“I cooked breakfast at the Bristol Wing for four mornings straight — eggs from St Nicholas Market, sourdough from Hart's Bakery under Temple Meads — and ended up sitting with three different sets of travelers each morning. By day three, two of us had agreed to meet in Edinburgh in October. That's what a good hostel kitchen does that a free continental breakfast never will.”
Ex-police-station hostel on Bridewell Street that funnels its profits into a Bristol homelessness charity. Five-minute walk to the Thekla and the King Street pubs, ten to Temple Meads via Uber. Bristol's highest-rated hostel with free breakfast and a kitchen that actually works.
Converted Victorian grain warehouse on Narrow Quay, right on Bristol's floating harbour. The quietest hostel in the city, with riverside views from the cafe-bar and a five-minute ferry hop to the SS Great Britain.
Backpacker hostel attached to The Full Moon pub on the edge of Stokes Croft, Bristol's street-art and counterculture quarter. Live music nights downstairs, a beer garden out back, and the cheapest bunks within walking distance of the city centre.
Hostel attached to a bowling alley and bar on Park Row, smack in the middle of the Old City student quarter. Cheapest central beds in Bristol with a built-in party downstairs, ten lanes of bowling, and a bar that runs late on weekends.
Hit St Nicholas Market on a Saturday for the best produce day, but go before noon to beat the lunch queues.
Hart's Bakery under Temple Meads station does the city's best sourdough — ten minutes from any central hostel and worth the walk.
The Bristol Wing kitchen has two ovens — rare in Bristol hostels — so it's the only one where roast-dinner Sunday is realistic.
Stock up on cider at Bristol Cider Shop in St Nicholas Market — way better than supermarket cans for the same price.
If you're at the Full Moon Backpackers, stretch your kitchen night into the pub downstairs — the £6 lunch deal is the cheapest cooked meal in Stokes Croft.
