It was a change of direction for us today's outing and a slightly earlier start, I've been to Bristol a few times in the past, but normally only end up the pub most of the day, we had planned on more for today, but we probably wouldn't have had enough time to do it all plus it was a warm day so best to take it easy.
Today we left Fareham at 07:47 and arrived at Bristol Temple Meads at 09:47, amazingly the train was getting there on time today, but I think that was due to engineering works further up the line so this train was only going one more stop and not all the way to Cardiff so this would be a good idea for future visits I think.
From just outside the station we caught the number 8 bus for the 15-minute ride that would drop us just at the back of the City Centre then we walked a short distance to Cascade Steps which is a series of steps down to the harbour with shallow water running over them, it's an idyllic place to sit for a bit and watch the world go by.
Along this part of the harbour, the old Warehouses have been turned into shops, cafes and trendy bars so we took a leisurely stroll along until we came to the V Shed pub. It seemed fairly quiet in here, then I discovered after a 3-mile hike to the toilets that there were 2 other floors above us that were very busy, price wise it was reasonable value for money.
We spent around an hour in there, then walked across the footbridge that takes you over the harbour and continued along on the other side to the Bristol Harbour Steam Railway. There's only a small section track left that now runs an old steam train that was used to transport goods from the warehouses to the main line and for a £2 you can take a ride on it which last about 10 minutes or so and there seemed to be no shortage of people waiting to ride today, I was tempted to have a go as its fully accessible but they only run about every 30 minutes I think and we had other things to see along here.
Next on the list was the M Shed which is a free museum dedicated to the history of Bristol, there's some great stuff in here, even though it is a small museum, there's also a roof terrace on the third floor that gives you a fantastic view over the harbour. After spending an hour in here we headed off back the way we came and had planned on catching a bus to the city centre, but after searching in vain for the stop that wasn't was it said it was supposed to be on the map it was easier just to walk, I'm glad we did in the end.
After walking for about 15 minutes, mostly back the way we came we were starting to get hungry and after a quick check of the map I discovered a pub called the Commercial Rooms, this a really grand old building with high vaulted ceilings and fantastic stonework out the back. After a couple of beers and some lunch we carried on into the City Centre for a look around the shops then caught a bus back towards the train station, we weren't planning to stay late here and had assistance booked for the 17:20 train back, I don't like leaving it to late getting back to the station so we had an hour to kill almost when we got there but my plan was to go in the pub around the corner which suited me very nicely.
Due to engineering works the train was already sitting on the platform 15 minutes before it was due to leave this also had the added bonus of not being jam-packed as it hadn't come all the way from Cardiff.
All went well with the 2-hour journey back arriving on time, we had just missed a bus at the station so walk into Fareham and caught one from there.
