Walking in Bristol

Walking Leaflets

• Exploring the Countryside Walks is a pack of 30 walks exploring the magnificent cities, towns and countryside of the Community Forest and beyond. The walks range in distance from one and a half miles to nine miles and are graded from 1 to 4. (1 being relatively easy and wheelchair accessible, to 4 being hard). All walks can be downloaded free of charge from Countryside Walks.
• The Triangular City Walk is a long distance walk of 18 miles, devised by the Bristol Group of the Ramblers’ Association with funding and assistance from the Council. It offers wonderful views within the city and explores the waterfront, Durdham Downs, Avon Gorge and Blaise Castle Estate as well as the heart and history of the city. You can get copies of this leaflet from Bristol Libraries, the Tourist Information Centre and from the Bristol Ramblers.
• Walk Eastside is an exciting new project developed by BEST to promote Bristol's diverse inner city neighbourhoods. There are 2 mp3 audio tours to download free from www.visiteastside.co.uk/walk. The tours let you go at your own pace and feature award-winning cafes, artists, specialist shops and cutting-edge music. The website explains how to download the tracks and includes a map for each tour. This project is part funded by the European Union.
• Forest of Avon website has links to several walks and details of many walking clubs.
• The South Bristol Circular walk is a long distance city walk, of approximately 23 miles.  It was devised in 2005 by members of the Bristol Group of the Ramblers Association, with funding and assistance from the Council. It offers wonderful views across the City Centre, Avon Valley, Stockwood Nature Reserve, Dundry Hill and Ashton Court. Details of the walk can be ordered using the Travel Information Order Form.

Walking Projects and Information

• Walkit.com is a website where you can plan your walking journeys in Bristol using the online trip planner. Enter where you are travelling from and to and it will plot your journey on a map and more!
• Walking Your Way to Health - Guided health walks take place in many areas of Bristol.  Some include local history, places of natural beauty and areas of interest.  For more information call 0117 377 3458 or email healthwalks@bristol.gov.uk 
• The Draft Walking Strategy aims to increase walking for journeys to work, recreation and education through the provision of safe, accessible, convenient, cohesive and attractive pedestrian environment. You can download the strategy from below. 
• Public Rights of Way within Bristol can relate to changes to the definitive map such as diversions, closures and the creation of new public rights of way. If you have any queries you can contact the Public Rights of Way team by email traffic.management@bristol.gov.uk or telephone 0117 903 6822.
• The Joint Local Access Forum was formed by Bristol City Council and neighbouring authorities. It was formed to provide advice on rights of ways and on other recreational and access issues along with other issues and is open to anyone with an interest in walking.
• The Joint Rights of Way Improvement Plan has been published for consultation by JLAF. For more information click on ROWIP.
• Highway Code has a section on rules for pedestrians which covers crossing the road, bus and cycle lanes and more.
• Southmead Access Map provides local access information for visitors,  patients and staff at Southmead hospital.
• Connect2 Project is providing funding for the "Festival Way" cycling and walking route near Bristol.
• Brunel Mile forms a new pedestrian link between Bristol's Brunel heritage sites.

Contact Details

For further information on walking in Bristol:

Email: traffic.management@bristol.gov.uk

Telephone: 0117 9036670

Fax: 0117 9036830

Write to: Traffic Management Team, 4th Floor, Wilder House, Wilder Street, Bristol, BS2 8PH