Bristol and the Clifton Suspension Bridge City Walk
Bristol's waterfront and historic centre, Clifton's grand houses and Suspension Bridge over the dramatic Avon Gorge.
Clifton Suspension Bridge from viewpoint to north
SWC City Walk 5 - Bristol Circular via Clifton Suspension Bridge
Aug-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Cabot Tower in Brandon Park
SWC City Walk 5 - Bristol Circular via Clifton Suspension Bridge
Aug-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Browns Wine Bar in Italianate Building
SWC City Walk 5 - Bristol Circular via Clifton Suspension Bridge
Aug-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Everards Printworks, Broad Street
SWC City Walk 5 - Bristol Circular via Clifton Suspension Bridge
Aug-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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St. Mary Redcliffe church
SWC City Walk 5 - Bristol Circular via Clifton Suspension Bridge
Aug-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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| Start and Finish | Bristol Temple Meads Station |
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| Length | 11.9 km (7.4 mi). Allow 3 hours plus sightseeing. |
| Toughness | 3/10 with 250 m of ascent. All tarmac. |
| Map | OS Explorer 155 (Bristol and Bath) or 154 (Bristol West), but Google Maps / Openstreetmap on your phone / a city map (in Visit Bristol tourist pamphlets) is better |
| Walk Notes |
This is a city walk through Bristol's historic centre to the wealthy hillside suburb of Clifton, which has a picturesque iconic suspension bridge across the dramatic River Avon gorge just off its village green. Starting from the main station, pass St Mary Redcliffe Church (free), Queen Square (restored Georgian Square), the floating harbour (waterfront area with cafes, museums, historic ships, etc.), Spike Island (historic dockyard buildings, cranes and railway), M Shed (museum of Bristol life and history, free), The Matthew (museum ship replica, free), Arnolfini Gallery (free), Bordeaux Quay (bars and restaurants), Millennium Square, We The Curious (kids science museum, pay), Bristol Cathedral (free), College Green, Brandon Hill (hillside park), Cabot Tower (free), Bristol Museum and Art Gallery (free), RWA (Royal West of England Academy, pay), Clifton's grand houses and crescents, Clifton Village (independent shops and cafes), Clifton Suspension Bridge (free) and visitor centre (museum, free), street murals, the old town, St Nicholas (covered) Market. St Peter's Church (ruin), Castle park (riverside park with ruins). The destination of the walk is the iconic suspension bridge over the narrow but deep river Avon Gorge - quite spectacular by UK standards. Lots of photo opportunities of the bridge and gorge! Just over the bridge (free for pedestrians) is the recommended visitor centre / museum (free, donation). Overlooking the bridge is a tea room in an observation tower with a nice roof top terrace. The Clifton Suspension Bridge was originally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of the greatest figures of Britain's 19th C Industrial Revolution, to cross the river Avon. Still in the age of sail, it had to be a very high bridge to allow sailing ships to pass underneath to Bristol's harbour. However, soon after construction started in 1830, the 1831 Bristol riots, in favour of the (voting) Reform Act, caused a lack of economic confidence, and the bridge was never finished. Thirty years later, 3 years after his death, his plans for the suspension bridge were (substantially) updated, and it was completed as a tribute to him. The bridge is still in use today. |
| Walk Options |
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| Eat/Drink |
Too many to choose from. |
| Travel |
Trains from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads are 2 per hour, and take 1 hour 30 mins. £63 off peak without Railcard. Slower but cheaper trains from London Waterloo via Woking and Salisbury are hourly (a few direct, most change at Salisbury), and take 3 hours. £41 off-peak without Railcard. Consider Advance tickets. Beware of clashing with sports events (the Advance tickets will have sold out), especially on Saturdays. There are occasional special offers. By Car Bristol is in a Mon-Sat CPZ, so free parking outside the very centre on Sundays. Free parking anytime in the industrial area east of the station, or residential area (Totterdown) south of it (and the river), but on weekdays, commuters will have beaten you to it. Try Googling Bristol CPZ map. The SS Great Britain car park is good value at £5 for 5 hours (max). Clifton is in a weekday CPZ. There are no car parks, pay and display street parking is 5 hours max, but over the suspension bridge is outside the CPZ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Walks |
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Walk Directions
The station to the bridge via the waterfront and Cabot Tower
- Exit Bristol Temple Meads Station by the main exit, down the roadway.
- Cross the road at a set of lights and continue a little to the right (to the right of the Holiday Inn) along Redcliffe Way.
- Pass the large St Mary Redcliffe church (free). Continue straight on at the roundabout.
- Cross the river to the Hole in the Wall pub
- Continue ahead to the right of the pub along a pedestrian path to Queen Square. Walk along its (left-hand) south side.
- At Prince Street, detour left and cross the bridge to the harbour and Spike Island, and turn right along the waterfront to M Shed (large museum free), some disused cranes, the Dockyard Railway, The Matthew (replica museum ship, free). Return to the bridge and re-cross it.
- Turn left immediately along the waterfront quay with the Arnolfini gallery (free) on the right.
- Turn right along the waterfront to pass bars and cafes.
- Turn left aross a pedestrian bridge and continue ahead past The Aquarium into Millennium Square, with the We The Curious museum (kids science museum, free) ahead, a large glitter ball, and a big screen TV.
