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Bristol Accommodation

Bristol makes a fantastic city break for arts, shopping, pubs, restaurants or clubs

Bristol Cathedral dominates the skyline from Harbourside

Old warehouses have found alternative uses like art centres

Another Brunel designed masterpiece - Temple Meads Train Station

Frogmore Street, the heart of Bristol's gay club scene

The Harbourside and Watershed area is great for socialising and meeting up

There are loads of restaurants and bars all around the city and old docks

Climb 105 feet up Cabot's Tower on Brandon Hill for panoramic views of Brisol

Bristol City Shopping Nightlife Gay Bristol

Bristol is an exciting, modern city with a huge array of attractions for visitors. It has long been regarded as a media and arts centre and there are a whole host of art galleries and arts centres to suit all tastes. There is a fantastic choice of museums both related to Bristol's history and culture and the influence Britain has had across the world. It is only now that the darker side of Bristol's past prosperity is being acknowledged and accepted as an important part of the city's culture.

Bristol is second to none for shopping. Not only do you have the Broadmead area for high street names, but there are St Nicholas Markets and Park Street for independent shopping. Being a university town there is a good range of pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants. It is also one of the few places in the South West with a prominent gay scene which is centred around Frogmore Street and the Old Market.

Featured Somerset Accommodation

Ashcroft B&B - Bristol

Ashcroft House B&B and Self Catering, located in the heart of the Mendip Hills, an area of outstanding Natural Beauty. Comfortable, light and airy guest rooms.

£22 to £30 Per person B&B

Bristol City Centre

Bristol today shows how modern development can enhance a city. Through the years the city suffered various disasters from being blitzed during the war and flooded in the sixties. This led to a rush of post-war development and blocky seventies architecture. Much of the waterfront on which the wealth of Bristol was based was busy in the port trade that flourished as a result of the Atlantic slave trade until its abolition. As the port trade dwindled the waterfront declined with empty warehouses and unused cranes standing still as an eerie reminder of Bristol's former power as a trading port.

This is now being turned around with regeneration of the docks making it the sought after location for stylish apartments, street cafes, art galleries and museums.

Despite the ongoing updating of the city, Bristol has retained some of its historic buildings particularly in the Old City. Many of the nineteenth century buildings exhibit the Bristol Byzantine architectural style that was popular from the mid nineteenth century like the tea warehouse that houses the Arnolfini art gallery or Colston Hall. All these areas have an exciting range of shops, cafes, bars and clubs to suit all tastes.

You can find all kinds of bed and breakfast and hotel accommodation in all parts of the city. If you like shopping you can base yourself in the heart of the Broadmead area, for historic buffs the Old City or if you want to be close to the waterfront with its bars, cafes and art galleries try the Harbourside. If you want more leafy accommodation you can either try Clifton or in one of the many choices around the city centre.

Bristol Nightlife

Bristol is fantastic for nightlife: it has something for everyone and so much to choose from from contemporary to traditional that you can spend a very long time trying them all out!

You can choose from cinema, theatre, comedy, restaurants, bars and clubs. Many of the pubs and bars host live music. The Harbourside is the social hub of Bristol with a good choice of cosmopolitan bars and restaurants along the waterfront. As you head up from the waterfront to the University, the Park Street up to the Whiteladies Road area is lined with bars and restaurants catering for all tastes.

For more traditional venues try the Old City around Corn Street. Here you'll find Jacobean pubs amongst the modern bars that made good use of the historic buildings. Traditional ales in cosy, beamed pubs include Llandoger Trow a timber built pub that dates from 1664 and retains many of its original features. It was here that Daniel Defoe apparently met Alexander Selkirk who became Robinson Crusoe. The pub was reputedly the inspiration for The Admiral Bembow in Stephenson's Treasure Island. Secret underground smuggler's passages have long been associated with the pub too.

Gay Bristol

Bristol has an established gay and lesbian scene and prides itself on being a gay-friendly city.

Frogmore Street, just under Park Street, down from the University buildings, has a choice of gay bars and clubs. The Queen Shilling is the city's longest established gay bar/club and Vibes is Bristol's largest gay venue - both are on Frogmore Street. Bars on Frogmore Street include The Pineapple and The Griffin. Down in the Harbourside area the Watershed is a gay-friendly venue with a bar/cafe with waterfront views.

Old Market is Bristol's "gay village" where the Old Market Tavern is a popular real ale, traditional oak beamed pub where both straight and gay people drink together. The Old Castle Green is another mixed pub on St Nicholas Street just off the city centre with a relaxed atmosphere. Club 46 is also in the Old Market area that holds regular theme nights and DJs.

Bristol Art Galleries

Bristol is renowned for being a centre for contemporary and media arts. This is certainly echoed in the attractions of the city - many of which are linked to the arts in one way or another. For art buffs you'll be in heaven with contemporary arts centres like the Arnolfini and Spike Island Artspace or for immersing yourself in the arts social centre head off to the Watershed for films and food. More traditional art exhibitions can be seen at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery or the Royal West of England Academy of Arts in Clifton.

Bristol prides itself in having spawned a variety of contemporary artists in a variety of media. These range from social commentator graffiti artist Banksy to the more cuddly animations from Aardman Animations who have been based in Bristol since the 1970s. The wealth of talent and ability to attract works from all over the world is evident in the many art galleries in the city.

For more information check out our Bristol Art Galleries page.

Bristol Museums

You can spend several days just exploring the wealth of museums in Bristol. All the Bristol City Council run museums are free (although donations do help). These include the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Blaise Castle House Museum, Georgian House Museum, the Red Lodge Museum, Kingsweston Roman Villa and the Museum of Bristol when it opens.

In addition, the highly acclaimed British Empire and Commonwealth Museum is set in the Brunel-designed Temple Meads Railway Station. @Bristol is a complex full of family oriented science and exploratory displays and interactive activities. In the heart of the city and the magnificent SS Great Britain on the Harbourside and its accompanying Maritime Museum investigate the maritime history of Bristol. Many of the museums within Bristol have a changing array of exhibitions often related to Bristol's role in history.

Bristol has an interesting and sometimes controversial history which as shaped the city today. The museums have found ways of making this interesting to all ages and are great to visit for their exhibits and architecture alike.

Bristol Theatres

Bristol's links to film and theatre include it being the birthplace of Cary Grant, where Aardman Animations started - famous for Morph and Wallace & Gromit and Laurence Oliver opening the Old Vic Theatre School. No-one has done more for the Bristol accent than comedian Justin Lee Collins and the nineties saw several influential bands originating from the city including Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky and Goldfrapp. No wonder Bristol is the arts centre for the South West, if not further afield, attracting and producing high quality theatre, concerts and shows.

A visit to the city is not complete without at least trying to sample some of the arts on offer. There's every kind of show being hosted in Bristol's theatres from mainstream, West-End theatre and musicals to innovative, locally produced shows in a range of smaller theatres across the city. Classical and contemporary music is available in historic venues and purpose-built concert halls. Below is a brief guide to the main venues.