From Cardiff Central, the line heads west to skirt the southern boundary of the Rolling Stock maintenance depot where Valley Line trains are serviced.
Ninian Park, the first stop, is  near ground of Cardiff City football club. Close at hand, on the former site of Cardiff Athletic stadium, a new stadium for City is being constructed. Across the road from the new stadium site, replacement athletic facilities are taking shape. To the east is the shopping centre of Canton, and St John's Church, easily found by aiming for its lofty spire which dominates the skyline.
Waungron Park - unusual for its staggered platforms, one of which straddles a bridge over the roadway - serves the eastern parts of Fairwater and Ely. There are a number of small factories close by.
Fairwater is within reach of Cantonian Upper High and the Bishop of Llandaff High Schools, while in nearby Fairwater Park there is a dry ski slope.
Danescourt is almost entirely residential, though here is a pleasant walk from the north of the housing estate to Radyr, which passes through a wooded area with picnic tables. In the heyday of coal traffic, there was an important marshalling yard at Radyr, where City Line trains link with those on the Pontypridd-Cardiff corridor, but all traces have disappeared under a web of residential estates.
From Radyr station there are pleasant walks along the River Taff to Radyr Weir where salmon may be seen leaping in season. The path also gives access to Forest Farm and the Glamorganshire Canal nature reserves.