How I fell in love with Bristol

Located in the South West of England, Bristol is a colourful and vivid city, with a long and prosperous maritime history. Very popular among the youth, Bristol is a multicultural place with an emphasis on its varied music scene, arts and cultures.
I lived in the Bristol for the past five years and I’m yet to meet another soul who doesn’t love it. Here, you can enjoy either a stroll through the forest, a visit to the museum, a walk to the Zoo or an exceptionally fun evening out.

Bristol Roof Top

When I first arrived in Bristol, I was very keen to learn everything about it. I spent most of my weekends walking around aimlessly hoping to discover something new and exciting. Even after so many years of living here, there are parts of this ever-changing city which I’m yet to explore and learn more about.

Sunset Bristol

If you’re bored, Bristol will always have some secret up its sleeve and wow you. For example, when you’re hungry, you can go for ANY type of food you can imagine..thai, indian, chinese, greek, japanese, cantonese, traditional pub food, even nepalese. Want to dance?

Pick your music and Bristol will have a night just for your liking. Fancy a pint? Have it in your local pub, on a boat or in a secret gin bar. Whatever you want, Bristol has it. Whatever you end up doing, you’re guaranteed to have the time of your life.

River Walk Sunset Bristol

When you’re ready to escape the urban aspect of Bristol, just walk around its beautiful harbourside towards the Avon trail, venture through Leigh woods if you want to mountain bike or stroll on Bristol’s chocolate path.

View Clifton Suspension Bridge-Bristol

My very first experience in Bristol was the world famous Balloon Fiesta. I came down south for an interview and I stayed right in the city centre, at the Raddison Blue hotel. I still lived in Manchester at the time. Well, little I knew that I happened to have arrived in Bristol right during the Balloon Fiesta. It was a late afternoon and the sun was shining brightly above Bristol.

The views from the hotel were amazing, I could see a great deal of the city’s rooftop. Everybody likes a view, right? I went on my laptop to write a few things and when I checked out the window again, surprise: there were tens of hot air balloons filling up the skies. It was about the most amazing view ever. Just like a dream, it looked so beautiful. That was the tipping point for me, the moment I fell in love with Bristol and decided to move here no matter what.

Clifton Suspension Bridge Bristol

The second amazing experience was walking towards the Clifton Suspension Bridge. New to the city, everybody kept telling me how much I need to go and see this impressive construction. I was absolutely not excited about the idea of a bridge. I mean, seriously…what can be so spectacular about a suspension bridge?!

Clifton Suspension Bridge

When I finally got to see Brunel’s greatest achievement, I finally understood that when you visit Bristol, you must absolutely see this. Once you catch your first glimpse of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, you start feeling minuscule and dizzy.

To this day, the Clifton Suspension Bridge is the most impressive bridge I have ever seen. I say the word bridge a lot, I know, just make a drinking game out of it. Bridge!

Sky Bristol Suspension Bridge

Walking or cycling on the Clifton Suspension bridge (shot!) is free, however, you need to pay something like 50p if you want to cross it by car. I, of course, recommend you taking your best camera gear and going there on foot. Spend your hours and marvel at the Bristol gorges, the beautiful river Avon, the city’s landscape. It’s really mesmerising and impressive.

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Since you are in the area, make your way towards the Leigh Woods or Ashton Court. You can either take a trail through the forest or stroll around Ashton for a few hours. Even nowadays I go to Ashton Court and mountain bike there. It has some pretty fine trails for beginners and more experienced cyclists alike.

Twilight Suspension Bridge Bristol

When mum came to visit Bristol, I took her to see the Aquarium and the Zoo. The Bristol Aquarium costs £14.50 per adult or just under £13 if you buy your tickets online. There are plenty of wonders in there, from colourful fishes to beautiful rays. This is the only aquarium in the UK to showcase exotic plants and several tree species. You are welcome to read more about it on their official website.

Path Clifton Walk Bristol

The Bristol Zoo is relatively tiny but features many cute and endangered animals from all over the world. They have a sloth, a vast amount of super lovely penguins and a butterfly forest. The tickets are £14.45 per adult. For more details and how to plan your visit, check out their website.

Bristol Zoo Penguins

If you like non-conventional, modern art, Bristol is definitely the place for you. We are lucky to have Banksy as a Bristolian artist. There’s a great amount of graffiti and street artwork awaiting to be discovered. You can walk around Bristol and discover a lot of political messages through a unique manifesto, created by the one and only street artist, Banksy. Here’s the map.

If the weather is challenging, you can find shelter in one of Bristol’s independent cafes, right on Gloucester Road. You are guaranteed to find friendly people, who will prepare the best organic beverage and serve you a hearty sandwich, made with local produce.

Sunset Bristol Harbourside

Bristol is not just a city, Bristol is a community, where locals respect each other and welcome visitors with open arms. The Clifton Suspension Bridge, the harbourside , the small fairytale cobble streets, the parks, the museums, the street art, the cycling culture, the hip bars, the independent cafes, the festivals and the forever fun Gloucester road, all make Bristol into one of the best English cities which has to be visited at least once in this lifetime .

Share this post
Cory from You Could Travel entering Senso-ji in Tokyo, Japan

Cory Varga – Cory is a published travel writer and award-winning photographer. She travels full time with her husband and is passionate about creating in-depth travel guides. Cory published her first book on Japanese customs and manners because she’s obsessed with everything Japan. She has visited hundreds of destinations and has lived in 7 different countries. Cory is multilingual and an alumna from The University of Manchester.

Comments

4 responses to “How I fell in love with Bristol”

  1. Rebecca Emin Avatar
    Rebecca Emin

    What beautiful photos, and I particularly love the hot air balloons. I remember my vertigo really giving me a hard time when I walked part of the way over the suspension bridge… not for the faint hearted!

    1. Hi Rebecca, I remember the first time I crossed the Clifton suspension bridge. I didn't expect it to be as impressive. I think it's a masterpiece.

  2. BigIssueGlen Avatar
    BigIssueGlen

    Hi Rebecca I am from Bristol and although I left there many years ago I do still miss taking a walk to the suspension bridge not sure if you know but just over the bridge on the Leigh woods side jump a wall and head towards the back of that garden and over a broken fence and you will find some steps that go down careful cause these steps are not maintained you come to a slight hill venture just a little way down and you will find a cave from here you can get a great secret view of the gorge also a visitor book that has been left there for many many years signed by the many visitors to the cave just thought you would like to know would make some great pivs

  3. I’ve lived here for almost 4 years and sadly not a fan 🙁 I find it quite boring and too small.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *