STAFF REVIEW: CROSS-HARBOUR SELF-GUIDED CRAFT BEER TOUR IN BRISTOL

Visiting Bristol for the first time, Rina and I were extremely excited to embark on the Cross Harbour Self-Guided Craft Beer Tour with Bristol Hoppers! The £18 per person ticket price bags you a terrific tour of Bristol’s best undiscovered pubs, with brilliantly illustrated maps and drinks tokens to guide you along the way.

Our tour was set to begin at 12:30pm. After a rather leisurely start, Rina and I set off to walk across town and find the starting point of our beer adventure. On this Friday morning, Bristol was a little busier than usual due to Greta Thunberg being in town for a climate strike – so as we strolled through the streets, we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of a gathered protest! There never seems to be a dull moment when Rina and I are on an experience visit…

Ahead of that morning, we had received a welcome email from the lovely Heather who runs the Bristol Hoppers tour company. This email included instructions to reach our first pub, as well as some nearby sights and art to see, including interesting facts about each of them. Following these directions, once we’d passed through the crowded College Green, we found ourselves in front of the magnificent Bristol Cathedral. The Cathedral was originally Augustinian, founded in 1140, and is free to look around until 5pm on weekdays, 3pm on weekends. So, definitely worth a look before or after your tour if you have the time! 

As we passed by the Cathedral and wandered down the oncoming street, we spotted our first Banksy to our left. It’s believed that Banksy was born in Bristol, so the creative city is covered in his work; you just have to be able to find it! This first piece we came across read "You Don’t Need Planning Permission To Build Castles in the Sky" and was originally installed in 2011. Poignant stuff! With our first sights under our belt, we reached our first pub. As we entered, we were warmly welcomed by the bar staff, and collected an envelope with our names on. Inside were our picture cards, containing the illustrated maps and instructions for each step, as well as our drinks tokens, and a couple of one-pound coins. We settled ourselves at a nearby table and proceeded to order our drinks at the bar. The tokens at this stop would get us a 1/3 pint each, and we had to choose from a variety of beers and ciders they had on tap. After hearing some recommendations, Rina and I both opted for a dark berry cider. This first pub felt very homely and was a great place for us to sit and have a good look at where exactly our tour was going to take us! 

Once our pints were finished, we decided it was time to find our next stop. Taking a left outside the pub, we followed the street down and took a left turn, to find ourselves on a cobbled lane that would take us towards the river. A few minutes later we were met by the harbour, and were surrounded by a semi-circle of different independent cafes and restaurants. Walking around the corner, it was here that we were going to put those one pound coins to use, as we spotted the bright orange cross-harbour ferry. This small ferry operates all day, every day and costs one pound per person to cross over from one side of the harbour to the other. The name of this tour was now starting to make sense! We only had to wait a few minutes until the ferry had passed onto our side, and we were able to board.  The journey was short but sweet, and added a fun, unexpected aspect to the tour! Once we had reached our destination, we disembarked the ferry to find a landmark to our right, the SS Great Britain. The restored 1843 passenger liner holds a museum, and by paying admission you can go inside to explore the story first hand. If you don’t fancy the extra cost, you can still get a great view of the ship from outside the fences!

It was here that we found ourselves in Brunel square, a city park overlooking the harbour. Once we had a wander around, we followed the street directly in front of us to move on to our next pub. After a brief walk down the quiet lane, we took a right down an alleyway, following signs pointing towards our second pub. Before heading inside, we followed the map’s directions, trying our best to spot the nearby Banksy around the corner. After a mosey around, we headed inside. This pub was bustling with lots of locals (you could tell it was a well-loved local gem) and had seating both inside and out. As we walked towards the bar, we noticed an extensive range of locally produced ciders, along with long list for us to choose from! As with our previous stop, our tokens would grant us each a 1/3 pint of any of the beers or ciders on tap. This pub prides itself on serving ‘no-nonsense ciders’ and has been selling cider on the premises for over 180 years. Rina and I both opted for ‘Bloom’, a sweet, elderflower-infused brew that was dubbed as ‘the one for the blended fruit cider lovers’. Being a big fan of elderflower, this sweet tipple was definitely my favourite cider of the tour… and perhaps ever! With a huge selection to choose from, there certainly was something for everyone here.

As we sipped our ciders, we simply sat and watched the world go by peacefully – arguably one of life’s best past times, don’t you agree? Coming to the end of our drinks, once again we drew our attention to our picture cards to figure out where the next stop would be, and which direction to head in. We left the pub, took a right, and carried on straight down a suburban lane until we found ourselves parallel to the riverside. Following the River Avon along, our next instructions were to cross the Vauxhall Bridge, and follow the street that was opposite along until we found our next ‘unmissable’ location. After roughly a ten-minute stroll through deep suburbia, our next stop was in front of us loud and clear. Bristol is filled with some incredible street art, and it now felt as if we were in the heart of it all as a duo of incredible, brightly coloured murals stood in front of us. Our instruction cards had mentioned that pieces on this part of town were all to do with artists involved in ‘Upfest’, one of Europe's largest live street art and graffiti festivals. So, if you’re into street art, this is not to be missed! We headed inside our third pub and were definitely impressed. Of the four locations, this was definitely the ‘coolest’ (take that however you will) with a more modern interior. This independent tap room is a beer lover’s paradise, and with a great selection of independent craft beers on rotation, there’s always something new to try there. Our tokens at this stop could be redeemed against a tasting flight each, containing three different brews of our choice. When ordering, we were sure to ask for the bartenders’ recommendations once again, and he provided us with a selection of his top picks, being sure to number them with chalk on our flight boards, so we were able to view which ones were which from the board above the bar.

This was certainly a highlight of the tour, and it was great to try not just one, but three of the brilliant brews on offer! The tap room was a great place to sit and chat, as it had a warm ambience – if we didn’t have places to be later that day, Rina and I agreed we could have sat there forever! After consulting our picture cards for one of the final times, we absorbed our directions and headed right outside the tap room. After following the street down, we were met by a piece of street art that literally stopped us in our tracks it was so magnificent. Very fitting for the events of that morning, we stood in front of an immense mural of Greta Thunberg. The pictures of this piece of art don’t do it any justice, as the scale was just unbelievable (although if you’d like a peak at it you can find it on the product page here). After a long look, we continued our directions and strolled down the high street before us. It was roughly a 15-minute walk to our next destination, the fourth and final pub of the tour. Along the way we realised just how meticulously thought out every step of this tour was, as the route we had taken passed an array of even more incredible street art. The great part about a self-guided tour is that you can be your own time keeper, so if you fancy taking a stroll around some of the locations for longer, you’re totally free to do so! 

After a wander around this part of town, Rina and I headed towards our last pub, just off of a mini roundabout at the bottom of the high street. We walked inside to find a large, stylish pub with a variety of vintage furnishings and accents, a quaint little find from the bustling high street outside. For the final time, we headed to the bar (asking their recommendations again of course) and landed ourselves with a sweet, traditional apple cider to enjoy. With our tour coming to an end, Rina and I were both feeling rather jolly – I wonder why that was? But we now knew it was time to find some grub. Many of the pubs along the way served food, and we had passed a few things that had taken our fancy. Again, if you feel like stopping at any of these you are welcome to! The instruction cards have plenty of recommendations along the way, and we chose to head towards Heather’s top recommendation - Wapping Wharf; to find a new harbourside quarter filled with bars, restaurants and cafes. 

Rina and I had a fantastic time on this tour, as it was an excellent way to experience Bristol from a local’s perspective, and get an insight to the well-loved pubs and tap rooms this creative city has to offer. A self-guided beer tour is an excellent way to spend a day in the city with a group of friends large or small, as you have the freedom to explore each spot to your heart’s content without the worry of being moved on by a traditional tour guide. The value for money is also excellent, as you get very decent portions of a range of locally crafted beers and ciders throughout. Rina and I both confess to not being the biggest beer drinkers in the world, but thoroughly enjoyed this tour regardless. 

I would like to say a huge thank you to the wonderful Heather for inviting us along, and recommend that you check out this tour, as well as her other beer and brewery tours of Bristol if you’re looking for a fun day out in Bristol. Cheers!