Self-guided walking itinerary

One day in Bristol: a self-guided walking itinerary

Cathedral and market in the morning, the Floating Harbour with lunch, Brunel's bridge in the afternoon, and King Street after dark.

Photo by Jarred Kyle on Unsplash

At a glance

On foot1.2 km25+ min

RouteThe Haunted Bookshop → Montpelier railway station

TerrainCobbles and steps in the old city and along King Street, pavement on the harbour, then a steep climb, with steps, up to Clifton.

Day budgetBudget about £40 to £60 per person for the day, nearer £60 to £70 with a theatre seat. Bristol Cathedral asks for a donation rather than charging, M Shed, the Arnolfini and the bridge museum cost nothing, and the day's ticket is usually the Clifton Observatory at £5 full access or £3 for the camera obscura alone. Lunch from the market counters and dinner on King Street are the other real costs, and flying in adds £9.50 single or £16 return on the A1 Flyer.SourceBristol CathedralM Shed, plan your visitClifton Observatory, shopClifton Suspension Bridge, visitFirst Bus, Bristol Airport Flyer

Interactive map of the route. The full stop list below works without it.

The day plan

How do you spend one day in Bristol on foot?

One day in Bristol goes like this: the old city while its cathedral and market are fresh, the harbour and M Shed over lunch, Clifton and the suspension bridge through the afternoon, then back east to King Street for dinner and a play. Build the day around a Wednesday. Tuesday to Saturday is the window that works, because St Nicholas Market trades from Monday to Saturday and shuts on Sunday while M Shed and the Arnolfini close on Mondays, so a Sunday or a Monday would break the middle of the plan. Expect cobbles and steps in the old city and a steep climb into Clifton. If you are flying in, Bristol Airport has no railway station, and the A1 Flyer runs from the terminal to Temple Meads and the city bus station.

