I and a couple of friends will be in Bristol England for a day in early March.
Does anyone know what sorts of things we could do to amuse ourselves?
We’d probably be there from about 10am to 5pm, and are interested in eating lunch, walking around, perhaps hitting one museum, having a pint or two, before returning to London on the train.
Any good markets on a Saturday or Sunday in early March? Street food for lunch? Pubs with odd names or historical significance?
There’s the SS Great Britain. A ship and a museum in one.
I know nothing about Bristol, but I have been Googling about it a bit because they’re filming the Sherlock Christmas Special there right at this moment.
In Google street view, I came across this beauty of an old pub. It dates back to 1664! Seems like a great place for a pint.
Alright my lover! If you’re down in the West Country forget beer, it’s cider town baby.
Take some of us with you…!
Wait, did I hit submit? Damn…
Cider gives me a wicked headache. 
Added to the list, thanks!!!
It’s a ship! No, it’s a museum! No, it’s a ship!
Cool idea, thanks.
Can we get scrumpy and then belligerent?
If you like big old houses, this one looks like it might be worth a morning: Tyntesfield | Somerset | National Trust
I definitely do!
Bristol is about 40 minutes down the road from me, though I can’t say I’ve been there loads, but it’s one of those places that is worth a visit for a day. The town centre is just generally pleasant, having it’s fair share of history but also known as a fairly fashionable place (tbh it is a magnet for hipsters) and there’s plenty of places to stop and have a drink. The only major landmark that instantly springs to mind is the Clifton Suspension Bridge built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. There’s plenty of better museums around, but Bristol museum is still worth a visit.
That said if I was a tourist I’d visit nearby Bath before I even thought of visiting Bristol.
I think you mean “zider.” At least that’s how it’s pronounced in Zummerzet and surrounding areas. 
Bristol is a very picturesque place - particularly down by the water. No shortage of places to eat and drink.
I almost said “meet your friends in Bath.” I love Bath.
For a tourist day, Bath is an amazing place. Roman ruins and Regency architecture and Jane Austen and the pump room (the water is indeed horrible) and a marvelous fashion museum - well, its been a tourist town for a few hundred years now, they do it well. And pubs and tearooms. It isn’t far from Bristol if you don’t have a need to be IN BRISTOL.
And in addition to the pub, don’t forget the tea room, regardless of your destination. Bristol will certainly have a number of them.
Screw Bristol. Go to Bath.
I’ve been to Bristol several times. I like it. The most interesting part of the city is Clifton. There’s a zoo there.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge is Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s mid-19th century engineering marvel. IIRC, the first bungee jumps happened there. You can walk across it but be prepared to be scrutinized by the bridgekeepers as the bridge is a prime suicide spot.
I recall with great fondness a fine little pub in Clifton called the Coronation Tap, which serves some remarkably good cider and the best Sunday roast I’ve ever eaten.
John Cleese went to Clifton College in Clifton. It’s a pretty campus and, unless security has been tightened since I was last there, you can stroll on the grounds. Local legend is that Cleese developed his first silly walk while a schoolboy there, as he cruelly made fun of a master who limped.
Elsewhere in Bristol, Brunel’s SS Great Britain is worth seeing, as mentioned by others in this thread.
There’s a cathedral in Bristol, but skip it. It’s the least memorable cathedral in the British Isles. Bath and Wells Cathedral, not far away, however, is worth a visit.
Have fun!
I live in Bristol.
Pubs with historical interest and/or odd names- the Llandoger Trow scores fairly highly in both counts; dating from before 1700, and supposedly being the inspiration for Treasure Island. Don’t ask me how to pronounce it either. I’ll be honest and admit I’ve not actually drunk (beer or zoider) there though.
There are very few ‘proper’ old pubs in the centre, but if you’re happy to wander up to Clifton or out to one of the other close in Suburbs, there’s many more options.
There’s a permanent market- St Nicks- which is not open Sundays, but has a good selection of food stalls out the back, if you’re here on a Saturday, and some interesting little shops. There’s often a street market outside the front as well, though not a very big one. There are Sunday markets elsewhere, but none are really worth going any distance for.
The cathedral is not very interesting*, but the (often confused for the cathedral) St Mary Redcliffe church is nicer, and more impressive, with good stained glass and that sort of thing (if not as interesting as Wells, but that’s a good hour’s trip away by car, half the day by bus).
There are several museums around if it’s old houses you like, the Red Lodge has two excellent things going for it- it’s a short walk from the centre, and it’s free!
Do not expect to admire the fountains, unaccountably advertised in many info leaflets. They’re worth laughing at, but that is all.
The bridge is pretty, and there’s some nice woods and parkland just over the other side. It seems to have lost favour as a suicide spot; though remember local bylaws forbid the flying of planes under it. Clifton generally is quite nice; it’s a bit posh, and full of students, but during the day, it’s very pleasant (at night half the students get drunk, and it becomes less pleasant).
If you have any more specific questions, feel free to PM me!
Filbert, you are lucky to be in Bristol! It’s a wonderful city. The “nice woods and parkland” you mention - isn’t that where they found that poor landscape architect’s murdered body a few years ago? About this time of year, IIRC. Do you happen to know whatever happened to that retired Clifton College teacher who was vilely and unfairly implicated at the start of the investigation? I hope he sued the pants off the Daily Mail.
As for the not-a-suicide-spot, most suicides don’t get publicized because of the copycat factor. Though there was that poor deluded woman and her newborn so recently. Aren’t there signs at both ends of the bridge advising people to call the Samaritans? And the bridgekeepers, I understand, have to take courses in how to talk people out of jumping. I believe the keepers are allowed to physically restrain and even handcuff suspected wannabe jumpers until the police arrive.
Anyway, I apologize for being morbid here and wish I could spend next Sunday afternoon having roast and cider at the Corrie Tap.
Sorry for continuing the morbid hijack, but though Avon Gorge is a fairly popular suicide area, it’s actually pretty big, with lots of (very scenic) lookouts with easily climbed railings over steep cliffs; the bridge itself, as it is staffed 24 hours, is a bit public. None of the deaths I’ve heard of lately, and there have been a few, if they do tend to be mentioned more for road/river closures, have involved the bridge itself- including that horrible recent one with the baby.
Anyway, if you are lucky enough to get sunny weather, it is extremely pretty around there, and has lots of rare plants, and very few corpses, honest. It’s a bit bleak and exposed when it’s wet, but still worth a look.
One other thing Bristol is well known for is the graffiti, if that’s your sort of thing. It’s legal in a few areas, and the council positively encourage it on occasion. I mean the massive artwork style, not scrawled names (though there’s plenty of that as well). My Mum gets really interested in it whenever she visits. The stuff on houses and shops is almost all done with permission, it can often actually raise the house value.
It’s not as immediately showy as Bath, but there’s a lot more going on- if you go outside the centre in Bath, the rest of the place is a bit dull and dingy; Bristol’s centre is kind of the boring bit.
I woked and lived in Bristol for many years. Seconding a lot of what has gone before, if I had 7 hours to kill in Bristol I would:
All of those things are only a couple of miles apart and easily do-able I think depending on how much time you want to spend sight seeing each one.