Arrival, Information and Accommodation
Bristol is an easy place to get to. Twice-hourly trains from London Paddington arrive at either Bristol Parkway or Bristol Temple Meads. The latter, a twenty-minute walk from the centre, is served by frequent buses #8, #9, #508 and #509, which pass through the centre on their way to Cotham and Clifton. Parkway is too far out of town to walk from: take bus #73 (or #82 or #584 on Sun). The bus station , where National Express coaches from London arrive hourly, is in Marlborough Street, right next to Broadmead, the modern shopping centre. For all bus timetables and routes in the Bristol and Bath area, call 0870/608 2608 (8am-8pm). The tourist office is in the at-Bristol complex, on Wildscreen Walk, Harbourside (March-Oct daily 10am-6pm; Nov-Feb Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-4pm; tel 0117/926 0767, ). Most of Bristol's accommodation is in the leafy Georgian areas of Cotham and Clifton, which are also the districts where the majority of the city's students live. Price-wise, it's hard to beat St Michael's Guest House , 145 St Michael's Hill (tel 0117/907 7820; under GBP40), situated over a popular student cafe near the university. Lower down, in Cotham, Arches Hotel , 132 Cotham Brow (tel 0117/924 7398, ; GBP40-50), has small but comfortable non-smoking rooms with or without bath, while Clifton offers a wide range of hotels and B&Bs, from Downs View , 38 Upper Belgrave Rd (tel 0117/973 7046), which enjoys prospects over Clifton Downs and the city, to Naseby House Hotel 105 Pembroke Rd (tel 0117/973 7859, ; GBP60-70), a beautifully furnished Victorian building, ten minutes' walk from the centre. With a choice location near Clifton Village, Glenroy Hotel , Victoria Square (tel 0117/973 9058, admin@glenroyhotel.demon.co.uk ; GBP70-90), is pricier, but offers good-value weekend breaks. Bristol has two hostels : the modern and central Bristol YHA , in a refurbished warehouse on the quayside, at 14 Narrow Quay (tel 0117/922 1659, ), and the friendly Bristol Backpackers , also very central at 17 St Stephen's St (tel 0117/925 7900, ) - it's housed in a lovely old building with a late-night bar and cheap internet access, though it can be noisy. The university also has cramped but comfortable B&B during the Easter and summer vacations at The Hawthorns, Woodland Road, Clifton (tel 0117/954 5555).
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