Bristol named best city in England by Conde Nast

"This city has always moved to the beat of its own drum"

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07:26, 18 DEC 2021
Updated07:31, 18 DEC 2021

Bristol skyline viewed from Castle Park (Image: John Myers)

Bristol has been named as the best city in England to take a short break in by global travel bible Condé Nast.

The magazine ranked the top 13 cities in the UK to take a short city break in 2022 - and listed Bristol as the highest-placed English city.

Bristol came fourth in the UK behind Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh, with the American magazine and guide describing the city as somewhere that has ‘always moved to the beat of its own drum’.

The annual best city break guide has ranked Bristol highly before, and this is the second time it was named as the top city in England to visit. In May this year, Condé Nast said Bristol was the best English city to visit in 2021 - a title it has retained for 2022.

Bristol was placed above the likes of Cambridge, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham and, in ninth place, neighbouring Bath.

The Condé Nast citation said: “This city has always moved to the beat of its own drum, but independent Bristol is now home to even more innovative fun – including a zero-waste café, a man-made surfing lagoon and boutique hotels.”

The top reason for visiting Bristol in 2022, the travel bible has told global travellers, is The Wave, the inland artificial surfing lagoon at Easter Compton, just outside the city.

Condé Nast said: “The biggest splash for Bristol is The Wave, an incredible man-made surfing lagoon that's the first of its kind in England, casting out more than 1,000 waves an hour across its 200-metre surface. It opened in 2018 and the city has been busy surfing other scenes ever since.”

And the travel bible has cited Bristol’s boutique hotels including the Avon Gorge and the Artist Residence hotel, which opened earlier this year in a converted boot factory, as another reason why Bristol comes top.

It’s Bristol’s veggie restaurant offers that has delighted the US style bible, who name check Root in Wapping Wharf and the zero-waste cafe Vegetable Diva that has opened on Brandon Quay, as the places to go, as well as Bar 44 in Clifton, the vegan Persian Koocha Mezze Bar on the Cotham side of Cheltenham Road (Condé Nast listed it as Stokes Croft), Woky Ko, Kauto and the Sri Lankan-inspired Coconut Tree.

The travel bible’s Annabel Herrick also bigs up Bristol’s microbreweries and museums, including the new Being Brunel museum at the SS Great Britain, and the big festival season.

“Typically pulsing, the city's festival season looked a little different in 2021, but will be back in full bloom with the Harbour Festival and Love Saves the Day back in 2022,” she wrote.

The news that no less than Condé Nast has named Bristol as the best place for a city break in England has been welcomed, unsurprisingly, by Visit Bristol.