Moving to Bristol - advice on areas?

[PastaFasool]

I've been offered a job in Bristol after my maternity leave (I'm an IT contractor, and a previous client have moved their offices there). I'm currently living in SW London with my husband and our 9 month old DC. Will be working in the new offices on the waterfront by Temple Meads.

We're looking to rent in Bristol for 6 months to start, and could use some advice on areas. We would love to rent a 2-3 bedroom house, budget about £1600 a month hopefully.

I went to uni in Bristol about 15 years ago, and lived in Stoke Bishop, Redland, and the centre, loved the leafy feel of North Bristol but wouldn't want to live in the student hotspots (Redland / Cotham / Clifton are out for us because of cost plus student life).

We have friends in Totterdown, went for a stay in Southville and visited Totterdown, and it seemed nice although I missed north Bristol. Also liked Windmill Hill, and possibly some bits of Knowle.

Also been looking online at Bishopston, which looks lovely, but I've never been to the area in person. Is Bishopston nice? I was thinking I could get the local train to Temple Meads...

Any advice would be so helpful, thank you!

We moved to Bristol two years ago for work and my office is in the same location as yours. We looked at Totterdown and liked it, but ended up in flats opposite Arnos Vale cemetery.

It was a 20-25 mins walk down the river to the office, Sainsbury’s at the end of the road, cafes etc a short walk away & not far at all from town.

We were paying 1200 for a two bedroom apartment.

@YahBasic That's very helpful, thank you! What's the postcode around there, if I'm doing a property search? Is it still BS3? Thank you so much!

That's BS4, Brislington/ Arno's vale would be a good option for you, but the public transport is a bit hit and miss. Bishopston or more likely Horfield might be good options for you. Lots of lovely family things but still direct route to work.

Yep BS4. We have no kids so weren’t able to say on kid friendly things but there were lots of families where we lived, it’s on the direct bus route to Cabot Circus & also to Bath.

More often than not we would walk or get an Uber to town/Clifton if we wanted a bit more life.

Bishopston is a nice area with lots of families living round there and you could get the train from Montpellier station to Temple Meads. That said, there is still a bit of student population in the area and will probably be more expensive to rent then areas in south Bristol.

I live in south Bristol (currently in Knowle but used to live in Brislington) and would say both these areas along with Totterdown and Windmill Hill are family friendly with reasonable bus links to temple meads plus it's not a bad walk to temple meads depending on where in south Bristol you live.

Would definitely recommend having a look both north Bristol (Bishopston & Horfield) and South Bristol (Totterdown, Windmill Hill, Knowle, Brislington) so you can compare and contrast.