So, today – I’m here to share with you my very first stop: Bristol! By the end of this post, you should know what to see and do in Bristol by heart! Are you ready? Let’s go!

Table of contents

• How to get to Bristol from London?
• How to get around Bristol?
• What to see and do in Bristol?
• How much does it cost to tour Bristol?

How to get to Bristol from London

Train, coach, rented car – those are pretty much the same litany of options you’ll get, wherever you plan to go in the UK! As for me, I opted to go via coach – below are the details:

• Depart from London Victoria Coach Station at 7:30AM
• Arrive at Bristol Coach Station at 10:00AM
• Total cost: GBP 13.10

Isn’t it cheap? I was pretty pleased actually. Best of all, everything ran smoothly. The coach left at exactly 7:30AM, and arrived in Bristol at 10:00AM. The seats were comfy, and they had electrical sockets so you could charge your phones / laptops – which I definitely took advantage of!

Regardless of whether you choose to go via train or coach (their word for bus), Trainline has got it all for you! I know, cheesy. But I swear, Trainline is such a lifesaver. In fact, I wrote a blog post on why I love Trainline, as well as how to book UK cross-country transportation via Trainline. Check it out if you’re keen to book via Trainline 😉

How to get around Bristol

Walk. Bristol is a pretty small city (at least the tourist-y parts are all within walking distance), so I’d say make use of your two legs and get some exercise in. Alternatively, there are also bus routes around the city – just check Google Maps to see if a bus will pass by the areas you want to go to

What to see and do when in Bristol

In this section, I’ll essentially be sharing my 1-day itinerary around Bristol

10:00AM

Check into your hostel so you can leave your bags

I stayed one night at Full Moon Backpackers, which cost GBP 22 for a six-bed room (all women), with shared bathroom/shower. Overall, I was pretty satisfied with my stay:

• Location’s decent (~10mins walk from the Bristol Coach Station, and near Stoke’s Croft)
• 24/7 reception, which is great and super important for folks traveling
• Free luggage storage
• Clean shower and toilets (I’m referring to the shared ones)

The only downside is: Full Moon Backpackers is a pretty famous for their wild parties late into the night (btw if you’re a guest, you get free entry). What this means is… the parties go well into the night and might disturb your sleep. The hostel does provide free earphones though. As for me, I was pretty tired and I can sleep through literally ANYTHING haha!

10:30AM

Check out the beautiful street art along Stoke’s Croft

This area is pretty hipster, and has some really lovely street art (although not as many as I expected there would be given this is the hometown of Banksy!), as well as lovely cafes. Allot around 1-1.5 hours to stroll around the area, take lots of lovely photos and eat yummy food!

11:30AM

Chow down and go shopping at St. Nicholas Market

Not only is St. Nicholas Market huge – it’s also indoors (so you can get away from the hot scorching sun), has a huge collection of eclectic goodies, and aisles worth of exciting food stalls!! While my real purpose here was to eat, I decided to browse the cute collections while waiting for all the food stalls to open (typically around 12NN). I only managed to go through one area to-be-honest, this place is HUGE!

Now, time to eat! My personal favorite was the Caribbean stall (which only opens at 12:00PM). Not only is the food here delicious (I got a Carribean Curry Goat Wrap for GBP 5.2), but it’s also great value for money (if you’re not a heavy eater, would suggest you split with someone!). FYI, those were the softest melt-on-your-mouth goat meat chunks I have ever tasted in my life (up to this moment!!)

I was also planning to check out the yummy looking cakes at the stall next door, but was too full after eating the curry goat wrap, so had to pass 🙁

1:00PM

Stroll over to Bristol Cathedral

After such a heavy lunch, it’s time to get your legs pumping! Stroll over to the Bristol Cathedral, largely considered to be one of England’s greatest medieval churches. To my untrained eye, it looks like most cathedrals I have seen in my life… Interestingly, this cathedral is actually made up of two separate sections (aka one was built at a much later date!). But because the latter section was built in the exact same style, it’s practically impossible to see/notice

If you’ve got time to spare, there’s also a free tour of the Bristol Cathedral at 3PM which I would’ve loved to join! Unfortunately, I only have one day in Bristol and I’ve already earmarked 2:30PM for a Bristol free walking tour (to be discussed in a bit!)

You know what I appreciated here the most though? Right beside the Bristol Cathedral is a library, where you can use their bathroom for free + they provide free internet and a place to sit while resting too!

