Christmas in Bristol - lights, markets, illuminations
Christmas in Bristol: the Broadmead switch-on, the Wapping Wharf independent market, Insight Illuminations Tour, carol services and the harbourside lights walk.
Christmas in Bristol is a short season - roughly five weeks from the moment the Broadmead lights switch on in mid-November to the last day of the illuminated harbour walk in early January. It is also, increasingly, a surprisingly good one.
The Illuminations Tour
The single most recommended December evening in Bristol is the Twilight and Illuminations Tour - the same nineteen stops of the hop-on-hop-off circuit but at dusk, with the lights between them, on an open-top bus with a hot chocolate stall at the Broad Quay departure point.
The markets
Two worth visiting:
- Broadmead and the Horsefair - the big market, late November to 23 December, crafts, food, a brass band, local Somerset gin.
- Wapping Wharf - smaller, independent-craft focused, weekends only, runs parallel to the harbour.
Bristol Cathedral carols
The cathedral’s Nine Lessons and Carols service is free, unticketed (but busy - arrive 30 minutes early), and one of the best carols services in the South West. The choir is excellent. Check the Cathedral website for dates (usually the two Sundays before Christmas).
Harbourside illuminations walk
A thirty-minute self-guided walk: Millennium Square lit with tree sculptures, Pero’s Bridge in blue and gold, ss Great Britain up-lit from the dockside, Queens Square with the big tree. Free, always on, best after 17:00.
Bristol Hippodrome pantomime
Yes, really. It is genuinely good, with a rotating cast of soap-opera stars and, in recent years, Craig Revel Horwood. Tickets from Stop 12 box office or online.
What not to bother with
The ice rink in Queens Square. It is fine, but the queues in December are absurd and it takes the edge off the afternoon.
Getting around
The Insight Bus runs shortened winter frequencies in December (every 30 minutes, last loop 15:30), with the Illuminations tour at 16:30 and 18:00. Book the Illuminations tour at least 48 hours ahead for weekends.
Imogen Pearce
Editor
Imogen Pearce is a Bristol-based travel writer who has lived in the city for over fifteen years. She edits Bristol Insight and contributes to regional lifestyle and travel publications.
She writes most often on neighbourhoods, walks, food and the slow architecture of the city. Her day involves more long coffees on Boyce's Avenue than is strictly professional.