Photo: Chensiyuan (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Things to do in Bristol
Wondering what to do in Bristol? This guide lists the area's attractions — zoos, museums, theme parks and more — with distances, so you can plan every day of your trip. Highlights include Georgian House Museum, Bristol Aquarium and The Red Lodge Museum.
Showing museums, aquariums and attractions with indoor areas — the ones that work whatever the forecast.
🎟️ This weekend near Bristol
Events from
Skiddle
Fri 13 Nov · 19:30
Evening of Mediumship with Nikki Kitt - Chipping Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury Town Hall, Chipping Sodbury, Br · 10.7 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 12:00
Glastonbury Audio Tour: A Sacred Tapestry Tour
Glastonbury Abbey, Glastonbury · 21.8 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 12:00
Birmingham Audio Tour: Birmingham's Eastside Odyssey
Martineau Place, Birmingham · 12.6 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 12:00
Bath Highlights Audio Tour: Georgian Splendour
Roman Baths (Bath), Bath · 11.5 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Aquariums
0.2 mi from Bristol
Bristol Aquarium
Bristol Aquarium sits in the heart of the city on the historic Harbourside, with more than 40 naturally-themed displays of tropical sharks, rays, seahorses, turtles and other aquat...
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Museums & Galleries
0.1 mi from Bristol
Georgian House Museum
The Georgian House is a historic house museum at 7 Great George Street in Bristol, England. It was built around 1790 for John Pinney, a wealthy sugar merchant and slave plantation... — Wikipedia
0.2 mi from Bristol
KSC
The Stradling Collection is a Bristol charitable trust holding over 2,000 objects of mid-century design, craft and fine art, rooted in the legacy of Ken Stradling MBE and the Brist...
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0.2 mi from Bristol
We The Curious
We The Curious is a hands-on science museum on Bristol's Harbourside, spread across two floors of exhibits alongside the UK's only 3D Planetarium, known locally as the giant disco...
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0.3 mi from Bristol
Palestine Museum & Cultural Centre
This small, volunteer-run museum in Bristol presents a permanent exhibition on Palestinian heritage, culture and daily life, with artefacts, photographs and paintings alongside a r...
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0.3 mi from Bristol
Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is a large museum and art gallery in Bristol, England. The museum is situated in Clifton, about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the city centre. As part of Bri... — Wikipedia
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0.4 mi from Bristol
SS Great Britain Museum
SS Great Britain Museum lets you step aboard the historic ship that was once the world's largest passenger vessel, exploring interactive exhibitions, historic artefacts and the sur...
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0.4 mi from Bristol
M Shed
Industrial museum – Museum about Bristol with a collection of historic ships
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0.7 mi from Bristol
Muller House
This small museum tells the story of George Müller and the thousands of orphaned children cared for at the Ashley Down Orphan Homes from Victorian Bristol until the 1950s. Housed i...
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1.3 mi from Bristol
Clifton Suspension Bridge Visitor Centre
The Visitor Centre sits beside Clifton Suspension Bridge on the Leigh Woods side, with free entry daily from 10am to 5pm. Inside, you can learn about Isambard Kingdom Brunel's desi...
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1.9 mi from Bristol
The George Müller Museum
The George Müller Museum tells the story of George Müller and the 17,500 children who lived in the Ashley Down Orphan Homes from Victorian Bristol until the 1950s. Housed in one of...
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3.2 mi from Bristol
Sea Mills 100 Museum
Sea Mills 100 Museum is housed in a K6 red telephone box at the junction of Shirehampton Road and St Edyth's Road. Inside you'll find bespoke display cabinets made by a local carpe...
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3.3 mi from Bristol
Glenside Hospital Museum
Glenside Hospital Museum sits in a Grade II listed former asylum church in Fishponds, Bristol, documenting the history of mental health and learning disability care through medical...
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4 mi from Bristol
Blaise Hamlet
Blaise Hamlet is a small, charming cluster of nine cottages arranged around an open green, built in 1811 to house retired staff from the nearby Blaise Castle estate. Each cottage w...
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4.2 mi from Bristol
Blaise Museum - Kingsweston Roman Villa
Kings Weston Roman Villa is located in Lawrence Weston in the north-west of Bristol. Discovered in 1947 during the construction of the post-war housing estate, the site consists of... — Wikipedia
4.3 mi from Bristol
Frenchay Village Museum
Museum in Frenchay, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom
4.9 mi from Bristol
Aerospace Bristol
Aerospace Bristol is an aerospace museum at Filton, to the north of Bristol, England. The project is run by the Bristol Aero Collection Trust and houses a varied collection of exhi... — Wikipedia
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5.1 mi from Bristol
Oakham Treasures
Oakham Treasures is a large privately owned museum of retail and farming history in Portbury, North Somerset. You'll find a vast collection of memorabilia from the last century, in...
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Theme Parks
21.1 mi from Bristol
Brean Theme Park
Brean Theme Park is a free-admission theme park just off the M5 in Brean, Somerset, offering a day of rides and attractions for all ages. You'll find roller coasters, dodgems, a tr...
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Zoos & Wildlife
21.6 mi from Bristol
Slimbridge Wetland Centre
Slimbridge Wetland Centre is a wildlife reserve and visitor attraction where you can explore adventure play areas, take a canoe safari, join expert-led talks and tours, and visit S...
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Where to stay near Bristol
Places to stay within easy reach of these days out.
Bristol works best as a base rather than a bullseye. Point yourself south and you're in Somerset's abbey country; head east and you reach Bath and the Cotswolds; go north-east for the Gloucestershire forests; cross the water and you're into Monmouthshire and Cardiff. That means a few days here can take in china kilns, a wartime shelter, a bird garden and a water park without ever feeling rushed — provided you plan one direction per day rather than zig-zagging.
