Bristol is my home town and one of England’s less known cities for tourism but well worth a visit. The harbourside area is one of my favourite parts of the city to stroll for a few hours with plenty to see and many free attractions. Bristol’s heyday was in the 17th and 18th centuries when many Bristol merchants made their fortunes off the back of the tea, spices and slaves that were landed here.  Here are some of the things you might enjoy in the harbourside area of Bristol;

Take a tour by ferry
From many places around the harbour, you can easily pick up a blue and yellow ferry , to take you on a round trip, or you could walk from one end of the harbour to the other and then catch the ferry back. This one’s great for children who will enjoy seeing the view from the water. There’s a useful short ferry from one side of the harbour to the other near the SS Great Brittain, which will allow you to make the whole circular walk if you want.

Arnolfini free art gallery
The Arnolfini art gallery is a great free attraction for all ages and is housed in one of the old tea warehouses on the dockside. It’s a centre for contemporary art and film and always has something a little wierd and wacky on show, often with an interactive element. The café is a cool place to hang out. Next door there’s another small warehouse housing the Architecture Centre which also sometimes has interesting exhibitions upstairs. I also love the statue of explorer  John Cabot who sits on the cobbled wharf outside the Arnolfini, gazing out towards the open sea.

Industrial Museum
Over the iron bridge from the Arnolfini is  the Industrial museum. At present it’s undergoing renovation and will reopen in 2011 as the new museum of Bristol. The huge cranes in front are being preserved as part of Bristol’s industrial heritage and at the moment there are hoardings with some great street-art.

The Steam Train
Outside the Industrial Museum you can jump on a steam train run by enthusiasts that chugs up and down the quay on holiday weekends in the summer. Again, this is something that younger children will enjoy and it sets you down in front of another major harbourside attraction, the SS Great Brittain.

SS Great Brittain
The SS Great Britain was designed by the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel who also designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge. At the time she sailed in 1843 from Bristol to New York she was the largest steam ship in the world. She was eventually abandoned in the the Faulkland Islands and in the 1970s the project was started to bring her back home and refurbish her to the wonderfully restored ship you see today.

Millenium Square
On the opposite side of the harbour to the Arnolfini,  you’ll find yourself in Millenium square which is a great public piazza to relax. Sit on a bench and see the children cooling off in the water features and shallow pools, or sit beside the statues of notable Bristol characters, including filmstar Cary Grant who was born here. On one side of the square you’ll see the silver globe of the Planetarium, which is part of Explore, a hands on Science centre in the At Bristol Complex, and is a favourite with families in Bristol.

Pero’s Bridge
If you turn back towards the water from Millenium Square, you’ll come to Pero’s bridge, which can take you across the water, back to the Arnolfini. The sculptural horns on top of the bridge are actually weights to help lift the bridge when ships pass underneath, and the bridge is named after the black slave Pero, who served a wealthy Bristol merchant in the late 18th Century.

There are no shortage of interesting places to eat around this part of the harbourside – my favourites are;

The Olive Shed is housed in one of the small warehouse buildings near the Industrial Museum, serving meditteranean style food and tapas with a terrace to watch the boats go by.
Close by, the Brunel Buttery kiosk serves  bacon rolls, chips and home-made cakes, washed down with a steaming mug of tea.
Bordeaux Quay, housed in a large warehouse which has a bistro and cocktail bar downstairs, an upscale restaurant upstairs and a cookery school and deli too.
Watershed film centre where the film and arty crowd go to the upstairs cafe with free wifi and snacks, cakes and drinks all through the day and a great view of the water.

Photos by Heatheronhertravels