Union Shop

One of the most underused student offers is brought to us by the Guardian. For just 40p, instead of the regular price of £1, you can pick up the paper from the union shop. Forget Fun Factory, power past the Taf, this is the past or the union I’ll certainly be coming back for even though my student days are sadly behind me.
But for those who look for slightly fewer tpyos in their publications, the Union Shops sells a rich variety of magazines and newspapers, including a few with a significant discount.
Also make sure you keen your eye on the foyer outside for freebies from the major papers. I found by the end of my third year that half of our crockery was branded with a broadsheet’s logo.
If it’s a quick snack between lectures that you’re looking for, this shop has an assortment of flapjack which truly transcends necessity and reason.
URBAN CHALLENGE: Buy a magazine you’ve never read before at the discounted price

This shop is situated on the first floor of the Cardiff Student Union, it stocks everything from snacks through to Cardiff University branded clothing.
It is a good place to go, if you need a nice little memoir of your time at university here, there’s nothing like a Cardiff university paperweight or mug to adorn your room to remind you those good times.
Lunch time snacks are pretty good, with a range of prices, sandwiches tend to start from £2 for your basic ham and cheese sarnie. They do a good vegetarian selection including Caribbean pasties and veggie sausage rolls.
There are always plenty of staff to serve you here and you don’t normally have to wait more than 10 seconds, brilliant I say. I am a fan of this shop, stocking everything I could possibly need to snack on or read, whilst not giving my purse not too much of a beating.

This is one of those shops that seems to sell everything — catering well to the student union crowd of university staff and students.
When I worked at Cardiff Uni, on Park Place, we always used to nip in here on milk runs for our tea breaks — picking up any chocolate requests at the same time. You can also grab birthday cards, a drink or some lunch, some cigarettes, university sports hoodies and t-​shirts, phone top ups, the odd toiletries, and more.
The service is always efficient and friendly, and even when there’s a queue it goes down quickly — but watch out on the opening times because it closes at 4pm and is only open weekdays.

I love this little shop. You can pop in for a sandwich, for a drink, for some sports wear, or to top up your phone — and every time the service is fantastic.
I went in for a pair of shorts and found some in cardiff university colours (all shorts are cardiff university colours but you can also buy hoodies and t-​shirts in a whole range). There was a good range of sizes available. I was also looking for some jogging bottoms but they didn’t have them in my size.
The shorts were £10 which I felt was quite reasonable, though not cheap, because they are good quality and I’d rather pay for that than go into town and get either a cheap pair that won’t last or are ridiculously expensive for the logo on them.
The shop also offers a good range of vegetarian food in the chilled cabinet — worth a look!