With international travel off the cards during 2020, we decided to take the quick plane journey to Bristol for a day. Sounds like a random place to visit, but sure, don’t they always turn out to be the best?!
Where is Bristol?
Bristol is located in the south west of England, around 125 miles west of London and 50 miles east of Cardiff.
Getting to Bristol
Flying –
We flew into Bristol International airport with Easyjet from Belfast, the airport seems to be well connected to most airports in the UK and Europe. From just outside the airport we hopped on the bus which brought us into the city centre. *If there are more than 3 of you, it might be cheaper to get an Uber.
Train/Bus –
Check out National Express, Megabus and Trainline for the best deals and route connections.
Map of places to visit in Bristol
Above is a map showing the locations of all the places we recommend visiting.
Places to visit in Bristol
Clifton Suspension Bridge
Who would have thought that Daddy who is afraid of heights, would be recommending the Clifton Suspension Bridge! However, this is one of the most iconic landmarks in Bristol and cannot be missed. The bridge spans the Avon Gorge, and offers some amazing views as you walk across. We took an Uber from our hotel to save some time, although we probably could have walked it!
The best view of the bridge is from the Clifton Observatory, a short walk from the road. Unfortunately, the Observatory itself wasn’t open when we visited, but we still got a decent view from the grounds.
We (oh, you want to know if that includes Daddy…. well read on) decided to cross the bridge. It’s free to walk/cycle and takes less than ten minutes each way.
The bridge is owned by the Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust, they have a visitors centre and offer free tours, more information on tour times and the history of the bridge can be found on their website.
SS Great Britain
Initially we were undecided about paying into SS Great Britain. One reason was that we didn’t have much time, but mainly it was due to the fact that we found it quite costly. However, we can confirm it is well worth the entry fee. Also, if you’re a local or you just love Bristol and keep coming back, you can reuse your ticket for free as many times as you like within the year!! Bargain!
The tour is self-guided with plenty of information boards scattered around the museum. We were free to take the time needed to read the boards and get a real understanding of the historical significance of SS Great Britain.
Onboard, the ship has been restored to it’s former glory and brought to life with all the sights, sounds and even smells the passengers, crew, and maybe even the odd animal would have experienced. Megan had an absolute ball. It really was very well done, very realistic and fascinating.
The average tour time in SS Great Britain is 2-4 hours, we ran out of time and couldn’t visit the Brunel Museum, but hey, now we will just have to come back!
Lunch at Cargo
Ready for some lunch, we discovered a mini food village made out of old shipping containers, how cool is that? There are enough options here to suit everyone’s tastes. Mummy and Daddy settled for some Peruvian delights and Megan stuck by her staple diet of Pizza with nothing on top.
Boat Trip around the floating harbour
When we mentioned we were heading to Bristol everyone recommended a boat trip around the harbour. So that’s exactly what we did..
We went with a company called the Bristol Packet Boat Trips on a 45 minute tour.
Throughout there was live commentary with the guide showing us places we wouldn’t have seen from the ground. And because there is nothing better than an afternoon cruise around the harbour with a glass of wine, we were delighted to discover they had a bar onboard!
Well worth 45 minutes of anyone’s day.
Bristol Street Art
Top of our list was to get out and about and spot some of the famous street art. It’s one of our favourite things to do on our travels, and Bristol really didn’t disappoint.
The two areas we focussed on were Stokes Croft and Nelson Street, both had some amazing pieces including the one above by Banksy.
The city is absolutely covered, you do not have to walk very far without a piece jumping out at you. If you have time there are many street art tours available.
How to end a day in Bristol
With the end of our day in sight we knew exactly where we wanted to spend it. We joined the locals, grabbed ourselves a few drinks, a take way pizza and headed for the harbourside. This is the perfect place to spend an evening watching the world go by and catching the perfect sunset.
Other places to visit
A mixture of Covid-19 restrictions and just running out of time meant we couldn’t do everything. However, that gives us an excuse to go back and visit these places –
The M Shed – Free to enter museum with hundreds of objects and interactive displays, telling the story of Bristol.
We are Curious – A place where children will be encouraged to ask questions!
Chance and Counters – Here you will find a large selection of board games, beers and food. This came highly recommended by our followers as a place to visit during a wet evening in Bristol.
Bristol Observatory – Home to a camera obscura, a giant’s cave and a roof top café which offers a 360 degree view of Bristol from above.
Getting around Bristol
Bristol is walkable, even out to the Clifton Suspension Bridge can be done on foot. If short on time like us Uber is readily available and is cheap.
Did Daddy cross the Clifton Suspension Bridge?
Nope, but he did do well looking after the bags. Good Daddy!
Would we recommend a day in Bristol?
We would 100% recommend a visit to Bristol, would we recommend a day? If you can only spare 1 day it is brilliant, if you can spare more it will be even better.
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog post about Bristol, and we hope you make it a place to visit.
The Lewis Family.