1:30PM

Time to huff and puff up the Cabot Tower

WOW. Prepare your calves for some heavy straining, as Cabot Tower is atop a hill… So even before you get to climb the tower, you need to huff and puff up the steep hilly incline first. Here’s a pretty sight that rewarded my eyes after that torturous incline

Note: Cabot Tower is not for the faint of heart though, nor is it for those with a healthy fear of heights. Making your way up the tower requires you to go through 2 levels of steep, winding, and narrow staircases. One woman who climbed up the tower with me had to sit a bit and breathe, because she felt like puking after the climb. If you do make it though, you’ll be rewarded by this stunning panorama of the city!

2:00PM

It’s time to join the Bristol Free Walking Tour!

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know I’m a healthy champion of free walking tours. I think they’re simply a lovely way of getting to know the city through passionate individuals who love the city and want to share it with you! Not only that, but they’re typically cheaper than what you’d have to pay for if you’d decided to join a normal tour

So, this time around – I joined the Bristol Free Walking Tour, which meets at 10:30AM / 2:30PM in front of the Victoria Rooms. Do not that this tour is only available during the summer time (probably because most of their guides are university students!)

My guide was lovely. And over the course of 2.5hrs, he made me appreciate this city all the more with all the fun (and not so fun) facts he imparted all throughout. Some of my personal favorites are:

(1) Bristol was considered the 2nd largest and richest city in England, second only to London (from the 1200 to 1700). This city primarily made money from the river harbor inside the sea – which was both its chief advantage, and also what led to its downfall. As boats became bigger and bigger, the Bristol safe harbor just became too small to accommodate these ships

(2) The Clifton Suspension Bridge (look at that beauty) – where bungee jumping was invented by the Oxford Dangerous Sport Society (I would never let my kid join a society with this name :o)

Also, the name Clifton came from the fact that it was a cliff town outside Bristol (not very imaginative right). Anyway, this was the most expensive part of Bristol, where you go for luxuries incl. the Clifton Arcade (a luxury shopping center)

(3) Banky’s graffiti art – weirdly enough, despite this being Banksy’s hometown… this was the only Banksy artwork I saw while at Bristol!

(4) Royal Crescent House – which is a showcase of the longest crescent houses in Europe. It’s considered to be one of the most prestigious addresses in the UK – a flat will set you back GBP 0.5mn, while an entire house would cost you GBP 2.5mn. Personally, if I paid that much for my property, I certainly would not appreciate all these tourists passing by my house daily and gawking at it…

(5) Charity trail! Every two years, Bristol holds a charity trail where schools can paint these cute statues, and they’re placed in key areas of the city!

(6) Bristol is actually supposed to be pronounced as “bristle” – weird!!! But most importantly, Cary Grant came from Bristol 😮

5:00PM

Check if there are any Bristol events happening!

If you’re in Bristol over the weekends, chances are an event is probably happening at that time – which is just so freakin’ awesome. I live in Manila, Philippines and I wish we had the same 🙁 Anyway, to know what’s happening – check the Visit Bristol link out.

Lucky for me, the annual Bristol Harbor Festival was happening on the day I dropped by this fair city. What does that mean for me? Lots of good food by the harbor (showcasing food around the world!), fun events (they had baby racing ++ spoken word events), funky music (although I didn’t recognize any of the bands), and of course, yachts and boats galore!!!

8:00PM

Tired from all the partying and jostling around? Drink up!

Fun fact: Cider is the drink of choice in the United Kingdom! Whoaaa, who knew??? Well, I suppose it’s a toss-up between cider and ale

Anyway, I knew I wanted to try some good cider while in the UK – so I headed over to the Bristol Cider Shop – which has a HUGE collection of cider to choose from! Who knew there were so many cider choices? Still or sparkling? Medium dry or medium sweet? Yup, I have nooo idea – all I know is, whatever I had was very yummy (and cost me GBP 3 per pint)!

How much does a trip to Bristol cost?

In all, I spent ~GBP 60, with the following breakdown:

• Accommodation: GBP 22
• Transport (From London): GBP 13.1
• Sightseeing (free walking tour): GBP 8
• Food: GBP 16.8 (lunch and dinner)

If you’re interested to read about my 9 day cross-country trip around the United Kingdom, please see below blogs!! 🙂

• Europe: A logistics and travel guide for first-time travelers
• Day 1: What to see and do in Bristol
• Day 2: What to see and do in Stratford-upon-Avon
• Day 3: What to see and do in Windermere
• Day 4: Enjoying the Lake District Tour
• Day 5: Enjoying the Loch Ness and Scottish Highlands tour
• Day 6: What to see and do in Edinburgh
• ++ A Pottertrail walking tour review
• Day 7: A musicals-filled London day
• Day 8: London day trip to Brighton and Seven Sisters
• Day 9: What to see and do in Shoreditch
• ++ Shoreditch Street Art and Graffiti Tour