Bristol: Castle Park / Cabot Circus

This route begins adjacent to Bristol Bus Station and to Broadmead, both of which are served by most of Bristol's bus routes.

Bicycle racks are available in the area.

There is no on-street parking and so you should use the car parks: either the NCP adjacent to St. James Barton, or the Cabot Circus Car Park

[1] From St James Barton, with your back to Debenhams, walk left down The Haymarket and then turn left into Union Street. At the top of rise, cross Wine street into Castle Park. Visit the two churches and ponder on the various memorials. Continue across Castle Park to view various (neglected) excavations of Bristol Castle.

[2] Cross Lower Castle Street by the footbridge (see photo) and descend using the carpark staircase. At the bottom of the steps, head right (downhill) and then turn first right in front of H&M. Circumvent the new shopping development (Cabot Circus) following the path with the shopping centre on your left all the way around to the first set of traffic lights on Bond Street (by House of Fraser)Cross Bond Street up Pritchard Street into Portland Square, turning left into Surrey Street and then on into Brunswick Square.

[3] From here you can continue straight ahead, taking the pedestrian access under the Holiday Inn to immerge again on Bond Street or you can walk diagonally across Brunswick Square and then use York Street to return to Bond Street. Either way you now only need to pass through The Bear Pit to return to your start point.

Hope you enjoyed your walk.

(K) Cabot Circus is a shopping centre. The Cabot Circus development area contains shops, offices, a cinema, hotel and 250 apartments. It covers a total of 139,350 m2 (1,500,000 sq ft) floor space, of which 92,900 m2 (1,000,000 sq ft) is retail outlets and leisure facilities. It opened in September 2008, after a ten-year planning and building project costing 500 million.

(I) Church of St Paul, 1789-94. Like all the terraced houses around Portland Square, a Grade I listed building. The church is now the home of Circomedia, offering a wide range of courses in circus skills. 

(H) Castle Park (sometimes referred to as Castle Green) is a public open space. Its western boundary is unclearly defined and has been the subject of controversy, perhaps because the area around High Street and St Mary-le-Port Church, though not part of the park and always intended for development, is often considered at the same time as the park. The park was completed in 1978 and occupies most of the site which had contained Bristol's main shopping area; much of this area having been heavily damaged in the Blitz during the Second World War. Adjoining the ruins of St Peter's church in the middle of the park is a sensory herb garden, and five silver birch trees as a memorial to the beaches of the D-Day landings. To the east is a grassy arena, and the partially excavated remains of Bristol Castle with a preserved vaulted chamber. There is also a bandstand and a children's play area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Park,_Bristol