Whats the easiest way to get to Bristol?

Bristol was built on the slave trade that its docks and floating harbour enabled. The waterways around which Bristol is built still remain, and offer various ways for you to hop on a boat and see the city from the water. Bristol Ferry Boats operates waterbus services 364 days a year, letting you jump on and off as you choose from Bristol Temple Meads train station to the SS Great Britain. Bristol Packet Boats also offer guided tours around the harbour and even out into the Avon Gorge. Plus, for those not afflicted by sea sickness, there’s the option to sail and dine. Drift with the accompaniment of a pub lunch or cream tea, and feel like the most accomplished seafarer in the city.

Back in the late ’90s, you couldn’t walk more than 50 metres without stumbling upon a record shop in Bristol. Like everywhere, though, those days have been laid to rest. While the ghosts of Replay, Rooted, Breakbeat Culture and many more have now long passed, there are, thankfully, still plenty of places to sate or rediscover a love of vinyl. Fiercely independent and run by true music obsessives, the likes of Idle Hands, Specialist Subject Records, Friendly Records, radio/ON and Payback keep the city up to date with their hand-picked releases, while Wanted, Prime Cuts, PK Music Exchange and Plastic Wax are packed solid with second-hand vinyl and CDs of almost every genre and are perfect places to lose an afternoon on one of Bristol’s many rainy days.

We couldn’t publish a list of the best things to do in Bristol without mentioning one of its most famous cultural exports – street art. From fiercely protected murals on shop shutters and public walls to chrome-and-black ‘throwies’ and tags on vans and windows, Bristol is covered in graffiti. While everyone knows about Stokes Croft and Nelson Street, if you’re looking for even more top-quality street art, you can head to Dean Lane skatepark in Bedminster, or take a look beneath the M32 flyover at the ‘halls of fame’. Here you’ll find huge pieces by local and visiting artists that are far more impressive than any pseudo-political stencil with a £50k price tag.

While most of the surrounding area was totally destroyed during the Second World War, the 18th-century Exchange building at the heart of St. Nick’s market was spared. Today it’s the last remaining building of its kind in the country. While the Exchange itself is packed with independent traders selling all sorts of wares, the adjoining Glass Arcade is home to a huge variety of food stalls offering treats from across the globe. From divine Kurdish naan wraps and tantalising tagines to awesome jerk pork at Caribbean Wraps and fabulous falafels from Eat A Pitta, it’s all here. And if you fancy something from a little closer to home, Bristol’s own Pieminister does a roaring trade here, too. Gravy goodness at your fingertips.

Those who run Bristol’s breweries are a friendly bunch, and they’re always keen to throw open their doors so you can get a taste of how they make such brilliant brews. From Bristol Beer Factory to Moor Beer to Wiper and True, beer-makers across Bristol offer an inside look at how those tasty pints make it to a pub near you – and they all offer a snifter of the goods once you’ve learned something new.

Stretching from the top of Whiteladies Road all the way to the Suspension Bridge, the huge open green spaces known as the Downs are the lungs of the city. This massive area has been helping Bristolians feel a million miles away from the hustle and hassle of the city centre for generations. There’s more than enough room for whole teams of sporty types and Sunday leaguers to kick a ball around without bothering each other, and the area known as the Sea Wall in the south-west corner of the Downs should be top of your list for taking visiting relatives to admire the jaw-dropping views of the Avon Gorge and Suspension Bridge.

Residents of Clifton are renowned for thinking their genteel part of the city is superior to anywhere else in Bristol, but as much as Cliftonites find it hard to believe, there are plenty of reasons a lot of people choose not to live in the city’s swankiest area – and the rising rents are just a start. That said, even us inner-city-dwellers can agree that we covet the Bristol Lido – a beautiful outdoor swimming pool with a top-notch restaurant attached, tucked away down a residential street. Built back in 1850 and re-opened in 2008 after closing for almost 20 years, the Bristol Lido has been fully restored with spa facilities and a new restaurant and café. You can lounge by the pool, have a massage, pop in the sauna, then grab some tapas at the bar or head up to the more upmarket viewing gallery restaurant. We recommend the set menu which features things like perfectly prepped wood-roasted aubergine, whole quail and moreish rosemary manchego.

Bristol isn’t like other cities – we all know that. And one of the many things that makes it so special is the huge variety of independent shops here. It’s said that Gloucester Road and Stokes Croft comprise the largest strip of independent retailers in Europe – and a walk from the Bear Pit up to Horfield Common does little to suggest otherwise. Sure, there are a couple of Tescos along the way, but we all know how their arrival went down… Support the spirit of independence that thrives in our city by spending your Bristol Pounds at the many fantastic (and rather eccentric) indie shops plying their trade across town.

As much as it stirs a wide-eyed, slightly disbelieving smirk in those who’ve lived in Bristol all their lives, it’s a cold hard fact that our sleepy little city is world-famous for its contribution to modern music. The likes of Smith & Mighty, Massive Attack, Portishead, Full Cycle, Pinch and Julio Bashmore call this city home, and it’s now held up alongside the likes of Berlin and Detroit as one of the most influential and significant musical cities on the planet. What was once labelled the ‘Bristol Sound’ is still very much alive and evolving, and can be found shaking the walls at clubs and bars such as Cosies, Lakota, Motion, and across the city almost every night of the week.

Forget stale buckets of popcorn at your local multiplex. At Bristol’s clutch of fab arthouse cinemas you can catch rare prints on screen and all the latest independent releases. Each picturehouse offers something a little different: the Cube ‘microplex’ is a resolutely DIY and volunteer-run affair that even brews its own cola, the plush Everyman offers delicious cocktails delivered to your seat, and the Watershed is a culture and arts hub dedicated to showing the best international cinema you can’t catch anywhere else.

Tucked down a nondescript side street near the Suspension Bridge, you’ll find one of Bristol’s most notorious drinking establishments. We’re not talking about a spit-and-sawdust pub packed with pissheads vying for a fight – this is Clifton, remember. Nope, the reason the tiny Coronation Tap is infamous across Bristol and beyond comes in half-pint glasses and is made of apples. Heading up to the ‘Cori Tap’ for a glass or four of their deadly Exhibition cider has been a rite of passage for students in the city for decades. We reckon you should add it to your bucket list, too.

With more sharply rising inclines than a ski resort, cycling around Bristol can be hard work. But with some of the worst gridlock of any UK city and public transport that’s far from perfect, it’s a necessary evil. Plus, in the UK’s first ‘cycling city’, there are plenty of great things to do on two wheels. Head to the huge open spaces and wooded trails of Ashton Court, cycle out to the beautiful Snuff Mills or set off on the Bristol to Bath Railway Path that follows the route of an old train line through the serene countryside for a manageable 13 miles – you can always drag your bike on to the train if you don’t fancy the return leg. There are plenty of resources online to illustrate possible cycling routes – so there’s really no excuse not to get wheelie (sorry) into it.

You could idle away a whole day exploring the shipping containers of Wapping Wharf – for each one holds its own kind of treasure. Little Victories serves some of city’s best coffee, Loop Massage will pound out your worries on the massage table, and there’s so much amazing food here we don’t even know where to start. From high-end dining to independent shops selling plants, pastries and proper Bristol cider, it’s all here. Gert lush, as the locals say.