Bristol's medieval streets carry more than a thousand years of drama, ambition, and spectacle. On this self-guided audio tour, you'll trace the city's most gripping stories through plague, rebellion, public punishment, and royal ceremony – uncovering how power and criminality shaped one of England's great medieval cities. The tour starts at St John on the Wall, a 14th-century church built atop the last surviving fragment of Bristol's medieval wall, complete with a portcullis groove still visible overhead. From here, you'll walk through the arch where Elizabeth I processed on horseback and Queen Victoria knighted a mayor without stepping from her carriage. The tour ends at the crossroads of ...
Highlights
From 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
Lifetime access to this tour in English before your booking date and after it
Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour
App for Android and iOS
Directions to the starting point so that when you’re in the right place, the tour will start
Smartphone and headphones
Meeting Points
Departure
This tour starts at St John On The Wall. Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.
Return
Tour ends outside All Saints Church in Bristol.
Important Information
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Service animals allowed
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Public transportation options are available nearby
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Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
•
For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
•
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
•
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
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This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.
•
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
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Bristol's medieval streets carry more than a thousand years of drama, ambition, and spectacle. On this self-guided audio tour, you'll trace the city's most gripping stories through plague, rebellion, public punishment, and royal ceremony – uncovering how power and criminality shaped one of England's great medieval cities. The tour starts at St John on the Wall, a 14th-century church built atop the last surviving fragment of Bristol's medieval wall, complete with a portcullis groove still visible overhead. From here, you'll walk through the arch where Elizabeth I processed on horseback and Queen Victoria knighted a mayor without stepping from her carriage. The tour ends at the crossroads of ...
Highlights
From 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
Lifetime access to this tour in English before your booking date and after it
Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour
App for Android and iOS
Directions to the starting point so that when you’re in the right place, the tour will start
Smartphone and headphones
Meeting Points
Departure
This tour starts at St John On The Wall. Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.
Return
Tour ends outside All Saints Church in Bristol.
Itinerary
1
St John's Church
Pass through the last surviving fragment of Bristol's medieval wall and spot the portcullis groove still visible in the arch overhead. Walk in the footsteps of Elizabeth I, who processed on horseback through this very gateway during her royal visit to the city.
2
The Corn Exchange
Admire the grand façade of this 18th-century exchange, built to serve Bristol's booming merchant trade. Step outside to find the famous bronze nails on the pavement, where merchants once settled their deals on the spot — giving rise to the expression "paying on the nail."
3
St Nicholas Market
Explore one of Bristol's oldest and most atmospheric trading spaces, tucked beneath the arches of the historic city centre. Stroll through stalls and covered passages that have drawn merchants and market-goers to this spot for centuries.
4
Christmas Steps
Climb this narrow, cobbled medieval stairway lined with timber-framed buildings that lean overhead as you ascend. Discover the layers of history packed into one of Bristol's most evocative and unchanged streetscapes.
5
Seek out the surviving remains of Bristol Castle's Great Hall, all that is left of a 30-acre royal fortress that once dominated the city. Stand in the open parkland and imagine the scale of the stronghold that shaped Bristol's medieval power.
6
Cross the River Avon on the site of a bridge that once carried five-storey houses, a chapel, and a thriving community above the water. Hear the remarkable story of a cow that survived being swept into the Avon when the original structure collapsed.
7
Harbourside
Gaze across the floating harbour that made Bristol one of England's most powerful trading cities and a hub of the Viking slave trade long before the 18th-century trade began. Walk the waterfront where merchants, sailors, and contraband once moved freely between ships and city.
8
Step inside one of Bristol's rare surviving Tudor interiors, with its richly carved oak room dating back to the 1590s. Explore a building that has witnessed the city's transformation from Elizabethan prosperity to Georgian reform.
9
The Georgian House Museum
Enter a perfectly preserved merchant's townhouse and come face to face with the intimate details of 18th-century Bristol life. Discover the lives of both the wealthy sugar merchant who owned it and the enslaved people whose labour funded its construction.
