Bristol on a Budget

That’s a breakfast in the Bristolian Café by the way, rather than a regional take on the most important meal of the day.

Although the guys at the Bristolian do put their own delicious spin on the breakfasts they make, with sesame infused spinach and crispy fried potatoes in there with the usual suspects.

A big fat Bristolian breakfast here is £7.95 (and there’s a great veggie version too), Belgian waffles are £5.95, and fancy breakfast ciabattas start at £4.90.

It’s an excellent way to kick off the day before exploring the great things to do in Bristol on a budget, and you can easily have your breakfast as well as a good coffee for under a tenner. 

So you might have heard of this Banksy chap? Well, he’s Bristolian, and the walls of the city have been his canvas on numerous occasions since he started painting back in the 80s.

Lots of his work in the city is gone now, which is the nature of the beast when it comes to street art – but there’s still a lot of it for fans to find around the city.

You can do your own walking tour of the city to see his work, and you can do it easily, because Google Maps have created a map of his works around the city. All you have to do is search for ‘Banksy Bristol’ in Google Maps, and follow your phone!

Just make sure you don’t ignore all the other awesome street art around Bristol while you’re looking for Banksy pieces – there’s a lot of beautiful pieces all over the city. 

Bristol’s history is written around the docks where merchants would trade their goods and sailors would head off on long voyages.

Like all docks in all cities, it got a little grimy over the years, but a massive regeneration project beginning in the late 90s saw the dock given a turbo-makeover, and it’s now a beautiful spot with shops, bars, restaurants, cafes and markets for you to visit, as well as the SS Great Britain, a former passenger steamship that’s now a fascinating museum and one of our favourite things to do in Bristol on a budget.

Entrance to the museum costs a little more than our tenner budget allows, but you can get some awesome photos of it from the outside… and if you feel like splashing out and visiting properly, we wouldn’t blame you. 

Bristol has a big Jamaican and Caribbean community which has had a huge influence on the city’s atmosphere, music, and food. And the food is really, really good.

If you want a taste of some particularly good Caribbean food, Bristol’s got your back. Rice and Things is a particularly nice little spot where you can get a lovely, spicy, authentic take away lunch for £7, or you can eat-in for a tenner.

This one has even had a visit from Jamie Oliver, so you know it’s good! Try the goat curry. 

The Clifton Suspension Bridge opened in 1864, spans the River Avon and Avon Gorge, and is probably the most iconic symbol of Bristol there is… and that’s including Banksy’s art, which is saying something.

The bridge was and still is hailed as a superb feat of engineering, and it’s a really beautiful viewpoint too.

Free guided tours of the bridge are run at 3pm every Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday. The tours are well worth doing, and you’ll hear plenty of stories and facts about the building of the bridge.

To make an afternoon of it, bring a nice picnic with you and chill in the surrounding park after your tour. 

They take their cider very seriously in this neck of the woods. The Coronation Tap is probably Bristol’s favourite pub, famous in the city (and beyond) for serving up Bristol’s favourite drink.

West Country cider is the city’s (and indeed the whole south west’s) lifeblood and the Cori Tap’s very own brew, Exhibition, is one of Bristol’s favourite.

Its alcohol level is 8.4%, and whether or not this has something to do with its popularity can only be guessed (but it probably does). But it’s not just about the cider – the Cori Tap and its signature cider come together, and the combination of the pub and the pint (well, half-pint as it’s too strong to sell in pints) is a bona fide Bristol institution.

Be careful spending a tenner on this stuff; it’s strong. And watch your step when you’re leaving.

You’ll find Cabot Tower right at the top of the lovely parkland of Brandon Hill in Bristol’s West End. It’s a 105ft high tower that was built back in 1897, and offers really beautiful panoramic views of the city.

It’s totally free to go climb the tower, and once you get to the top you’ll be treated to some incredible views down over the whole city.

Brandon Park is a beautiful spot too; a really lovely place to spend a few hours even if there were no tower there.

The park is a nature reserve that offers both a sanctuary and fuelling station for migrating birds, and it’s a gorgeous, quiet little spot for a picnic too. A perfect way to escape the city centre and one of the best things to do in Bristol on a budget.

Starting with a hearty Bristollian breakfast and seeing some of the unique attractions the West Country has to offer. For more great things to do in Bristol on a budget visit Try Somewhere New.

Flights to Bristol

- Dee Murray