How To Spend a Long Weekend in Bristol

There's something about Bristol. Although the long weekend I spent there recently was only the third time I've been in two decades, both of my previous visits made me fall for the place enough to seriously consider going to university there and moving there, respectively. With a population of around 470,000, Bristol feels like a proper city, with great food and culture, but parts of it still retain a relaxed, villagey feel and it has a fantastic alternative scene too. I've always blamed expensive rail fares and hotel rates for not travelling very much within the UK but with Bristol only being a 1h30 train ride from London, I really have no excuse for visiting so infrequently. Here's what I got up to on my recent city break.

15 Specialty Coffee Shops To Visit in Bristol

I've known for some time that I was long overdue a return visit to Bristol, a city that I've loved each time I've been and yet, like many places in the UK, I don't get to often enough. In particular, the city's specialty coffee scene has changed a huge amount since I was last there (whisper it) a decade ago. A three-day trip over the Easter weekend wasn't enough time — when is it? — but the sunny weather was perfect for coffee-shop-hopping and I managed to visit 12 coffee spots.

The Caffeine Chronicles: LIFT

Since I got back from Uganda, work and life have both been keeping me busy, with few opportunities for coffee-shop-hopping. But on Sunday, with the sun shining, a brunch reservation on my phone and a spring in my step, I headed over to Notting Hill. I brunched at Sunday in Brooklyn — my first visit to the London outpost of the Brooklyn original, which I went to on my penultimate visit to New York. After a spot of hanami — the cherry blossoms were particularly lovely alongside the colourful houses of Notting Hill — it was coffee time.

Luckily, I had just the coffee shop in mind, thanks to another great recommendation from Laith from Saint Nine. And as it turned out, LIFT, on Kensington Church Street, had another Brooklyn connection in store for me.