A city with a significant maritime history. The Floating Harbour dominates the centre of the city, home to iconic tourist attractions such as Brunel’s SS Great Britain and a replica of John Cabot’s The Matthew. The harbour is also host to a number of watersports, waterside cafes, communities of house boat dwellings, floating restaurants and floating music venues such as Thekla. The coloured terraced houses of Clifton Wood are a picturesque backdrop to the harbour, though the habit of painting houses in this fashion can be found in other areas of the city too. Other landmarks with links to Brunel include Temple Meads station and the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which spans the Avon Gorge, linking the idyllic Clifton Village to the green spaces of Leigh Woods on the other side. 

Bristol enjoys a thriving street art scene that goes far beyond the works of Banksy, with huge scale murals decorating the brutalist high-rise office blocks in the Broadmarsh area, and the biennial festival of street art, Upfest, in Bedminster. The ancient Llandoger Trow pub has literary connections to both Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe. There are museums dedicated to Bristol life (M Shed) and science (We the Curious), a unique inland surfing lake (The Wave) and the annual world-famous Bristol Balloon Fiesta.