Hit me with your Bristol ideas

[MinnieMountain]

I’m taking my 8yo to Bristol for the early May bank holiday. He was 4 last time we went, and I only lived there as a student so I don’t know the best things for his age.

He loves science, space and aeroplanes. So I’ve got We The Curious, M Shed and the docks around it and the aerodrome so far.

When you say aerodrome, do you mean where Concorde is - that is good. I can't really advise on any other attractions but the little harbour ferry tour is good and the kids love ZaZa bazaar for food. If the weather is good there's outdoor pools, the one in Bristol is £££ but out here at Portishead we have a good pool and the clevedon marine lake isn't heated but is huge and free with a little train, bouncy castle etc right there. Bristol zoo is closing the Clifton site I think soon, not sure if it's before your visit. If he would like to try surfing there's a surfing attraction out near the new zoo site and there's a new ice rink at cribbs

Aerospace Bristol
SS Great Britain
Walk across the Clifton Suspension Bridge - At the Abbots Leigh entrance to the bridge there’s a Visitor Centre about Brunel with activities for children like a giant puzzle of the bridge.
Graffiti workshop www.wherethewall.com/graffiti-workshop-bristol/

As well as the attractions already mentioned above there’s plenty more- eg

• The SS Great Britain is very interesting for all ages and very child friendly. they usually have actors wandering around in costume who interact with visitors. My grandchildren were fascinated by the rat catcher (and his caged rat!)

• Underfell Yard on the harbour has a nice little interactive museum for children plus a very good cafe

Bristol Museum at the top of Park Street has dinosaurs amongst lots of other interesting exhibits

The Wild place just outside Bristol is like it says, a bigger and not so tidy attraction where the animals have a lot more room - kids love it, lots to do. Bristol Zoo itself at Clifton near the suspension bridge doesn’t close until September I believe.

If it’s nice weather millennium square outside We The Curious is fantastic for splashing around in the water play areas.

I could go on and on but that’s probably enough to be going on with for now!

Bristol is a great city for kids, loads to do and a lot of it free.

Definitely recommend We The Curious, and you could also go to one of the space shows in the Planetarium there, which are not included in the general entry - do book ahead as they are v popular.

The SS Great Britain is really good. There's a little ferry that goes across the water nearby so you can walk a loop around the Harbourside.

There's a small visitor centre by the Suspension Bridge which has some quite good hands-on engineering things for kids. There's also a nice playground near the bridge, as well as a camera obscura (the Observatory) and a tunnel that goes through the cliffs and comes out partway down. The cafe up there has a rooftop terrace with really stunning views out over the Avon Gorge and the bridge. There's also a great rockslide which you may or may not want to point out : )

Hello Fellow Portishead person upthread!
YY to M Shed. City museum and art gallery is great too, with an Eygpt bit.
Boat trips around the harbour are good. We went on the Bristol Packet boat.
Cabot Tower in Brandon Hill park (good park too) gives all the good views for free over the city.
Red Lodge and Georgian House are good and free too.
The park by the suspension bridge has a good slippery rock slide.

Some great ideas. Thank you everyone.

Clifton suspension bridge and the Observatory sound right up his street.

Our last trip was cut short by DH texting (!) to say he’d got a serious knee injury, so I’m going to make the most of this one

Get a hop on hop off ticket for the ferry. It runs from the back of Temple Meads Station all the way to the Cumberland Basin. One of the stops is right by the SS Grest Britain.
The Wild Place (where Bristol Zoo is relocating to) and Planet Ice (ice rink) are in North Bristol not far from Cribbs Causeway Mall.
For a walk or kicking a football about I would suggest Ashton Court Blaise Castle or the Downs.
If he's interested in trains then between Bristol and Bath is Bitton Railway which has steam trains (its also on the cycle route between the 2 cities).