A wet day in Aber: the Library, the Arts Centre and somewhere warm

Aber gets rain the way it gets gulls: regularly, and with no apology. The town has more than enough under a roof to fill a wet day, and most of it is free. One thing has changed: Ceredigion Museum, on Terrace Road in the old Coliseum theatre, is closed for essential repairs, a new roof, repairs to the suspended ceiling and replastering. Its own website says the Coliseum Coffee House and the Tourist Information Centre and shop inside it stay open. It gives no reopening date, so nothing here relies on one.

The National Library of Wales

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru is on Penglais Hill, up from the town. The Library's exhibitions are free and open Monday to Friday 9:30 to 17:30 and Saturday 9:30 to 16:30; the building itself opens 9:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and 9:30 to 17:00 on Saturday. Its exhibitions page, read on 29 September 2026, lists Mary Lloyd Jones: Layers, in the Gregynog Gallery from 25 July 2026 to 10 April 2027; Gypsy Girls, a photography and film project with young people from the Traveller community in Pontypool, in the Upper Central Hall from 19 September 2026 to 27 February 2027; and the permanent Treasures, Peacemakers and On Air, the last on a century of broadcasting in Wales. Caffi Pen Dinas is inside, Monday to Saturday.

How to get there: the train station is a 15-minute walk, up the hill, the Library says. There is a free car park at the side and, unusually for a library, 40 electric charging points. Older sat navs confuse the Library's postcode with Llanbadarn Road below, so follow the signs up Penglais Hill.

The Arts Centre

Aberystwyth Arts Centre is on the university campus beside the Library's hill, a steep mile from the station. According to the university it has a 312-seat theatre, a 112-seat cinema that screens at least two films a day, four gallery spaces, two cafes and bars and shops. The Wales One World Film Festival is one of the festivals the cinema hosts, the university says. Hours vary with the programme, so check with the Arts Centre before you go.

The Old College

The Old College on the seafront is the university's first home, a Grade I listed building that the university had been converting into a cultural centre until it paused the work on 24 August 2026 pending a review. A Plan Your Visit page on its site still lists hours, so check with the university before planning to go in; for now it is a landmark to look at from outside.

Something warmer

The Ship and Castle on High Street is the pub for a wet afternoon, open from 2pm most days according to CAMRA (from 4pm Monday). Ultracomida on Pier Street is open Monday to Saturday until 5, and has tables. Baravin on the prom is open from 10 in the morning.

A plan

Morning at the Library, lunch at Caffi Pen Dinas, afternoon at the Arts Centre or a film, and the Ship and Castle before the last train.