Best for families
If the forecast is kind and the children need to burn off energy, Aquaventure in the Cotswolds is the obvious choice for a splashing-about day. For a slower, animal-led outing, Brean Down Bird Garden near Weston-super-Mare suits younger children who like to look rather than queue, and Webbington Farm is an easy pairing with it if you want to make a full day of the Weston-super-Mare direction.
Older children and nostalgic adults tend to get more out of Oakham Treasures, a vast collection of everyday things from the past, or Arcade Archive in Gloucestershire, where the appeal is hands-on and the grown-ups usually last longer than they expected.
Rainy-day options
Bristol's region is unusually well stocked with indoor days out, so rain rarely ruins a plan.
- Cirencester Air Raid Shelter — compact, atmospheric and a good introduction to wartime life for school-age children.
- Nantgarw China Works Museum — porcelain-making history, and a change of pace from the bigger regional collections.
- Newport Museum and Art Gallery — a broad mix of art and local history under one roof.
- Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre — worth a detour if you're tracing family history or local records.
- Museum of Bath Stone — explains the stone behind the buildings you'll be walking past all day.
Fresh air and open ground
Tintern Old Station Car Park in Monmouthshire is a sensible starting point for a riverside day, and doubles as a place to eat your sandwiches and let everyone stretch. Blagdon Pumping Station & Visitor Centre, over towards Weston-super-Mare, suits a gentler outdoor morning with something to look at when you've had enough of the wind. In Gloucestershire, the Dean Heritage Museum tells the story of the forest around it, which makes it a natural half-day if you want walking and context in the same trip.
Heritage and old buildings
Glastonbury Abbey is the headline heritage visit in the Somerset direction, with grounds that reward a slow wander; the Glastonbury Tribunal sits nearby and adds the town's own story. In Monmouthshire, the Shire Hall Museum covers courtroom history in a building that's an exhibit in itself. Over in Cardiff, Our Chartist Heritage puts the region's protest history in plain terms. And if you're in Bath, the Museum of Bath Architecture explains how the city came to look the way it does — pair it with the Museum of Bath Stone and you've a neat, coherent day.
Grouping it into a sensible day
- Somerset day: Glastonbury Abbey first thing while it's quiet, lunch in town, then the Glastonbury Tribunal in the afternoon.
- Weston-super-Mare day: Brean Down Bird Garden in the morning, then either Webbington Farm or Oakham Treasures, with Blagdon Pumping Station & Visitor Centre as a shorter third stop if everyone's still game.
- Bath day: Museum of Bath Architecture, a long lunch, Museum of Bath Stone after.
- Border day: Tintern Old Station Car Park for the morning air, Shire Hall Museum in Monmouthshire after lunch.
- Cotswolds day: Aquaventure for the children, or Cirencester Air Raid Shelter if you'd rather something quieter and indoors.
Where to eat
For a reliable mid-morning stop before you set off, Boston Tea Party and Coffee#1 are both dependable, and both hold five-star hygiene ratings. One is a good tea-room choice when you want a proper sit-down rather than a takeaway cup, and The Larkhall Deli is the one to remember if you'd rather build a picnic to eat at Tintern Old Station Car Park or in the abbey grounds. For an evening meal with a bit more weight to it, The Assembly Inn covers the pub end of things.
Making it a short break
Three nights is the sweet spot: one day pointed south towards Somerset, one east towards Bath or the Cotswolds, and one across the water towards Monmouthshire and Cardiff. There are 75 places to stay on BritStays in this region, so it's worth choosing by direction — if most of your plans sit towards Weston-super-Mare, base yourself that way rather than doubling back each morning.
Before you set off
Check opening days directly with each attraction, as several of the smaller museums — the Glastonbury Tribunal and Cirencester Air Raid Shelter among them — keep limited hours and can close out of season. Book ahead for Aquaventure in school holidays. Pack waterproofs even on a museum day, take cash for smaller sites, and build in longer than you think between stops in different counties.
Frequently asked questions
What is there to do in the Bristol region on a wet day?
Plenty. The Cirencester Air Raid Shelter, Nantgarw China Works Museum, Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre and the Museum of Bath Stone are all indoor visits, so a day of rain rarely means cancelling your plans.
Which attractions suit families with young children?
Aquaventure in the Cotswolds is the main water-park option, while Brean Down Bird Garden and Webbington Farm near Weston-super-Mare suit a gentler, animal-focused day. Oakham Treasures and Arcade Archive in Gloucestershire tend to work better for older children and adults.
Can I see Glastonbury Abbey and other Somerset sights in one day?
Yes. Glastonbury Abbey and the Glastonbury Tribunal sit in the same town, so a morning at the abbey, lunch, and the Tribunal in the afternoon makes a comfortable day without a lot of driving.
Where can I eat with a five-star hygiene rating?
Boston Tea Party, Coffee#1, One and The Larkhall Deli are all tea rooms with five-star hygiene ratings, and The Assembly Inn covers the pub side of things for an evening meal.
What is there to do on the Welsh and border side of the region?
Tintern Old Station Car Park and the Shire Hall Museum are both in Monmouthshire and pair well in a single day. Further on, Cardiff has the Nantgarw China Works Museum, Newport Museum and Art Gallery and Our Chartist Heritage.
How long should a short break here be, and where should I stay?
Three nights lets you take one day towards Somerset, one towards Bath or the Cotswolds and one towards Monmouthshire and Cardiff. There are 75 places to stay on BritStays in the Bristol region, so choose one that sits in the direction most of your plans point.
More ways to explore
Not booked yet? See the best places to stay in Bristol.