Where to stay in Bristol: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

Bristol's Floating Harbour curls through the middle of the city, and its quaysides are where most visitors end up. Brunel's SS Great Britain sits in her dry dock, the M Shed tells the city's story, We The Curious keeps children busy on Millennium Square, and little yellow ferries shuttle between them. Queen Square, a grand Georgian set piece, is a block inland.

The Bristol Hotel, near Queen Square, has 187 rooms and the River Grille restaurant. ibis Bristol Centre overlooks Millennium Square and is the value pick. The Radisson Blu has a fitness centre and 24-hour room service, and Bristol Marriott Royal, a Victorian grande dame beside the cathedral on College Green, has 266 rooms and a terrace.

Between the harbour and the shops, the Old City is the medieval core: narrow lanes, Georgian merchants' halls and St Nicholas Market, a glass-roofed arcade packed with food stalls from every corner of the world. Corn Street and King Street come alive in the evening, the latter home to the Bristol Old Vic and a row of historic pubs.

Brooks Guesthouse is a boutique bolt-hole right next to St Nicholas Market, with wood panelling and bold wallpapers. Hotel du Vin has 40 rooms with separate baths and showers and a French bistro, steps from the concert hall. The Bristol Grand, in a Grade II-listed building, takes its look from the city's independent art scene, and Majestic Hotels Bristol is steps from Baldwin Street and the Hippodrome.

Clifton sits on the hill above the city like a slightly smug older sibling. Its Georgian and Regency terraces are among the finest in England, Clifton Village is a tangle of delis, wine bars and boutiques, and at the edge of it all Brunel's Suspension Bridge leaps across the Avon Gorge. Behind lie the Downs, a vast sweep of open grass. The centre is an easy walk downhill, and a rather longer one back.

Avon Gorge by Hotel du Vin has the view: a terrace looking straight at the bridge. Number 38 Clifton is a boutique guesthouse in a Georgian townhouse with rooms facing the Downs or the city. Clifton Village apartments put you on the village high street in a Bath-stone building, and The Clifton Hotel is a Grade II-listed stay within walking distance of Park Street.

Temple Meads, Brunel's castle of a railway station, is the main arrival point, and the streets between it and the harbour have filled with modern hotels. It is not the prettiest part of town, but it is hard to beat for convenience: the Old City is about ten minutes on foot, and St Mary Redcliffe, the city's soaring parish church, is on the way.

Hilton Garden Inn is a two-minute walk from the station, with a shortcut through Temple Gardens. DoubleTree by Hilton is a few minutes away, Holiday Inn Express stands opposite the station, and ibis Bristol Temple Meads Quay welcomes dogs. Bristol Airport is a 20-minute drive.

Cabot Circus is Bristol's main shopping centre, a glass-roofed complex next to the older Broadmead precinct. The M32 ends here, so it is the easiest part of the centre to reach by car, and Castle Park and the harbour are a short walk south.

Future Inn Bristol is steps from Cabot Circus, with 149 rooms. Holiday Inn Bristol City Centre is minutes from the shops and the Hippodrome, with a car park on site. Clayton Hotel Bristol City is within a ten-minute walk of the Hippodrome and the university.

Where the M4 meets the M5, north Bristol is business-park country, but its hotels come with space, parking and leisure clubs that the centre cannot match. Aerospace Bristol, home of the last Concorde to fly, is here, as is Bristol Parkway station for fast trains to London.

Aztec Hotel & Spa has an indoor pool and gym. Mercure Bristol North The Grange is set in 18 acres of landscaped gardens, a short drive from the city. Village Hotel Bristol in Filton is about eight miles from the centre, and Holiday Inn Bristol Filton sits opposite the University of the West of England.

Bristol Airport sits on a hilltop south-west of the city, with the Mendip Hills rolling away behind it. Hampton by Hilton is steps from the terminal, and Holiday Inn Bristol Airport is three miles away with an electric shuttle and park-and-fly packages.

For something more scenic, DoubleTree by Hilton Cadbury House is a spa hotel backed by woodland, with views across the Bristol Channel to Wales. In Cheddar, the Bath Arms is within a five-minute drive of the gorge.

Weston-super-Mare is Bristol's seaside: a wide, flat sandy beach, the Grand Pier with its arcades and rides, and a long promenade for ice cream and windblown walks. It is old-fashioned in the best sense and easy to reach by train.

The Old Colonial is an inn within a ten-minute walk of the Grand Pier. The family-run Queenswood Hotel has an elevated, south-facing spot five minutes from the seafront, and Sand Bay Holiday Village sits right on the quieter Sand Bay beach to the north, with an indoor pool.