Trace a living canvas: Bristol’s street art
Banksy’s spray-painted stencils may have put Bristol on the world’s art map, but the city’s streets have much more to offer. The Banksy Walking Tour follows the artist’s early works and explores the neighbourhoods that inspired them. Head to Bedminster, where the Upfest Gallery showcases rotating exhibitions of top Bristol, UK and international graffiti and street artists. Expect intricate portraits, surreal creatures and giant abstracts at Britain’s longest running urban art gallery. For a self-paced route, the Visit Bristol Street Art Trail offers an easy way to explore some of the city’s most artistic corners, from hidden lanes in Stokes Croft to colourful murals along the harbourside.
Art meets innovation: from cosmos to Concorde
Bristol’s museums are highlights of the city’s cultural landscape. At M Shed, housed in a 1950s harbourside transit shed, behind-the-scenes tours reveal conservation labs and collections linking Bristol’s industrial past to its creative present. Nearby, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery houses more than two million objects, including contemporary land art and photography. More trailblazing creativity awaits at Spike Island, an international art and design hub in a former tea factory. Its programme includes major exhibitions, events and artist residencies.
Royal West of England Academy (RWA), founded in 1844, is a vibrant hub for contemporary creativity boasting five gallery spaces showing exhibitions of cutting-edge visual art. Visitors can also pick up a pencil and get creative themselves with the RWA’s new Life Drawing classes inspired by the Walter Crane Lunettes, a series of decorative mural paintings featuring female nudes.
Step into the glamorous world of Rivals, with its opening scenes filmed at Aerospace Bristol – a fitting backdrop for Jilly Cooper’s high-flying drama. Home to the last Concorde ever to fly, this museum of aviation history and design offers a glimpse into Britain’s pioneering aerospace achievements. And at Bristol Beacon – freshly transformed into a sustainable cultural venue with multiple performance spaces – explore the physicality of sound and its connection to visual art through installations, textiles and sculptures, adding a multi-sensory layer to the concert experience.
Get hands-on: immersive art in Bristol
In Bristol, art isn’t just for looking at. At Graft Workshop, graffiti workshops let visitors try their hand at spray painting under the guidance of local artists. People can create their own unique tag and hear stories of the city’s creative movement. And for something completely different, Wake The Tiger – the UK’s largest immersive art experience – takes visitors through a series of more than 40 fantastical worlds, from dreamlike forests to surreal urban environments, each revealing hidden narratives and puzzles.
Bristol and beyond: waves, caves and countryside adventures
Creativity doesn’t stop at the city limits. Just outside Bristol, experiences continue to blend imagination and craft with wellness, food and adventure. The Wave, set on the northern outskirts of Bristol, is an inland surfing lake powered by cutting-edge wave technology. Here, surfing also meets wellness: visitors can ride consistent, surfable waves whatever the weather, unwind with yoga sessions, or warm up in outdoor saunas between dips. With on-site glamping, visitors can also turn the experience into an overnight adventure under the stars.
Around 20 miles (32km) to the south of the city, experience the artfulness of nature at Wookey Hole Caves, a network of limestone caverns steeped in myth and legend – including tales of the Witch of Wookey Hole. Alongside its underground chambers, the site has grown into a full attraction with adventure golf, a vintage penny arcade, and a small museum. For thrill-seekers, Wild Wookey offers a climbing and caving experience that takes visitors deeper into the hidden passages of the caves.
Back in the city, food and drink reflect Bristol’s independent spirit. KASK Wine specialises in natural and low-intervention wines, with tasting kits and supper clubs. Bristol Beer Factory is a new addition to the city’s independent brewing scene. Housed in a former brewery in Southville, it’s known for its small-batch ales and craft beers. Visitors can join behind-the-scenes tours to learn how the beer is made and sample a rotating line-up of brews in the taproom.
For those wanting a countryside escape, The Newt in Somerset is a working country estate with an emphasis on horticulture, heritage and wellbeing. Set in landscaped grounds, it includes walled gardens, woodland walks, and orchards growing more than 70 varieties of apple. Seasonal highlights include blossom festivals, autumn harvest celebrations, cider tastings, garden workshops and winter light trails, bringing the estate to life year-round. Their new Great Garden Escape day trips offer train transfers from London Paddington alongside estate tours, seasonal experiences and tastings. Nearby, Yeo Valley Organic opens its farm for visitors to learn about sustainable farming as well as offering cooking demos, art classes and farm tours. To fully immerse themselves in the green surroundings of the Mendip Hills, visitors can book a stay in one of three converted barns (sleeping two, eight, and ten people).