Morning9.30am to noon
The old city and the cathedral
Coffee first at Pinkmans, in the cathedral cloister, then the cathedral itself once it opens to visitors at 10am. Bristol Cathedral is free to walk into, a medieval abbey church with a hall-like east end, and it asks for a donation rather than a ticket, £5 suggested. From College Green, climb Park Street for Banksy's Well Hung Lover, painted in 2006 and easiest to read from the bridge above Frogmore Street. Christmas Steps takes you back down into the old city, a stairway finished in 1669 with small shops either side and a chapel at the top. Carry on past St John's Gate, the last of Bristol's city gates, with a church sitting over the arch, and finish on Broad Street at Everard's Printing Works, a 1901 Art Nouveau frontage in Doulton tiles.
- HoursBristol Cathedral opens 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday and 11.30am to 3pm on Sundays. Entry is by voluntary donation, with £5 suggested, so it costs nothing to walk in.SourceBristol Cathedral
- EatPinkmans sits in the cathedral cloister, reached step-free through the cloister or garden entrances, and serves focaccia sandwiches, toasties, seasonal salads, cakes and hot drinks.SourceBristol Cathedral, visit
EatCoffee and a pastry at Pinkmans in the cathedral cloister, on College Green.
MiddayNoon to 2.30pm
Market lunch, then the harbour
Lunch is the market. St Nicholas Market has traded inside the Exchange since 1743, and the Glass Arcade is where the counters are: XO for bao buns and katsu, Momo Bar for Tibetan dumplings. Seating is limited, so eat standing or take it outside. Then walk it off along the water. St Stephen's Church and its mayor-funded tower come first, followed by the Watershed, Britain's first media centre, opened in 1982 in 1890s transit sheds, and the Arnolfini, a free contemporary gallery in a converted quay warehouse. Cross at Prince Street Bridge, where the held water of the Floating Harbour begins and the river goes around, and finish at M Shed, free like the Arnolfini, its cranes standing on the quay outside the 1950s transit shed.
- HoursSt Nicholas Indoor Market trades 9.30am to 5pm from Monday to Saturday and is closed on Sundays.SourceBristol City Council, St Nicholas Markets
- EatXO, in the market's Glass Arcade, serves Asian street food from noon to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, with boba teas and loaded katsu fries alongside the bao.SourceSt Nicholas Market, food and drink
- HoursM Shed is free, donations welcome, and opens 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Sunday. It closes on Mondays.SourceM Shed, plan your visit
- HoursArnolfini's galleries and bookshop open 11am to 6pm, Tuesday to Sunday, with donations in place of a ticket price; it also has a harbourside bar.SourceArnolfini, visit
EatLunch at the Glass Arcade in St Nicholas Market: XO for bao buns and katsu, Momo Bar for Tibetan dumplings.
Afternoon2.30pm to 5.30pm
Clifton, the observatory and the bridge
Climb away from the harbour into Clifton Village, where the houses were built to be looked at. Victoria Square's terraces ring a treed garden, the Victorian Clifton Arcade holds a run of small shops, The Mall sets two 1780s terraces facing each other across a long communal garden, and Royal York Crescent sweeps above the gorge, its houses on a raised walk. On Sion Hill, the Clifton Rocks Railway hides inside the cliff, where a funicular ran from 1893 to 1934, and the Observatory is a windmill turned viewing tower with a working camera obscura, a museum and the Giant's Cave cut down through the rock. Last admission is 15 minutes before closing, so plan the Observatory before 4.45pm from April to October. Cross Brunel's bridge on foot for nothing and end at the free museum on the far side, which sits above twelve hidden vaults.
- HoursClifton Observatory's attractions open daily, 10am to 5pm from April to October and 10am to 4pm from November to March, with last admission 15 minutes before closing.SourceClifton Observatory, FAQs
- TicketsFull access at the Observatory, covering the camera obscura, the museum and the Giant's Cave, is £5 for an adult; the camera obscura on its own is £3.SourceClifton Observatory, tickets Clifton Observatory, shop
- CostCrossing the Clifton Suspension Bridge on foot is free, and the visitor centre museum on the Leigh Woods side is free too, open daily 10am to 5pm.SourceClifton Suspension Bridge, visit
- AccessDogs and children under four, including babies in slings or carriers, are not allowed into the Giant's Cave. The rest of the Observatory is open to everyone.SourceClifton Observatory, tickets
EatCoffee or cake at the Observatory's 360 café, whose rooftop terrace looks out over the gorge.
Evening6.30pm onwards
King Street, dinner and the Old Vic
King Street is a cobbled merchant street of 1650 that still works: Bristol Old Vic opened here in 1766 and still puts on plays, and the Llandoger Trow keeps 28 keg lines, four cask ales and five ciders on tap. Book a seat for the evening show and eat around it, before the performance or after. Then take a slow turn around Queen Square, the Georgian square the merchants laid out on the marsh in 1699, where the houses were wrecked in the 1831 riots, and where people still cross on the way to work. To get down from Clifton, take the number 8 bus back to the centre, or walk down through Clifton and Park Street. That is the day done, and you are in the old city again.
- EatThe Llandoger Trow's own tap list runs to 28 keg lines, four cask ales and five ciders, and the pub hosts live music on some evenings.SourceThe Llandoger Trow
- BookBristol Old Vic publishes its programme and tickets on its own site, so check the evening's show and book before you travel.SourceBristol Old Vic
EatDinner at the Llandoger Trow on King Street, timed around the play at Bristol Old Vic.

Questions about the day

Planning your day

Which day should I set aside for this Bristol walk?

Plan it for a Wednesday, and any day from Tuesday to Saturday works. St Nicholas Market closes on Sundays, and M Shed and the Arnolfini close on Mondays, so either of those days would mean rewriting the middle of the plan, while the cathedral welcomes visitors Monday to Saturday.

SourceBristol City Council, St Nicholas MarketsM Shed, plan your visitArnolfini, visit

What needs booking before this day out?

Almost nothing. Clifton Observatory sells tickets on arrival and runs no timed slots, the bridge museum and M Shed are free and take walk-ups, and the market needs no reservation. The one booking worth making is a seat at Bristol Old Vic if you want the evening show on King Street.

SourceClifton Observatory, ticketsBristol Old Vic

What happens to this route if it rains?

The market is under cover, and the cathedral, M Shed, the Arnolfini and the Observatory's museum and camera obscura are all indoors. Save the bridge crossing and the Queen Square loop for a dry spell, and take the cobbles on Christmas Steps and King Street slowly when they are wet.

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