Bristol: Getting there & around

Bristol International Airport (www.bristolairport.co.uk) is 13km (8mi) southwest of town. Most flights are holiday charters but there's also a limited number of scheduled flights to European destinations. easyJet (www.easyjet.com) and British Airways (www.ba.com) fly domestic routes to Glasgow and Edinburgh. easyJet also flies to Newcastle, and Air Southwest (www.airsouthwest.com) flies to Plymouth. Bristol International Flyer runs buses every half hour to the airport from Marlborough St bus station and Temple Meads.

National Express coaches go to Birmingham, London, Cardiff and Exeter. There are daily services to Nottingham, Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon. Bus X39 and 337/8/9 run to Bath, bus 376/377 goes to Wells and 673 runs to Cheddar. Change in Wells or Bath for Somerset and Wiltshire.

Bristol is an important rail hub, with regular connections to London, and it makes for an easy day trip. There are also frequent links to Cardiff, Oxford and Birmingham.

Local buses run from Parkway train station to the centre (a half hour trip) every 15 minutes. Buses 8 and 9 run every 15 minutes to Clifton from St Augustine's Pde, then on to Temple Meads train station. The Baltic Wharf Loop Bus (half-hourly Mon-Sat) runs from Temple Meads and St Augustine's Pde. Most bus numbers are prefaced by 50 outside peak hours; hence, bus 8 becomes 508.

The nicest way to get around is to use Bristol Ferry Boat Co (www.bristolferryboat.co.uk) boats that ply the Floating Harbour every 20 minutes from Apr-Sep (weekends only in winter), stopping at the SS Great Britain, Hotwells, Baltic Wharf, the centre (by Watershed), Bristol Bridge, Castle Park and Temple Meads.