- On the small square, turn right in front of We The Curious, cross a road at a set of lights, then go up a stepped path a little to the right (Trinity Street) up to College Green and Cathedral.
- Turn left along the green, with the Cathedral on the left and at the far end veer left briefly to the interesting Abbot's Gatehouse.
- Return to the green and turn left (ie turn right from the previous direction) along a water feature in front of the curved Town Hall.
- Exit the green onto College Green (road) and turn left uphill, along College Green (road) which becomes Park Street.
- Look right by the bridge over Frog Lane/Frogmore Street, there's a Banksy mural: "Well Hung Lover".
- Turn second left along Great George Street where you pass the Georgian House museum (free) on the left.
- Enter Brandon Park, with fine views across the city and the river, and turn second right then left up to Cabot Tower. Climb the tower for some stupendous views.
- From the tower entrance (at the back of the tower), turn right on the level, then downhill and second left to come out on Upper Byron Road.
- Cross Berkeley Square diagonally on a dirt path, and come out on a main road by the City Museum and Art Gallery (free), with a tower next to it (Wills Memorial Tower, part of Bristol University).
- Go up University Road (next to the museum), then left at the end of it along Woodland Road, for the Royal Fort Gardens. Afterwards, retrace your steps.
- Head left, up Queen's Road (but notice the Eastern Orthodox Church up on the right along University Road) to the RWA building (Royal West of England Academy), which hosts five galleries.
- Just before it, turn left along Richmond Hill, a quiet residential road with some grand houses.
- At the end of the road, turn left (now back on Queen's Road).
- Veer right, now on Victoria Square (road), and cross over to the right to diagonally cross the Victoria Square on a paved path.
- At the far end, cross a road and go down an alleyway, passing shops and the Clifton Arcade.
- Continue down Boyce's Avenue and get to a T-junction with a shopping street (Clifton Down Road/Regent Street).
- Turn left briefly and immediately right at a pedestrian crossing to continue down Princess Victoria Street (more shops).
- Go second right up along The Mall (more shops), signed 'Clifton Suspension Bridge'. At the top of it, you come out on to the village green.
- Turn left, and in 100m cross the Clifton Suspension Bridge along the left-hand pavement to its visitor centre on the far side.
From the bridge to the station via the old town and Castle park
- Cross over to the northerly side and walk back over the bridge. On the far side, turn first left up a tarmac path and follow it to several viewpoints by the observatory tower for photos (cafe).
- For a longer walk, head north, along the rim, to the Downs.
- Alternative route back to town, longer but with river and harbour views via a crescent: Follow tarmac paths back to the raod and turn right across it and then across a green to continue downhill along Sion Hill (road). Where a road veers off to your right, there is a path down to the river (The Zig-Zag). Follow it (out and back) to The Lookout Lectern, a bridge viewpoint. Continue downhill along Sion Hill. Turn left along Royal York Crescent with harbour views. At the end, turn left uphill along Regent Street, then right on Boyce's Avenue (with the alleyway at the end), then continue as below.
- Retrace your steps to the Bristol Museum. That's: down The Mall, left on Princess Victoria Street. Cross the road and down Boyce's Avenue (with the alleyway at the end). Diagonally across Victoria Square. Left along Queen's Road and right along Richmond Hill residential road. Continue downhill along Queen's Road to the museum.
- Continue past the museum to the junction
- Veer left for the Red Lodge Museum (free)
- Veer right, downhill, along Park Street, then College Green.
- At the bottom, with the town end of a river inlet ahead, turn left with the main road, away from the river.
- After passing The Hippodrome, turn right across the main road at a set of lights and cross a broad pedestrianised area to the left of Baldwin Street. The upcoming area is what's left of the old town.
- You cross Broad Quay and bear left uphill along the pedestrianised end of Clare Street. St Stephen's Church is visible down the left along St Stephen's Street.
- Continue ahead, with the road now called Corn Street. At a bend, continue ahead along a pedestrianised stretch (still Corn Street).
- At the junction with Broad Street, turn left along it for the Everards Printworks (tiled exterior). At the end of the road, go under an archway and turn right along Nelson Street for some murals left from the 2011 See No Evil street art festival.
- Continue ahead along Wine Street, passing St Nicholas Market (covered market, food stalls, independent traders). Turn right across the road at a set of lights towards a park with the ruined St Peter's Church in its centre.
- Pass just to the right of the church (i.e. ignore a dropping path towards an underpass), en route passing the former site of St Edith's Well (info panel), now at the Stourhead Estate (SWC Walk Bruton Circular via Stourhead).
- Continue down a stepped path to the river and turn left along it through Castle Park, past an S-shaped pedestrian bridge.
- Keep following the river until you have to cross St Phillip's Bridge onto the opposite bank.
- Continue following the river.
- Head inland by the next big bridge, inland, right on Temple Back, left on Temple Rose, to Temple Gardens for the ruined Knight's Templar church.
- Follow the river, and just before another S-shaped pedestrian bridge, turn right with the path to continue to the left of Harratz Place, then The Square.
- Across the square is the Knight's Templar pub, a Wetherspoon's.
- Continue ahead for Temple Meads Sation.