One great day in Bristol

[Imabitbusyatthemoment]

I’m planning a day trip to Bristol in a couple of weeks as DCs have a randomly scheduled inset day so thinking we will take advantage of the opportunity to see the place on a weekday pre school hols and avoid the crowds.

We are a family of four, DC 11 & 9 and have never visited the city before. We are fine with a reasonable amount of walking and are interested in art, science, history, museums, architecture, and great food. Most things really, apart from shopping! Also not really into tourist-type things (Madame Tussauds type stuff, for example) and would prefer recommendations for the types of places (eating places etc.) that locals would be more likely to visit.

Planning on arriving by train around 10:30 am and not in any rush to get back in the evening.

I’d love to hear any recommendations for a great one-day itinerary (any good bus routes?!) that will have us seeing as much as possible to really get a feel for the city.

Thanks!

If you are arriving at Temple Meads Station then go out the side exit and walk over to the river. There's a ferry that runs all the way down to the far end if the harbourside. You can get a hop on hop off ticket.

One of the stops is next to the S S Great Britain and sometimes the Matthew (replica of the boat John Cabot crossed the Atlantic in ) is moored up and if you ask nicely the crew may allow you on board.
There's eleventy billion restaurants and cafes around the harbourside.
Also close by is We the Curious (hands on science place) and the M Shed.
There's also a Unicorn Trail starting soon.

I was basically going to say what @MrsMoastyToasty said. I’d walk past St Mary Redcliffe (or pop in on the way) towards the Welsh Back and down King Street then across Queen Square to get to the boats.

Look out Banksy's graffiti too.

All of the above, and you might also want to check out Wake the Tiger - www.wakethetiger.com/ - pretty much peak Bristol!

Yes to all above. Also 3Bros on Welsh Back is great for lunch or pop to St Nicks market for a variety of lovely food and Nadu in Stokes Croft or Nutmeg in Clifton Village for dinner.
Ooh we also love Chez Marcel for crepes or galettes for lunch!
Wake the Tiger is so cool.
There are some great parks in Bristol and also Mshed is nice for a free one that the kids will like.
There's also a massive Primark!

Carry on past the SS Great Britain to the Underfall Cafe. You’ll go past some working areas of the docks and it’s a nice cafe.

If you do Wake the Tiger do it at the end or start of your day as it is the other side of Temple Meads from the harbour side. Allow a couple of hours. It is good fun. SS Great Britain is actually quite good, and the harbourside walk is lovely. Lots of good places to eat at Wapping Wharf, would esp recommend Berthas for great pizza.

https://www.wheregoesrose.com/where-to-find-bristol-street-art/

We enjoyed doing a street art walk when there last, fun way to see Bristol and also the art. Went without our DD on that occasion but know she'd enjoy it, especially if we set it up like a scavenger hunt, tick off all the art work type walk.

Ooh I came on to say Wake The Tiger too. Haven’t been but dying to!

The Matthew/SS Great Britain?

Our fave loop (with younger kids) is We Are The Curious (but I think closed at the mo?) Zazabazaar and then the aquarium. But not unique to Bristol I suppose.

St Nicks market is great for food - you can all have something different from one of the stalls. The Low and Slow BBQ is really nice. The indoor market is worth going round too, some quirky stuff in there

We the Curious is currently closed after last year’s fire. Also Underfall Yard is restricted access further to the recent fire there. But the Underfall Yard museum and cafe are open.

i believe there is a banksy tour?
the street art linked above looks good

you can have a meal on a boat
the SS Great Britain is expensive, £18 per person
the M shed museum is very good

If you are arriving by train check out Harts Bakery http://www.hartsbakery.co.uk at the station
If your up for an explore & don't mind a walk up some steep hills check out Totterdown for some great views of the city, cool graffiti and colourful houses

https://visitbristol.co.uk/blog/read/2018/06/the-locals-guide-totterdown-b828
My favourite place to eat up here is the Sundial Kitchen https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/RestaurantReview-g186220-d23642445-Reviews-SundiallKitchen-BristolEngland.html

Clifton is glorious, my favourite part of Bristol. Lovely quirky shops and some lovely cafes - The Ivy there is in an old bank and a fab experience especially for breakfast.

Watching as heading there on the weekend with my children. I grew up there but am very out of touch with what is good now!

Clifton is beautiful to wander around and you must see the suspension bridge.

You definitely must go up to the Suspension Bridge! It's amazing just to see it but there's a few cool things to do up there too. Above the bridge there's a park with great views and an observatory, which has a rooftop cafe, a camera obscura and a walk down through a tunnel that brings you out in the cliff face (!). There is also a brilliant/terrifying rock slide nearby.

Thanks all for the great suggestions. I’ll definitely be looking into Wake the Tiger, whatever that may be!

Clifton, the bridge and the rock slide sound great too.

we went there for a weekend at Easter and had a fab time!
Would walk along Harbour side, heading towards SS Great Britain. M Shed is also in between so you can do the steam train for a short ride as it stops there, or do it on the way back.
Near to SS GB there is a Banksy - The Girl with The Pierced Eardrum, use Google Maps to navigate to it. The museum itself is fab and we spent ages in there, ideal for all ages.

Clifton is a fair bit away from the centre so you would have to either take a bus or a boat trip up the river. The village is lovely though.
Beware the slide on the Clifton rock as it is quite steep, I hadn’t anticipated the speed dd would come down and it’s a rough landing, in hindsight we would have been at the bottom to catch her!

Get the boat to the centre, lunch at St Nick's market, walk up Park Street and on to Clifton. Go to the observation tower and the bridge. Get the train back or walk to to Stokes Croft to see the graffiti and get a nice vegan meal.

Thanks so much for the tips everyone. I’m using these to put together an itinerary for the day. 😄