What to see in Bristol.
The city's best-known landmarks and its more quietly loved corners, written up with opening times, ticket tips, and an honest opinion where one is due.
Ashton Court estate and deer park
Eight hundred and fifty acres of parkland on the edge of the city - two golf courses, a Tudor mansion, a free-roaming red deer herd, and the balloons at Fiesta week.
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Bristol Cathedral - the only medieval hall church in England
The cathedral on College Green has a uniquely English feature: nave and choir at the same height. Free entry, fan vaulting, and a quiet corner of the city.
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Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
Four floors of fine art, Egyptian mummies, dinosaur bones, Bristol glass and the city's own history. Free entry; a reliable rainy-day option.
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Bristol Harbourside - a walk around the Floating Harbour
Three kilometres of water, nine bridges, six pubs worth pausing at, and one of the best half-day walks in any British city. Always free, always open.
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Bristol Zoo Project - the new site at Cribbs Causeway
The successor to the old Bristol Zoo, on a 136-acre conservation site near the M5. Gorillas, bears, lynx, wolves; worth a full day.
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Cabot Tower and Brandon Hill
The 1897 tower at the top of Brandon Hill - 105 steps up, 360-degree views across the city, and the best picnic spot in Bristol on the slopes below.
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Clifton Suspension Bridge - Brunel's Avon Gorge span
One of the great engineering icons of the Victorian age, spanning the Avon Gorge 75 metres above the river. Free to cross on foot; free to admire.
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M Shed - Bristol's museum of itself
The free city-history museum on the harbour. Bristol from prehistory to the present, told via working cranes, a 1940s tram and a collection of local testimony.
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ss Great Britain - Brunel's iron ship
The first iron-hulled ocean liner, now back in the Bristol dock where she was built. One ticket, one year of return visits.
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St Mary Redcliffe - 'the fairest parish church in England'
A medieval parish church built on the scale of a cathedral, with a 292ft spire, a hexagonal porch, and a whalebone brought back from Newfoundland in 1497.
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The Banksy trail - a walk through Bristol street art
Bristol is Banksy's home city. Five of his best-known pieces are still on walls around the centre. The walk takes about ninety minutes, free, no booking.
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We The Curious - the harbourside science museum
Formerly known as At-Bristol. A hands-on science centre with a 3D planetarium and an exceptional set of exhibits on light, perception and sound.
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