Stop 03 - Hotwell Road
Stop 03 on the Bristol circuit: Hotwell Road, the curving harbour-edge stretch linking the city centre to ss Great Britain, and the climb up to Clifton Village.
Hotwell Road is not a destination so much as a passage - but it is a beautiful passage, and nearly everyone who walks the Bristol Insight circuit on foot rather than by bus remembers it with unreasonable affection.
What to see
The road hugs the north bank of the Floating Harbour from the Cumberland Basin in the west all the way back to Broad Quay. On your right (looking west) is the water; on your left, the steep tree-and-terrace slope that climbs to Clifton. The Georgian terraces above - Granby Hill, Freeland Place, Windsor Terrace - are some of the earliest in the city, and a few have the original wrought ironwork still intact.
This stretch is home to several of Bristol’s most-loved pubs - The Pump House at the western end occupies the old hydraulic pump station for the dock gates; The Merchants Arms is a small, very old corner pub; and The Nova Scotia across the water is worth crossing the swing bridge for on a sunny day.
How long to stay
If you are walking the circuit: stay as long as you feel like. This is a pleasant stretch in any weather. By bus, the stop is a two-minute pass-through and most people use it as a jump-off point for the walk up Constitution Hill to Clifton Village.
Nearby stops
- Stop 02 - We The Curious is three minutes east along the quay.
- Stop 04 - Spike Island is five minutes west, across the water.
- Stop 07 - Clifton Village is a 15-minute uphill walk via Granby Hill.
Practical info
The road is wide, well-lit and busy with cars. The harbour-side pavement is the nicer walk. Public toilets at The Pump House (if you buy a drink) and near the Cumberland Basin at the far western end. On summer weekends the road gets busy with festival traffic - consider the bus.
