Scour the streets of Bristol and you’ll struggle not to find a cutting-edge piece of graffiti art decorating the city’s walls. Along narrow alleys, down side streets and through under-passages, across building walls and boldly displayed on bridges, a piece of graffiti art soon jumps out, depicting wry humour and subversive displays of pop culture.
In fact, Bristol has been named one of the top 50 destinations in Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2026 due to the city's amazing street art scene. As the guide says: “No city in Britain uses its urban landscape as a canvas quite like Bristol,” with “some of the best street art anywhere in Europe”.
Bristol is also where Banksy hails from; the elusive graffiti artist extraordinaire has an enormous collection of artistic works featured on streets, walls and bridges all over the world, and has inspired a new generation to take to the streets to create innovative and dynamic art. The city is also home to numerous other talented street artists, including Inkie, Cheo, Felix Braun, Lucas Antics, Jody, Andy Council, Cheba, Sophia Rae and Zoe Power.
The best places to see Bristol's street art
For the largest and most diverse selection, make a trip to North Street or East Street in Bedminster, or head to Stokes Croft and nearby Montpelier.
You can also see some impressive large-scale artworks on Nelson Street in the Old City, which were painted as part of the 'See No Evil' street art festival in 2012. Around the corner, Leonard Lane is covered with tags, stencils and smaller pieces of work, while Cumberland Basin is also a hotspot for artists.
If you're looking for Banksy's artworks in Bristol, the main draws are Well Hung Lover on Park Street, Mild Mild West on Stokes Croft and The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum in Hanover Place on the harbourside. You can also see Paint Pot Angel on display in Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, and the Grim Reaper which was visible on the hull of Thekla for many years is now on display in M Shed.
Street art experiences
Join the weekly Bristol Street Art Tour, or the Ultimate Bristol Walking Tour for an insider’s guide to the city's stencils and muals. Cycle the City also offer guided bike tours around the city which take in street art, castle ruins and Georgian streets, as well as tales of pirates and smugglers and sailors.
Alternatively, you can do a self-guided tour of Banksy's artworks around Bristol with our Banksy Walking Tour or the Upfest Mural Map in Bedminster, or listen to A Piece Of…..Banksy! while you explore the city. This fully narrated audio and visual exploration of Banksy in Bristol features some of his earliest works, up to more recent activities, with exclusive and archive photos.
Want to have a go at making your own Banksy-style artwork? Join a 'Learn about Graffiti' workshop with Graft, who run regular stencil spray art workshops, or join one of the weekly ‘no mess’ spray painting sessions from Where the Wall.
Street art festivals and events
Bristol’s street art festival Upfest has hosted tens of thousands of street artists from across the globe over the years, and there are over 170 murals that you can visit around Bedminster and Southville year-round - check out their mural map and get exploring!
There’s also a burgeoning street art scene in the nearby seaside town of Weston-super-Mare, just half an hour from Bristol by train and an hour by bus, where the annual Weston Wallz urban art festival creates an ever-changing line-up of murals across the seaside town.
Stay in an arty hotel
Bristol is very proud of its street art scene and local artists, so you can expect local art inside as well as outside, with many hotels incorporating street art into their design.
Located at the edge of Stokes Croft, Moxy Bristol has interior murals by four local artists: Lucas Antics, Bo Lanyon, Dr Myles-Jay Linton and Lawrence Hoo & Charles Golding. Around the corner is boutique hotel Artist Residence, which has pop art and specially commissioned pieces dotted around the bar, lounge and individually designed bedrooms.
The Clayton Hotel Bristol has artworks from renowned local graffiti artist Inkie around the hotel, taking inspiration from the original Art Nouveau façade of the Edward Everard building, which houses the hotel's main entrance.
Radisson Blu Bristol has views over the largest piece of street art in Bristol, Our Common Ground by Oshii, while the Bristol Grand Hotel and Leonardo Hotel have pictures of street art in their rooms, as a nod to the city’s creativity too.
