Less than 15 minutes apart, these two UK cities are chalk and cheese

Set amid the rolling hills of England’s West Country, about 90 minutes from London by rail, Bath and Bristol are like chalk and cheese but complement each other delightfully. While one (Bristol) is a buzzy old port city marrying grit and grandeur, throbbing with zany street art and colourful maritime history, the other (Bath) is a genteel and graceful spa retreat, all immaculate honeystone terraces and crescents, bookish charms and wellness draws. The fact that the train connects them in under 15 minutes makes it a no-brainer to visit both. And seeing as you’re in the region, why not tick off Stonehenge and the Cotswolds too?

Clifton, Bristol’s most elegant suburb.

But first, Bristol and Bath. Having enjoyed regular trips to this odd couple over the years, I’d recommend you start with Bristol. It’s the bigger and busier of the pair, its cityscape, while fairly compact and strollable, is spliced with calf-testing streets, stairways and knee-trembling clifftops. Get your bearings on the Blackbeard to Banksy walking tour, which takes you through more than 1000 years of Bristolian history in two hours. Beginning at the handsome medieval cathedral, it takes in key sights and streets, tucked-away alleys and aromatic markets, and the incredible murals that make Bristol (arguably) the street art capital of Britain.

While some pieces are gigantic and hard to miss, more concealed is the handiwork of Bristol’s own Banksy, the planet’s most infamous (and anonymous) “guerrilla artist”. “That’s a Banksy, from 2006,” says guide Luke Sargeant, pointing to an image sprayed on a former sexual health clinic near city hall. Titled Well Hung Lover, the mural depicts a naked man dangling from a window as his lover and her partner look out.

An artwork by Bristol’s own Banksy, the planet’s most infamous “guerrilla artist”.

We mull more offbeat art on our way to The Hatchet Inn, a low-ceilinged pub dating from 1606, when Bristol was Britain’s most important port after London, with its River Avon carrying mariners to and from the Bristol Channel, gateway to the Atlantic. Bygone maps adorn the pub’s walls and there are cartoonish portrayals of Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, a fearsome Bristol-born pirate who apparently drank here when he wasn’t plundering gold-laden Spanish galleons in the Caribbean.

Other west-coast British port cities, Liverpool and Glasgow, overtook Bristol in the late 18th century, but its raffish maritime character endures, especially down by quays, where gulls squabble, yachts and ferries sail and drinkers converse in that swashbuckling Bristolian burr (they roll their Rs and add Ls to the ends of words, a bit like on-screen pirates).

On cobblestoned King Street we find The Llandoger Trow, which claims to have inspired two great seafaring novels. Daniel Defoe, they say, got the idea for Robinson Crusoe here, then Robert Louis Stevenson reimagined the pub as the Admiral Benbow Inn in Treasure Island. Ghost stories and live music, from folksy sea shanties to German techno, regularly threaten to shiver the Trow’s timbers.

SS Great Britain: the world’s first iron-hulled, screw-propelled, ocean-going liner.

Passing Bristol Old Vic – touted as the oldest continuously working theatre in the English-speaking world – we round a corner to Queen Square, a magnificent lawned park that would fit snugly into London’s Bloomsbury or Belgravia. It’s framed by grand Georgian properties, bankrolled by Bristolian merchants. Many had amassed hefty fortunes from the trans-Atlantic slave trade and also built sumptuous mansions in Clifton, a prosperous Bath-like suburb in Bristol’s inner-west.

Besides its tidy shops, eateries and green spaces is the extraordinary, gorge-spanning Clifton Suspension Bridge. Rising 75 metres above the Avon, it was designed by the legendary engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. You can walk across the bridge – and enjoy its visitor centre – for free. You must pay, however, to roam the decks and cabins of another Brunel-built masterpiece.

That’s SS Great Britain, now permanently berthed in Bristol’s harbour. Launched in 1843, it was the world’s first iron-hulled, screw-propelled, ocean-going liner and, after initial voyages to New York, it made 32 journeys from Liverpool to Melbourne, carrying thousands of emigrants to the Victorian Gold Rush. It’s believed that up to half-a-million Australians could be descended from its passengers. The ship also, in 1861, took the first England cricket team to tour Down Under (they were less hopeless than most to have toured since, losing just twice in 12 matches).

Brightly painted cliff-top houses, stand-up paddleboarders, working boatyards and repurposed shipping containers housing cafes and arts spaces vie for your gaze as you mooch along the harbourfront, a filming location in The Outlaws, a Bristol-set TV comedy-drama by Bristolian actor Stephen Merchant. By imposing cargo cranes, the M Shed is the pick of Bristol’s admission-free museums and galleries, affording a fascinating trawl through the city’s past and people. Exhibits include the statue of the Bristol slave trader Edward Colston that was hauled down and tossed into the harbour during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

A bath in Bristol – the Artist Suite at the Artist Residence hotel.

