Rainy day Bristol - what to do when the weather turns
A rainy-day guide to Bristol: indoor attractions, covered shopping arcades, free museums, Watershed cinema and the best places to stay warm for hours at a time.
Bristol gets about fifteen days of rain a month in January and February, tailing off through spring. Here is a guide to what to do when the forecast gives up.
The four big indoor options
- ss Great Britain - ticketed but covered; the best indoor attraction in the city, and the annual pass means a wet-day return visit is free.
- We The Curious - ticketed; ideal for families, fully indoor, includes the planetarium.
- City Museum and Art Gallery - free, four floors, and rarely crowded.
- M Shed - free, covered, good for kids and adults.
Three free places to sit for a long time
- St Mary Redcliffe - quiet, warm, and the choir has free lunchtime organ recitals most weekdays.
- Bristol Cathedral - daily evensong at 17:15, free, short, surprisingly uplifting.
- Spike Island gallery (Stop 04) - free contemporary art, excellent coffee, an under-used library.
Covered walkways
The covered Victorian Arcade on Broadmead, the Cabot Circus glass canopy, and the Corn Exchange on Corn Street (home to St Nicholas Market indoors) can all be linked together to walk from the harbour to Cabot Circus under cover for about 70% of the route.
Cinema
The Watershed on Canon’s Road is the best cinema in the city - three screens, independent and arthouse programming, and a café that does proper food.
If all else fails
Go to Wapping Wharf. The shipping-container food and drink stalls have covered seating, the coffee is very good, and in bad weather the queues disappear.
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.