Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol

Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol (must see)

The Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery has been holding court in its ornate Edwardian Baroque home since 1905, all carved stone, sweeping staircases, and a sense of civic grandeur that feels worlds away from the city鈥檚 gritty industrial past. Built as a temple to learning and culture, it remains free to enter鈥攎eaning you can wander past Egyptian mummies, Assyrian reliefs, taxidermy, glittering ceramics, and paintings by the likes of the Pre-Raphaelites, which were a group of painters founded in 1848. The collections pull you through centuries and continents, pausing for a good dose of Bristol鈥檚 own story, from maritime exploits to the less-than-glorious sides of global trade.

And then there鈥檚 Banksy. The museum is home to his Paint Pot Angel, a classical figure with a splash of pink rebellion across its head, scandalizing the sculpture hall. Back in 2009, Banksy staged his infamous 鈥淏anksy vs. Bristol Museum鈥� takeover here鈥攁n all-out, tongue-in-cheek hijacking that saw the galleries filled with irreverent surprises, and the queues stretching halfway across the city. The show may have packed up long ago, but its echoes still rattle through the building.

Today, the museum continues to shuffle the old with the new, giving you a straight path from ancient tombs to contemporary provocation鈥攏o time machine required.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Bristol. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "黑料吃瓜网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The 黑料吃瓜网 App

Create Your Own Self-Guided Walk to Visit This Sight

Sight Name: Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery
Sight Location: Bristol, England (See walking tours in Bristol)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Walking Tours in Bristol, England

Create Your Own Walk in Bristol

Creating your own self-guided walk in Bristol is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Famous Bristol Statues Walking Tour

Throughout its more than 1,000-year-long history, Bristol, England, has generated a wealth of cultural and historical heritage. Reflecting it now, and in some way matching it too, are a number of statues that celebrate personalities who made their mark and once graced the city with their association. These statues are scattered throughout the city, each with its unique story and importance.

The... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.6 Km or 1.6 Miles

Bristol Introduction Walking Tour

If you listen closely, Bristol doesn鈥檛 just speak鈥攊t mutters, shouts, and occasionally winks. This southwest city in England has been shaping itself for over a thousand years, starting as a settlement where the rivers Frome and Avon meet. Long before that, the surrounding hills hid Iron Age hillforts and Roman villas. Its name, Brycgstow in Old English, meant 鈥減lace at the bridge鈥濃€攁... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.4 Km or 2.1 Miles

Banksy Tour in Bristol

Bristol wears its street art like a second skin鈥攍ayered, loud, and impossible to ignore. In the middle of this visual conversation is a figure who went from spray-painting in the shadows to shaping the way the world looks at graffiti: Banksy. Growing up here in the 1970s, he first made his mark in the late 鈥�80s and early 鈥�90s with crews like the DryBreadZ Crew, working freehand under cover... view more

Tour Duration: 3 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 6.9 Km or 4.3 Miles

黑料吃瓜网