy a few titles here, but either they didn’t stock them or they sold out. Anything they don’t have though, you can always grab from the WHSmith inside the railway station.

If you can dodge the drunks and beggars when you leave Cardiff central station then you might be lucky enough to make it as far as the News Kiosk. It’s basically a little shed that sells newspapers, cigarettes and tobacco, crisps and chocolate, soft drinks and a few other things. If you look to the right hand side there’s deals on sweets and multi bags of crisps too. Now, the thing about this place is that it is most definitely the first shop you encounter as you leave the station so you could quite easily walk up to it, buy whatever it is you’ve been longing for on your train ride, and go about your business in the city. If you do though, you’ll be paying over the odds for some items. Cigarettes and tobacco for instance, can be purchased slightly cheaper in the newsagents just beyond this. This is a very well placed kiosk and handy for those of us in a rush.

When you leap off your train in Cardiff Central, and make your way through the barriers-​were-​everyone-​must-​loiter, you’ll find yourself in Central Square with the pigeons and the smokers and the taxi drivers.
There is, slightly in the distance, a little blue box saying ‘The Newskiosk’. Now, initially I liked this place simply because I think the word ‘newskiosk’ is a beautiful creation of the English language.
Then I realised that this neat little place had some other uses too. Like provided people with chocolate bars and newspapers and tobacco (not that I smoke), and the like.
It’s one of those exceptionally handy shops that’s just in the right place at the right time, all of the time. It’s a corner shop, only it’s not on the corner of anything. It’s all out there on its own. I admire its courage.