Intrepid travellers may fancy the city’s bohemian inner-city enclaves, which hum with hip brunch spots, quirky stores, gig venues and, yes, more murals. Neighbouring Stokes Croft – another old Banksy stomping ground – the St Pauls district stages an annual Caribbean-inspired carnival and now boasts the Artist Residence, a creatively minded boutique hotel, bar and kitchen spanning converted Georgian townhouses and an old boot factory. I’m in the Artist Suite and it’s spacious with super-funky furnishings and a shabby-chic east London vibe. You’d pay double or more for a pad like this in England’s capital, though.

From Bristol Temple Meads, the Brunel-built railway will have you in Bath – 20km south-east – in 11 minutes. I amble from the station to Hotel Indigo, which spreads across a strip of classically photogenic heritage-listed Bath stone buildings. Its contemporary interior design cleverly channels episodes of Bath’s history, particularly its early 19th-century Regency period, when the city’s hot springs made it a fashionable wellness destination.

The Circus and The Royal Crescent, two Bath icons.

Royals, aristocrats and social climbers flocked here to “take the waters”, as did Arthur Philip, first governor of New South Wales, who retired to Bath. The era – and its whims, fashions and scandals – was captured by Jane Austen and, more recently, in Bridgerton. Seek out the ravishing locations from that Netflix drama based on the book by Julia Quinn – like the curvaceous Royal Crescent, and the fine art-stocked Holburne Museum – and discover Austen’s former Bath homes and hangouts. Special events, including themed balls and costumed parades, are being held in 2025 to mark the 250th anniversary of her birth.

Bath bubbles with afternoon tea spots, including The Pump Room, which faces the imposing gothic abbey and overlooks the beautifully preserved ancient Roman Baths, constructed when Bath was known as Aquae Sulis. You can plunge into the site’s 2000-year history, but can’t swim here. Instead, soak in the therapeutic thermal waters – and book treatments to soothe those aching calves – at the five-star Gainsborough Bath Spa hotel or the Thermae Bath Spa, which has a steamy rooftop pool.

Thermae Bath Spa, where you bathe in natural, mineral-rich thermal spa waters.

Pamper yourself with retail therapy – or window-shopping – at Bath’s fetching independent stores and sample local artisan cheeses, charcuterie, brews and spirits at delis, roasteries, gastropubs and restaurants, including Elder, at Hotel Indigo, whose seven-course menus promise “the best of British wild food”.

Intimate small-group and private tours also showcase the region’s bounty, including In & Beyond Bath, with whom I venture out into the idyllic Somerset countryside. Eye-opening tales – of revolting dukes, rebel farmers, sadistic judges and secret nuclear bunkers – are shared as we sup “scrumpy” ciders by crackling fires in time-warp pubs and wine and dine at The George Inn, a Tudor-era village coaching inn reborn as a foodie magnet.

Bath’s famous Roman baths.

After chalk stream trout cured in Cotswolds distillery gin, followed by venison haunch with pickled red cabbage, crispy onion mash and cavolo nero, then sticky-fig pudding with rum and raisin ice cream, I’m merry and satisfied. Yet this meal, this trip, in fact, has merely whetted the appetite for more dishes and adventures in England’s tantalising West Country.

FIVE DIVERSIONS FROM BATH AND BRISTOL

Rural bliss
Rent canoes or narrowboats and navigate the canals threading into Bath’s bucolic outskirts. Or hire bikes and pedal along a disused rural railway line to Bristol. See bath-narrowboats.co.uk

Cheddar Gorge
Caving, rock climbing and cheese-tasting are possible at this natural wonder where a skeleton of a hunter-gatherer from 9000 years ago was found in 1903. See cheddargorge.co.uk

Cotswolds
Lush farmland and quaint villages lace this postcard-perfect region, best explored with your own wheels. See cotswolds-nl.org.uk

Stanton Drew
The neolithic sites of Stonehenge and Avebury are more than an hour’s drive from Bath and Bristol, but much closer is Stanton Drew, another of Britain’s mysterious stone circles. See english-heritage.org.uk

Wells
TV and movie crews adore this pocket-sized city with its medieval cathedral and bishop’s palace, pretty gardens and coffee and cake spots. See wellssomerset.com

THE DETAILS

FLY
Emirates flies from Sydney and Melbourne to London via Dubai. Take the Elizabeth Line from Heathrow airport to Paddington, where trains depart for Bristol and Bath. For tickets, see gwr.com

STAY
The Artist Residence, Bristol, rooms from £130 ($270), artist suite from £275 ($570). See artistresidence.co.uk/bristol
Hotel Indigo Bath, rooms from £85 ($180). See bath.hotelindigo.com

TOUR
The Blackbeard to Banksy walking tour runs most days of the week. It costs £12 ($25) for adults, £5 ($10) children. Book via blackbeard2banksy.com
Half-day tours with In & Beyond Bath are priced from around £262 ($540) for two people, with private winter evening dining tours about £600 ($1236) for two. Full-day and custom tours of the region are also available year-round. See inandbeyondbath.com

MORE
visitbristol.co.uk
visitbath.co.uk
visitbritain.com

The writer travelled as a guest of Visit Britain and partners.