Problem
I was looking at the Balloon Festival and wondering what else there is to see and do in Bristol. A lot has been added since last time I visited.
Answers
Firstly, if you are visiting the Balloon Festival, it is Thursday 9th August to Sunday 12the August. over a long weekend, the August bank holiday.
The historic places are:
1 Hardy's winery (you'd have to arrange to join a group tour). Famous for Bristol Cream Sherry.
2 Brunel's ship SS Great Britain by the harbour.
3 Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge. (The Avon Gorge Hotel alongside has a view. But you might prefer to stay and eat at a modern spa hotel of which there are several.) The open top bus tour takes you to the bridge.
4 Old Inn where Robert Louis Stevenson is supposed to have met Selkirk who inspired Robinson Crusoe; also characters from the story of Treasure Island. Being Kidnapped, then as now, was a possibility. I was told the inn, like others, had a spy hole so you could watch for people approaching. When I went there it was the highlight of my trip.
I'm sure somebody somewhere will deny everything about its connections with Stevenson. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. It's a fabulous story, the book treasure Island, and how he came to write are both full of tension, amazing characters. You could sit over drink talking about it for hours.
Long John Silver, the man with the missing leg, was based on Stevenson's good friend, whose leg was amputated, who wrote the inspiring poem Invicticus, 'I am the captain of my ship', or is it soul? Never mind. I'll look it up later.
Llandoger Row, King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ER.
Tel 0871 951 1000 (calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras)
Bristol Temple Meads station is 0.6 miles, Clifton Down 1.2 miles and Redland 1.3 miles. The chain is Brewers Fayre.
3 You could go to the Aerospace Bristol Museum and step inside Concorde.
4 On a fine day you might go on a Banksy walking tour. Several companies offer Banksy themes.
5 The city also has trips to the Cheddar Gorge. (If you are driving from London you might allow time to do this as a detour on the way down or the way back.)
6 Another trip is to the castle.
7 Bristol Museum is free.
The Bristol tourist board has one of the best websites I have seen. You can even list all the thing you want into a personalised list.
You could group together all the hotels with spas and indoor swimming pools, or the zoo and acquarium and other animal attractions. Or all the museums.
Catch the train to Bath (Jane Austen museum), only fifteen minutes, or drive there, 12 miles.
How could anybody not want to go there?
https://visitbristol.co.uk/things-to-do/banksy-walking-tour-p1354013
www.visitbristol.co.uk
Tel: 0333 321 0101.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I was looking at the Balloon Festival and wondering what else there is to see and do in Bristol. A lot has been added since last time I visited.
Answers
Firstly, if you are visiting the Balloon Festival, it is Thursday 9th August to Sunday 12the August. over a long weekend, the August bank holiday.
Ashton Court, Long Ashton, Bristol BS41 9JN.
The 850-acre parkland estate includes a mansion and two pitch and putt golf courses, deer park, miniature railway, orienteering and nature trails. The Balloon event is free. You need to budget for the booked parking places, or for a ticket on the shuttle bus from Temple Mead station.
1 Hardy's winery (you'd have to arrange to join a group tour). Famous for Bristol Cream Sherry.
2 Brunel's ship SS Great Britain by the harbour.
3 Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge. (The Avon Gorge Hotel alongside has a view. But you might prefer to stay and eat at a modern spa hotel of which there are several.) The open top bus tour takes you to the bridge.
Bristol Suspension Bridge. £1 to cross by car. Free to walk across.
4 Old Inn where Robert Louis Stevenson is supposed to have met Selkirk who inspired Robinson Crusoe; also characters from the story of Treasure Island. Being Kidnapped, then as now, was a possibility. I was told the inn, like others, had a spy hole so you could watch for people approaching. When I went there it was the highlight of my trip.
I'm sure somebody somewhere will deny everything about its connections with Stevenson. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. It's a fabulous story, the book treasure Island, and how he came to write are both full of tension, amazing characters. You could sit over drink talking about it for hours.
Long John Silver, the man with the missing leg, was based on Stevenson's good friend, whose leg was amputated, who wrote the inspiring poem Invicticus, 'I am the captain of my ship', or is it soul? Never mind. I'll look it up later.
Llandoger Row, King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ER.
Tel 0871 951 1000 (calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras)
Bristol Temple Meads station is 0.6 miles, Clifton Down 1.2 miles and Redland 1.3 miles. The chain is Brewers Fayre.
If alcohol is not your thing, the city also has a juice bar.
3 You could go to the Aerospace Bristol Museum and step inside Concorde.
4 On a fine day you might go on a Banksy walking tour. Several companies offer Banksy themes.
5 The city also has trips to the Cheddar Gorge. (If you are driving from London you might allow time to do this as a detour on the way down or the way back.)
6 Another trip is to the castle.
7 Bristol Museum is free.
The Bristol tourist board has one of the best websites I have seen. You can even list all the thing you want into a personalised list.
You could group together all the hotels with spas and indoor swimming pools, or the zoo and acquarium and other animal attractions. Or all the museums.
Catch the train to Bath (Jane Austen museum), only fifteen minutes, or drive there, 12 miles.
How could anybody not want to go there?
https://visitbristol.co.uk/things-to-do/banksy-walking-tour-p1354013
www.visitbristol.co.uk
Tel: 0333 321 0101.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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