CITY BREAKS WITH KIDS: BRISTOL

I’m bored!

Cycle paths, community farms, street art and street food make Bristol a multicultural place and a family-friendly destination. The Brunel’s ship is probably the city’s most famous attraction. Younger kids can dress up as Victorian cabin boys and try punch-bag boxing on deck. The other must-visit is the At-Bristol Science Centre just across the water from the SS Great Britain on Millennium Square. You need to take a ferry, and then it’s a five-minute walk. It has opportunities for children to fly, build or draw, while older ones are dealing with science. Even toddlers can play with soft bricks. If you enjoy outdoor activities. Hire bikes and pedal out along the Bristol to Bath Cycle Path. The 13-mile off-road route between Temple Meads and Bath Spa stations with lots of sculptures is wide and asphalted. Children who are too young to cycle might have ice creams at Warmley Waiting Room.

Where are all the other kids?

Ashton Court Estate’s 850 acres of woods and parkland are free to explore and include cafés, a deer park, a natural play area, a miniature railway and a centre to hire mountain bikes. There are two city farms which are both free. St Werburghs, to the north, is small but has a great Gaudí-esque café with a play area and food sometimes made with ingredients picked from the neighbouring allotments. Windmill Hill is more central and has a wider range of play areas, animals and events, like kids’ cookery workshops, circus skills and street food pop-ups.

(Adapted from Guardian website)