Stop 14 - Cabot Circus
Stop 14 Cabot Circus: Bristol's main shopping quarter under a sweeping freeform glass canopy. Department stores, cinema, restaurants and Quakers Friars square.
Cabot Circus opened in 2008 and is architecturally more interesting than most shopping centres - a three-level open-air piazza roofed by a vast freeform glass canopy, designed so that rainwater drains off it into shaped channels that continue the effect indoors. Love it or find it a bit much, it reshaped this end of the city.
What to see
The canopy itself, viewed from the top floor at either end, is genuinely worth looking at. The main tenants are John Lewis, Harvey Nichols, Zara, Apple, and a large Showcase Cinema de Lux on the upper deck. Restaurants are mostly mid-range chains along Glass House and the Friary - the Cosy Club in the corner of Philadelphia Street has the best room.
Adjoining Cabot Circus on its eastern side is Quakers Friars, a quieter square with a restored seventeenth-century meeting-house facade and several independent restaurants.
How long to stay
An hour for a browse; a full afternoon if cinema and dinner. For a better food scene, walk ten minutes south to St Nicholas Market or Wapping Wharf instead.
Nearby stops
- Stop 13 - Broadmead is four minutes west.
- Stop 15 - Newgate and Castle Park is five minutes south.
- Stop 18 - Temple Meads is a twelve-minute walk or three-minute bus south-east.
Practical info
Fully step-free, lifts between all levels, accessible toilets on every floor. Well-lit, safe, staffed late. Pay-and-display car park on the north side (£2/hour, capped at £10); free bike racks near Quakers Friars.
