Good places to eat with kids in Bristol (and maybe things to do too?)

[worriedsick100]

Please can anyone suggest good places to eat with kids in Bristol - maybe some gems we wont hear about on official sites? And any quirky things to see that we will not have heard of? Many thanks.

Wow, right it depend where abouts you are going to be? his old your kids are? what they like doing? how long you are going to be here?
Bristol is a very cool place with lots to do with kids but a bit of a tricky question to answer at the moment.

They are 6 and 8. staying at the mercure (I think) for a few nights which is Redcliffe Way, Bristol, Avon BS1 6SQ. Happy to travel wherever an of course we will be sightseeing so will be near many attractions. I am kind of hoping this is quite near some attractions

I decided on Bristol as it did look like it had a lot there but the same limited attractions keep coming up (zoo, noahs ark, boat, museum) which I think reflects the limitations of sites when you don't really know a place? I know there is a lot more there.

are there any good ball parks or similar in case it rains non stop for 4 days? I found a laser quest.

Friend of a friend has recently opened this puppet shop thepuppettree.co.uk which looks like an ace way to while away an hour or two. I havent been, but plan to when I can. He has got a bit you can make films in with the puppets (a green screen or something), apparently.

There's a massive soft play place called Jump out at Cribbs Causeway which would probably be good for that age in the rain, and an indoor crazy golf at Cabot Circus.

Do you like outdoorsy stuff/walks? Ashton Court is a big estate full of deer, and Leigh Woods are good for stomping around. Also walking across the suspension bridge is a good experience if you like heights! There are lots of little cafes/restaurants/boutiquey type shops in Clifton village.

Also the Blaise Castle estate/museum/hamlet.

For places to eat I would try any of the Thali cafes (there are a few now across Bristol). We really like a pub on North Street in Southville called The Spotted Cow for good pub food and lovely roasts. And there are lots of interesting little cafes including an amazing Carribbean one in St. Nicks Market (this is worth a wonder round anyway, especially with pocket money to spend!).

I was impressed with the new Egyptian gallery in the museum up by the University. Lots of buttons to press.

And some dinosaurs too.

Weirdly I also loved the Victorian era dioramas using stuffed animals. Perhaps because they have become a display of how museums used to be - a museum of a museum.

Right I live quite near there. You could do the harbourside, wander, scoot, run around it. There are loads of restaurants and coffee shops, also the SS Great Britain which is quite good, M Shed which is the museum of Bristol and is free with a cracking cafe. We often get the ferry across to the SS GB, walk down to M Shed then walk back around to the Arnolfini (free modern art gallery, fab restaurant) for tea. There's always loads to look at on the water and sometimes they run an old stream train along the waterfront which is fun. In the same area, there is AT Bristol which is the fantastic Science Museum. It is awesome for kids and great fun, Aardman (Wallace & Gromit) have a great animation bit upstairs which the kids love. I recommend getting there early as it is very popular.
Bristol is really green, a bus ride away there is The Downs, at the top of Blackboy Hill, acts of green space for kicking a ball about.
on that theme there is also Ashton Court, which you could either drive to our cycle. It is very well served for bike tracks. Again it is an enormous park and starlet home that was given to Bristol. The gardens and parks are free but the house isn't open.
Sustrans is also based in Bristol. Check out there website, the Bristol Bath cycle path starts from very near you. it is an old railway line, totally traffic free, going to bath, although there are a couple of places to stop en route. Very popular with families.
I'll have a little think about what else...

The M Shed is a big free museum about Bristol, not amazing but big and things to do, and it is located in the harbourside area which we find we really enjoy walking around with our kids - if you walk down from the M Shed to the SS Great B ritain you can catch a ferry there that crosses to the other side for 70p each and then you can walk through Millenium Square (where @Bristol - science/education based attraction, expensive ish but good - and the Aquarium are) and the other side of the harbourside in a nice circuit (some good areas for scooters/skateboards). (Also other ferries that go up the river to temple meads station, and boat trips). The suspension bridge is fun to walk over, just for height. There are nice cafes and restaruants on Park Street (eg Boston Tea Party) and I really like the Watershed cafe (The Watershed is an arts cinema in the harbourside area). If you enjoy shops etc Cabot Circus is also right in town, and there is a deluxe cinema there and lots of choice of restaurants eg giraffe, yo sushi, gourmet burger, even Carluccios. There is also an indoor crazy golf there (about £12 per person i think, but might be online offers). In the Bedminster area the Tobacco Factory (theatre) is very popular with local families and might have a good show on, and a nice bar and cafe (its the sort of arty theatre where you can get a mug of tea at the interval) downstairs from it there is the Thali Cafe which serves gorgeous Indian Thali Meals including a kids menu. The Bristol Museum is a free art gallery and museum - they host regular exhibitions including the famous Banksy one recently, and the wildlife photographer of the year exhibition in january every year - its a funny mix of dinosaur bones and stuffed animals but its free and really nice to look around, my kids enjoy it. Its just at the top of Park Street. Hope this helps and that you have a nice time!

Crossed posts with Orange and Dame!

Thanks so much - I have to try and decipher all these great ideas! How am I gonna fit it all in!

Have you tried MN Local for Bristol?

Check out local.mumsnet.com/bristol/cafes

There's a lot of cafe listings and a couple of restaurants

thanks - did try posting on there a while back but it s a v quiet forum and no responses. I really want recommendations rather than cafes advertising if you know what I mean.