The Hayes is a commercial area in the southern city centre of the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Centred on the road of that name leading south towards the east end of the city centre, the area is mostly pedestrianised and has an open-air snack bar.
Historically, the area's most prestigious building is the Old Library, known as the Cardiff Free Library, Museum and Schools for Science and Art during its near-century (1882 to 1988) of use as the second incarnation of the city's central library. The latest, fourth permanent Cardiff Central Library opened in 2009 and is situated at the opposite end of the Hayes.
Scenes of BBC's Doctor Who and Torchwood have often been filmed here.