Britain

Bristol has hit the culture map in a big way in the last decade, thanks to groups like Massive Attack and Portishead. The city has in fact been a great place for a long time, and was once the richest port in England. Like most ports, it has had a fair influx of outsiders, and has a lively, cosmopolitan feel. Since the 1980s it has gained a huge influx of service industries, with an accompanying swarm of people coming down the Thames Valley to live there.

Bristol has two universities, and a large population from various ethnic minorities, so there is a pretty good night life scene, mainly around the center, the docks and the Stokes Croft areas. Whilst some of this consists of naff night-clubs playing the usual mainstream tosh you can hear anywhere, there are also some great places specialising in jazz, reggae, acid jazz, folk, world music and just about anything else you can think of. Check out the local night life magazine, Venue, for details.
brunel’s bristol

Most visitors will want to see the docks area – you can ride around the center on a ferry boat, see the SS Great Britain, one of the first iron steam-ships, or visit the Industrial Museum (a must for the motorheads out there). The pubs on the dock area are a great place to chill out and watch the world go by.

If you are visiting in August, don’t miss the Balloon Festival, when hundreds of air balloons take off from Ashton Court and fly over the city together. And if you like music, and getting stoned, or both, visit the Ashton Court music festival around the same time – loads of bands come from all over the world. The Maritime Festival, which also happens in the summer, is good for the nautically-inclined, but attracts a lot of people to a small area.

Bristol has some good shops and markets, including St Nicholas’ market in the center, which sells great souvenirs, second-hand books, music, arts and crafts type stuff, and jewellery. There are also two good theatres in the center, and some fine cinemas too.

Clifton is the smart area of Bristol, and has lots of people in it who have moved from London, and have no idea that it is, in fact, a part of Bristol – (“Yah, I live in Clifton, actually…”). It has nice architecture and some of the best really traditional pubs in town. And you can walk across the Clifton Suspension Bridge there (built by Brunel, the same guy who built the SS Great Britain), or fly a kite on the Downs.

Bristol’s southern suburbs, like Knowle West, Hartcliffe and Withywood, are good places not to visit (especially the pubs) unless you are fond of gratuitous violence and petty crime, drug-dealing and car theft. Likewise, the St Paul’s and Easton districts are pretty notorious for crack-dealing and prostitution, and although some good night life goes on there, you’d be sticking your neck out to be around there after dark, if you don’t know where you are going.

Like any big city, there is a fair amount of drink-related hassle in the center on Friday and Saturday nights, and it’s best to stay aware of what’s going on around you when the pubs close.

If you enjoy a joint, there are plenty of people growing some mighty good dope in Bristol, and if you visit the right places on the right nights, you won’t even need to buy it – just breathe in. The local cops don’t tend to be bothered too much by such trivia, and are rightly concerned with chasing purveyors of the hard stuff.

One of the best things about Bristol is its location – at the junction of the M4, M5 motorways, and a rail center, you can get to London, Wales, Devon or Birmingham in about two hours or less. The local airport is now well used by budget airlines, so you can even fly abroad quite cheaply.

There are also good places to visit nearby, like the beautiful city of Bath, the Mendip area, and the coast and Severn Estuary.

Transport around Bristol is so-so, and it might be worth hiring a bicycle or borrowing one if you can.

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