By ship
But the best way to arrive is to catch the river cat from Cardiff Bay to the Penarth end of the Bay Barrage. Although you will have to walk up the hill to get to the town centre. If the tide is out, it is possible to walk along the coast to Penarth Esplanade.
By train
Trains run from Cardiff to Penarth on the 'Valley Lines' every 15 mins between 7am to 8pm Monday to saturday, hourly until 11pm and every two hours on sunday. The travel time is 10 minutes. The rough fare is £3 return.
By bus
Buses run every 7 mins from Cardiff Bus station to Penarth town centre services 92-94, with some then continue to Barry via Dinas Powys or Sully. Return to Cardiff is £3 with the added benfit of being a day rover ticket in Cardiff also. Travel time is about 20 minutes.
By car
There are only three roads into Penarth, of which two are heading into Cardiff. Because of this and lot of the population communting to work, getting out of Penarth quickly between 7am and 9.30am is impossible.