Weekend UK City Break Recommendations? Bristol?

[MrsHJFL]

Hey Guys!

Its mine and my husbands 2nd wedding anniversary this October and we are looking at going away for the weekend somewhere in the UK.

We love shopping, especially down little lanes with boutique/unique independent shops (like the lanes in brighton for example) - and we love to go out to bars and pubs in the evening (not clubs!)

We'd like to go somewhere new - we've been thinking about Bristol - but not sure whats its like as we have never been?

some of our favourite places we have been are Brighton, York and Hastings - so anything that could be similar, in terms of that kind of shopping an bar life would be awesome :)

Can anyone share their thoughts on Bristol or recommend somewhere else in the UK we could go for a the weekend?

Norwich has ‘lanes’ norwichlanes.co.uk and some good department stores like Jarolds. The arts and culture in Norwich is pretty decent- the Theatre Royal often shows West End shows before they go to London, for example.
Cambridge is also a brilliant city for shopping, and of course has a great range of bars and cafes.

Bristolian here.
The main shopping areas in Bristol are Cabot Circus and Broadmead in the city centre and Cribbs Causeway close to junction 17 of the M5. These have all your usual high street brands.
In Clifton there's a couple of streets with boutiques but it can be very pricy and parking is a nightmare.

The only other street that's good for independent shops is Gloucester Road, but it's one of the main arterial roads to the north of the city (its the A38) and seems to go on for miles.
Bristol has a big harbour and plenty to see and do around it. Museums, bars, ferry rides, SS Great Britain...
Have you considered Bath as an alternative?

Bath also has little lanes. Plus the Roman baths and Georgian architecture.