Adventurous activities in Bristol

Whether you’re looking for daring date ideas or a fun day out with friends or family, Bristol and the surrounding area is home to lots of thrillseeking activities, from rock climbing to surfing!

Head for heights?

Climb, jump and swoop your way around the high ropes course at Bristol Zoo Project’s outdoor climbing adventure, Leap of Faith, where you have the option of several climbing walls and poles to scale. Will you be brave enough to leap from the top?

Image - Bristol Zoo Project

Explore the underground world and the glorious cliff edges 

Explore Wookey Hole’s spectacular cave system with Wild Wookey, where you'll get to crawl through small gaps and abseil into areas other visitors are not able to get to, while being guided by a highly knowledgeable guide and instructor.

Image - Wookey Hole

You’ll be able to get up close to a rare geological features as well as listen to the fascinating history of Wookey Hole, from the history of cave diving to spooky stories of witchcraft!

Explore the awe-inspiring cliffs in Rocksports at Cheddar Gorge & Caves with their qualified instructors, who will show you the ropes on the gorge’s 50ft outdoor climbing wall. Or choose to descend into the underground cave system by headtorch. Sessions are available for children eight years old through to adults for the rock climbing and caving activities.

There's also the option to explore Gough’s Cave (ages 11+) and climb a 30ft ladder to take a leap of faith into an exhilarating freefall, before being lowered back to the ground.

Image - Cheddar Gorge & Caves

Mendip Activity Centre offer climbing and abseiling in their private quarry for a range of ages, plus caving experiences in the Mendip Hills, which is the most extensive cave system in the UK. You can find out more about Mendip Activity Centre’s accessibility guidelines as well as the additional support available for people with sensory impairment, physical disabilities and neurodiversity needs here. 

Staying in North Somerset? The area is home to Sand Point, Uphill Quarry and more coastal crags.

Bristol is also home to five indoor climbing centres (two rope climbing and three bouldering), so if you’d much rather hold onto plastic and not rely on changeable weather conditions, they’re a perfect all weather option.

Pedal power

Pedal Progression offer mountain bikes available to hire to explore Ashton Court Estate and further afield. They also do regular coaching sessions and can asvise on the best mountain biking trails in the area. They offer sessions for ages five and up, as well as advanced riders.

Image - Pedal Progression

Bristol Tandem have bike hire points across the city in Queen Square, Temple Meads and Victoria Park. Hire a bike and head out - riding tandem means you can both enjoy the ride without worrying about playing catch up!

Fancy going further afield? Weston-super-Mare is also home to jump trails and motor cyclists will love the Weston-Super-Mare Beach Race – the maddest, baddest and biggest event in the UK-off road calendar. 

Image: Motor cylists at Weston-Super-Mare Beach race. Credit: Visit Weston

For a truly memorable bike ride, head across the Clifton Suspension Bridge to take in the gorge-ous views and explore Clifton Village, or pick one of the city's top cycle routes.

• Bristol beauty spots you can reach by bike

Image - Bristol Tandem

Take to the water

Slip into cool water and explore the outdoor swimming spots that the region has to offer. The marine lakes in Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon are great places for a free dip. Weston-super-Mare is also home to Weston Windzone, an area dedicated to windsurfing and kite surfing, if you're looking for some more outdoor activities on the coast.

Image: Windsurfers at Weston-Super-Mare. Credit: Visit Weston

If you'd prefer a pool, The Lido in Clifton and Portishead Lido are brilliant spots to do some lengths, as well as the pools at some hotels in Bristol. 

• More water-based activities in Bristol

Image - Clevedon Marine Lake

Have a go at paddleboarding - whether you choose to stand up or kneel down - with SUP Bristol. See Bristol’s harbourside from a new perspective and explore Bristol’s historic waterways. Private booking is also available, as well as the option to hire a range of equipment for your own unguided adventure.

Image - SUP Bristol

Bristol has great access to surfing beaches in Wales, Cornwall and Devon but is also home to Bristol’s only inland surfing destination! The Wave has a variety of options to suit all abilities, from 'Play in the Bay' sessions where you can try body boarding and splash around in the water, to beginner and advanced sessions. Adaptive booking sessions are also available via The Wave’s website, where the team can discuss a group or individual's specific needs.

Image - The Wave

Choose from a range of water-based on Mendip Activity Centre’s private river, from raft building and kayaking to paddleboarding.

Immerse yourself in a whole new world of adventure and discovery and explore beauty of the ocean with some scuba diving near Bristol. PADI have a range of sessions you can get involved with in the area, including the Hidden Depths Scuba School in Thornbury or DM Scuba Training in Filton. The PADI Adaptive Support Diver course will increase your awareness of divers’ varying abilities, and explores adaptive techniques to apply while diving or freediving with a buddy with a disability.

Image: Hidden Depths Bristol

Activity Centres

Mendip Activity Centre run a whole host of activities for all ages and group sizes, from archery and air rifles to tobogganing and assault courses. They've even got their own dry snowsport slope for you to have a go at skiing or snowboarding.

Book onto a survival skills day at Adventure Bristol, where teams can test their problem solving skills and have a go at bushcraft. Complete your day of adventuring with a well deserve hot chocolate and marshmallows on the fire (which you’ve lit yourself).

Bristol Activity Centre in Cribbs Causeway offers more than ten outdoor activities, including paintball, quad biking, clay pigeon shooting, airsoft and bubble football.

Tackle some large inflatables, catapults and bungees at West Country Games or see a different side of Bristol with the Adventurous Activities Company, who offer canoeing sessions in the harbour, or abseiling in the Avon Gorge.

• Looking for a team day out? Take a look at ACF Teambuilding's range of activity days

Take on the Tree-top Adventure in the Forest of Dean with Go Ape, who also run forest safaris on Segways.

Experience Days

Yuup has a tonne of adventurous activities available to book on their website – from fossil hunting, cycling along the strawberry line to iced water bath and Wim Hof workshops.

WonderDays also has a range of hair-rising days out for you to choose from, whether you want the thrill of driving a supercar around a track, or abseiling down a cliff face.

Get competitive

Looking for a group activity to pit your skills against your friends, family or colleagues? Try your hand at axe throwing Whistle Punks, or see who can bounce highest and take on the obstacle courses and dogeball in the UK's largest trampoline park at AirHop.

Challenge your group to a race at Absolute Karting in Fishponds, or take a spin around the 300m indoor go-karting track at the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare.

Soar in a hot air balloon

Enjoy amazing views of the city and beyond with Fly Away Ballooning. Bristol flights leave from Ashton Court Estate, with the option of a group flight of up to eight people, or a private tour for two.

Want more inspiration of adventurous activities to do in Bristol? View the following pages:

• Accessible outdoor attractions
• Alternative Stag and Hen do ideas  
• Walking routes in Bristol