Self-guided walking tours in Bristol

Bristol's centre is compact enough to cover in a day on foot: this route takes in the old city, the Floating Harbour and Clifton, and ends back on King Street where it started. Expect cobbles and steps around Christmas Steps and King Street, a climb up Park Street and a steeper one into Clifton, and pavement the rest of the way. Trains arrive at Temple Meads, on the eastern edge of the centre.

Tuesday to Saturday is the week that works, and spring through early autumn gives you more daylight for Clifton. St Nicholas Market trades Monday to Saturday and closes on Sundays, M Shed and the Arnolfini close on Mondays, and Clifton Observatory opens 10am to 5pm from April to October against 10am to 4pm from November to March, with last admission 15 minutes before closing.

Bristol Airport has no railway station, so the link into town is First Bus's A1 Airport Flyer, which runs 24 hours a day and up to every 8 minutes between the terminal, Temple Meads and Bristol Bus Station. An adult single is £9.50 and a return is £16. Pay through the First Bus app or with a contactless card and the same fare also covers a connecting First bus in the Bristol zone within three hours; a ticket bought on the Flyer website does not.

Bristol can be done cheaply. The cathedral asks for a voluntary donation with £5 suggested rather than charging admission, M Shed and the Arnolfini are free, the bridge museum is free, and crossing the Clifton Suspension Bridge on foot costs nothing. The paid stops are Clifton Observatory, £5 for full access or £3 for the camera obscura alone, and the SS Great Britain at £22 online and £25 on the door if you add it. Budget about £40 to £60 for the day once food is counted.

The SS Great Britain and Underfall Yard at the western end of the harbour, the murals and china workshop of Stokes Croft, the independent shops of Gloucester Road, and Arnos Vale Cemetery, which is free to walk in and pairs well with a train from Temple Meads. Each one works as an outing of its own, and Stokes Croft's shops keep their Wednesday to Saturday hours.

The centre stays busy into the evening, and King Street, where this route finishes, keeps its pavements lively with theatres and pubs. Take the usual care with bags around the market and the harbourside, and watch wet cobbles. In an emergency call 999; for urgent medical help that is not life-threatening, call 111.