A Dash of Bristol: A 5km Running Tour

Bristol’s complex history reveals itself best when you’re moving through it. Its streets are a collision of Roman settlements, medieval remnants, and modern street art. On this five-kilometer running tour, you’ll find out how this port city’s relationship with the wider world shaped everything from its floating harbour to its controversial statues.

The tour starts at the College Green near Bristol Cathedral, which began as a Saxon abbey. You’ll wind your way past converted warehouses where ships once unloaded sugar and rum from historical trade routes. You’ll follow former railway tracks that connected the docks to Temple Meads and run along medieval King Street where merchant houses sheltered sailors. I’ll also show you Leonard Lane’s evolving street art gallery that transforms this narrow alley into an outdoor canvas.

On your way back to the College Green, you’ll pass the empty plinth that held Edward Colston’s statue, until protesters toppled it during 2020’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations. You’ll also hear stories about the slave trade and Banksy, and see how Bristol’s maritime heritage continues to influence its identity today.

Along the way, you’ll have a chance to:

• Run along the Floating Harbour, an 1809 engineering marvel that solved the extreme tidal challenges faced by one of Britain’s busiest ports
• Pass three Banksy artworks, including the mysterious You Don’t Need Planning Permission to Build Castles in the Sky and Well Hung Lover
• Discover the revolutionary steamship, the SS Great Britain, the world’s largest when launched from Bristol’s shipyards
• Run past the Redcliffe Caves, man-made sandstone tunnels used for storage and World War II air raid shelters
• Visit the Llandoger Trow pub, which inspired both Treasure Island’s Admiral Benbow Inn and Robinson Crusoe’s setting

By the end of this 45-minute tour, you’ll have breathed in Bristol’s story, from Saxon settlement to creative capital. This running tour is appropriate for any pace and can also be walked.