Holiday Cottages In Bristol

Bristol has a small, central set of self-catering cottages and apartments on selfcatering.co.uk, just nine at the moment, most in the city and the leafy suburbs around Clifton. This is a harbourside city base, handsome and walkable, with the Avon Gorge, a famous suspension bridge and a lively arts and food scene.

Best areas and towns in Bristol

Bristol is a city and a county in its own right, so almost all of its self-catering places sit within the city boundary rather than in separate towns. The pick of them cluster in the centre and the smart suburbs on the high ground to the north-west, near the Avon Gorge and the Downs.

• Bristol city centre: the harbourside heart of the city, walkable to the waterfront museums, the cathedral and the old town
• Stoke Bishop: a green residential suburb in the north-west, beside the Downs and a short walk from the Avon Gorge
• Shirehampton: an older village-like district on the city's north-western edge, near the Avon and Avonmouth

Clifton, with its Georgian terraces and the suspension bridge, is the best-known quarter for a city stay, while the harbourside puts the galleries, bars and ferries within easy reach on foot.

Bristol, the Avon Gorge and the Downs

Bristol is an inland city, but it is far from flat. The River Avon cuts a deep limestone canyon, the Avon Gorge, on the western edge of the centre, spanned high above the water by Brunel's famous Clifton Suspension Bridge. The cliffs are best seen from the Sea Walls, an old quarry viewpoint, and from Clifton Down and the neighbouring Durdham Down, which together form a large expanse of open grassland and woodland known simply as the Downs. Quieter green corners ring the suburbs too, from Cotham Gardens and the University of Bristol Botanic Garden to the wooded Old Sneed Park Nature Reserve and the pool at Abbots Pool out towards the gorge.

Things to do in Bristol

The city is made for wandering. The free Bristol Museum and Art Gallery holds everything from Egyptology to a Banksy, the Red Lodge Museum is a Tudor merchant's house, and the Royal West of England Academy and the smaller Hidden Gallery show changing art. Brunel's gothic Wills Memorial Building towers over the university quarter, and Victoria Square anchors the Georgian streets of Clifton. For a walk with a view, head up to the Sea Walls above the Avon Gorge or explore Giant's Cave, a tunnel that opens onto a balcony in the cliff face beside the suspension bridge. The harbourside, with its ferries, street food and waterfront galleries, is the city's social heart.

When to visit Bristol

Bristol is a year-round city break, but late spring and summer show it at its best, when the harbourside terraces are busy and the city's festival season is in full swing, including the famous hot-air balloon fiesta in August. Autumn is quieter and pleasant for walking the Downs and the gorge. Winter brings markets and a full programme of indoor culture in the museums and galleries. Midweek stays out of the summer peak tend to be the best value.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Bristol

Three of the cottages in Bristol take dogs, though none currently has a hot tub.

Getting to Bristol

Bristol sits in the south-west of England, where the M4 from London meets the M5 running north to south, about two hours from the capital by road. Two main stations, Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway, link the city to London Paddington in around an hour and a half and on to South Wales, Birmingham and the South West. Bristol Airport lies a short drive south of the city and serves a wide range of European routes.

Useful links

• Visit Bristol
• Bristol City Council
• Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust

Bristol is a city and ceremonial county in South West England, set on the River Avon a few miles inland from the Severn Estuary, with Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. It is one of the largest cities in the country and the cultural and economic capital of the West of England, built across a series of hills and the steep limestone valley that the Avon has carved on its way to the sea.

The river is central to the city's character. The Avon Gorge, crossed high above by Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge, separates the Georgian heights of Clifton and the open grassland of the Downs from the woods of Leigh Woods on the far bank. In the centre, the tidal river was long ago dammed to create the Floating Harbour, a sheltered dock now lined with museums, galleries, bars and the boats that give the waterfront its life. Around it spread the old merchants' quarters, the cathedral and the university, while leafier suburbs such as Stoke Bishop and Shirehampton run out towards the gorge and Avonmouth.

Bristol grew on trade and the sea. A port since at least Saxon times, it sent John Cabot west to North America in 1497 and later grew wealthy, with a troubling share of that wealth tied to the transatlantic slave trade. Engineering genius left its mark in Brunel's bridge, his Great Western Railway and the steamship SS Great Britain, now preserved in the harbour. Today the city is known for its independent spirit, its street art, its music and the hot-air balloons that fill its summer skies.