Krek Waiters Peak Bristle, that invaluable guide to the Bristolians' native tongue, spends some time ruminating on the famous "Bristle L". This phenomenon, found only within the confines of the city itself, results in words ending in vowels aquiring an extra L on the end. Thus, you might come to the city in your Ford Sierral, lose your shirt at the casinol, then drown your sorrows with a few shots of vodkal. On the other hand, however, you might prefer to partake of some of Bristol's more interesting attractions, of which there are a veritable cornucopial.

One extra bonus of the Balloon Fiesta is that, coming from the city, Ashton Court is reached via the beautiful Clifton Suspension Bridge, one of Brunel's greatest triumphs. There are very few artificial constructions that actually enhance the landscape, but the Suspension Bridge is one of them, its graceful curves fitting in with the Avon Gorge as though it had been there since prehistoric times. The toll (40p) is a lot more reasonable than many toll bridges (Skye, anyone?), and pedestrians are allowed across free (it used to cost 2p). The darker side of the bridge, however, makes its presence felt if you do walk across - the number of people committing suicide by leaping off down to the river and the Portway (A4) below has led the authorities to greatly increase the size of the barriers along the side of the walkways. This is all very laudable in principle, but the barriers look absolutely hideous close up.

If wobbly viewing platforms aren't your thing, and you'd rather stay on terra firma, then the Clifton Downs themselves are very pleasant. A large expanse of green in the middle of a city is always a pleasing thing, and the Downs are no exception. It's not all open grassland - there are bushes and small woods - and lovers of butterflies will be in their element in midsummer (unless, like me, they get hay fever!). Walk over to Sea Walls, on the far side of the downs from the main road, and you'll be presented with yet another excellent view of the Avon Gorge, and also of the bridge - this is possibly the best place from which to view it. An extra bonus is that there is very often an ice cream van parked in the lay-by here. Do look where you're going, though - there are usually a *lot* of dogs on the downs, with all that that implies; and because of the quiet downs roads, the area is a favourite for learner drivers.

Walking down the steep Blackboy Hill from the downs, you pass along Whiteladies Road, Clifton's main street. When I first knew the place (ooh-arr, many a year ago, that were), it was a fairly average shopping street, with a variety of shops and offices. In the last few years, however, it has become the "in" place to be, and now it seems that every second unit is filled by a wine bar or fashionable restaurant. Not being an expert on fashionable restaurants (or on fashionable anythings, in fact), I'll confine myself to saying that Boom, an establishment about halfway up the hill, is run by the former England bowler "Syd" Lawrence. This very shop used to be Dawsons Toys (RIP), where I was taken by my grandparents when I were but a lad (ooh arr take two), so I can never pass it without a slight pang of regret. On the bright side, the excellent Clifton Bookshop, a little further down, is still in business, and I hope it will remain so for many years to come.

A little further down the hill, the road becomes very steep. This is Park Street, well known as the haunt of students and other people the city would like to keep outside the centre. As such, the area is crowded with small independent shops selling books (Bookends' basement second-hand section is particularly good), records, clothes and other requirements of student life, plus a sprinkling of cafes. It's an excellent place to spend an hour or two's browsing, as you're almost certain to pick up an unexpected bargain. Just don't expect all the shops to be cheap.... One further tip - sit at the top front of a double- decker going down the hill. It's really rather exciting (at least, it is if you have as boring a life as I do).

Still, Bristol has done its best to make the Centre look good by making the walk from the Centre to the centre unbelievably boring. If I tell you that the police station is the most interesting sight, you'll get some idea. Anyhow, after a couple of blocks of seedy-looking bars and clubs, you emerge into Broadmead, Bristol's main shopping centre. This is a fairly standard pedestrianised area, with the usual array of litter, noise and bullion vans that don't appear to look where they're going. There are also some shops, though it's often quite hard to make these out because of the number of leafleters, beggars (Bristol has a bad homelessness problem, mainly because houses are so expensive), market researchers, burger stalls and fairground rides. Yes, fairground rides - for reasons which I could never hope to understand, Broadmead is dotted with haunted houses, chairoplanes and those things that apparently simulate very bad air turbulence. I've never seen the like anywhere else in Britain - not even in Liverpool, which is packed with street traders - but they seem to do good business, despite the fact that there is a perfectly good fairground site close by (near the tethered helium balloon - I've never got around to going up in it myself, but keep meaning to).

Cribbs Causeway itself isn't strictly in Bristol at all - it's in the new authority of South Gloucestershire - but for all practical purposes it's Bristol, so it makes sense to deal with it here. Not that there's a great amount to say, though - think of Meadowhall or Merry Hill and you'll have the general idea (though, infuriatingly and unlike those two, it has no litter bins, for somewhat spurious "security" reasons). The shopping mall itself (imaginatively titled The Mall) is like any other - overheated, bright, noisy and full of suspiciously artificial-looking plants. Still, at least it's easy to reach by public transport - the no. 54 bus runs several times an hour from the city centre.

As for train services, the least said the better. Due to a combination of the lack of a PTA/E, underfunding by both local and national government, crumbling infrastructure and hopeless train companies, local train travel around Bristol is a thankless occupation. Things have improved very slightly recently (the Severn Bridge service does at least have trains in the afternoon now, rather than the "temporary" bus service that passengers endured for several years), but anyone expecting a level of quality and quantity commensurate with Bristol's size and importance will be sorely disappointed.