Lifestyle District: Our Favourite 'Big Walk' in Bristol

Founded by photographer Virginia Allwood and journalist Dan Martin, Lifestyle District takes readers off the beaten track with highly visual and informative content about interesting museums, art galleries, hotels, restaurants, cafes and bars to visit and experience around Bristol:

We love the great outdoors at Lifestyle District HQ; so much so that we have christened one of our favourite strolls through Bristol as 'The Big Walk'. We like to think that the route is a bit of a family secret but it's time to let you, our lovely readers, know all about it. Just promise you won't tell anyone!

Bristol is a city of hills and we live on the top of one of them in Clifton. To get into the centre of town, we could simply walk down Park Street, the main road into central Bristol. But we're much more adventurous than that!

The journey passing Clifton's charming Georgian town houses leads to the atmospheric Birdcage Walk, a tunnel of trees through the graveyard of the former 17th century St Andrew's Church, which was destroyed in the Second World War. An empty space remains where the building once stood.

The trip down the hill then begins.

After the quiet streets of Cliftonwood, steep steps lead down to Hotwells. When we reach this point, we always pause for a wonderful view of the river which is often peppered with boats and canoes. The view is always different as the seasons change.

Crossing the busy main road, you then arrive on the harbour with its popular waterside pubs and modern houses with flowery front gardens.

Taking the bridge over the river and passing boatyards that are hundreds years old but remain home to traditional shipbuilding and you soon arrive at one of the jewels in Bristol's crown; Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain. Restored to its original 1840s glory, the ship is now an internationally award winning museum.

Our journey continues along the river with its pleasure cruisers and tourist barges. The industrial heritage of Bristol is still evident with the old railway tracks that were once used to transport coal to power the massive cranes that now provide an historical attraction for visitors to the M Shed, the three story modern museum that tells the story of Bristol in a former 1950s transit shed.

The best journeys always end with a pint so after lessons learnt in the museum, a short stroll further down the river leads to The Ostrich, a pub built in 1745 that's full of charming character and history.

It is here where The Big Walk ends. Do try out our secret. But remember; shhhhhhhhh!

To view Lifestyle District's full collection of images click here.

Lifestyle District is the blog of Virginia Allwood and Dan Martin who also run Le Shop - an online retailer selling fine art photographs of Bath, Bristol and the South West.