Further Information

Tourist information centres

Bath Tourism & Conference Bureau is at Abbey Chambers, Abbey Church Yard, Bath. Ffi: 0906 711 2000 (calls charged at 50p per min).

Bristol Tourist Information Centre is at The Annexe, Wildscreen Walk, Harbourside. Ffi: 0906 711 2191 (calls charged at 50p per min).

You might not want to phone up and ask for information as it costs, but both are well worth visiting in person if you're looking for ideas for places to visit or things to do, as they have vast quantities of free leaflets from various visitor attractions.

Books

The Naked Guide to Bristol and its companion The Naked Guide to Bath are in all good local bookshops (price £6.95, also available online from www.nakedguides.co.uk). They're rather self-consciously hip and street-level, but they've both got lots of useful and/or interesting info and walking tours and both are extremely well up on local history matters, again from the point of view of our prole ancestors rather than the great and good. Both also have pretty good guides to local shops, pubs, restaurants, nightlife, etc. If you're just here for a few days on the tourist trail, they're probably not worth investing in, but if you actually live in either city, they're well worth it.

Pevsner City Guides If you're into architecture, or are just a bit curious about some of the buildings in Bristol and Bath, you want one of these. The Bath one came out in 2003 and was written by Bath Uni lecturer Michael Forsyth, while the Bristol one, published in 2004, was written by local architectural historian Andrew Foyle. Both are beautifully illustrated and packed with historical and architectural info (published by Yale University Press at a very reasonable £9.99). Actually, every Bristol and Bath resident should own their local copy, just because they tell you so much about places you might pass every day and take for granted.

Freedom Guides (formerly the Titch-Hikers’ guides) publish two excellent books which no family should be without. Bristol for Families is packed with ideas for outings, as well as classes, clubs, kid-friendly pubs, restaurants, etc. Bristol for Young People is aimed at the 10-18-year-old age bracket. Teens can be notoriously difficult to keep gainfully amused, but this one’s packed with ideas. For further details, and online purchase, see www.freedomguide.co.uk

Children's Bristol is jaw-droppingly good, an astonishing labour of love that deserves some kind of civic award. Originally published in the 1970s, it was updated recently and includes all the usual stuff on kid-friendly restaurants and pubs, ideas for family outings, courses, classes and summer schools, etc. But it goes well beyond that with fun, unpatronising info for kids about local ghosts, interesting historical facts, all the way down to things like where and how to go fossil hunting. Compiled by the folks at the Redcliffe Press, it's just £8.50 and will be the making of any family summer. Further details at www.childrensbristol.co.uk

24 Family Walks in and Around Bristol by Lesley Turney (Redcliffe Books, £6.95) is guaranteed to provide some wonderful outings for families of all sizes and ages. These range from the very gentle to the quite energetic and take in sites around Bristol, Bath, the Mendips and Gloucestershire that are either of historic or wildlife interest, or both. It’s got all the essential gen on how to get there, how buggy/pushchair-friendly the terrain is and where the nearest toilets are, along with interesting information on the things you’re likely to see. The Days Out Guide has had some very pleasant Sunday outings thanks to this book and can thoroughly recommend it.

The National Gardens Scheme persuades people to open up their gardens to the public and charge punters admission, which then goes to charity. Brilliant! So all sorts of treats, from huge big famous estates to small quirky little suburban gardens, open up through spring, summer and autumn. To find out which gardens are opening when, you need to get hold of the NGS's famous Yellow Book, which should be in all good bookstores now or can be ordered online from www.ngs.org.uk

Nigel Vile is a two-legged local institution, the area's most prolific author of books on local walks. Walks involving pubs, walks with kids... etc, etc, etc. You should find a selection of his works in any local bookshop or library. He's also got a basic website with some info at www.geocities.com/vilewalks/nigel.html

The Bristol & Bath Cycle Guide by Nicky Crowther (J.H. Haynes & Co, £10.99) contains 20 bike rides around the area, taking in urban paths as well as some Somerset and Gloucestershire countryside, with good detailed mapping. Well worth investing in if you’re new to the area, or new to leisure cycling.

Bristol Publishers … See, the death of local publishing can easily be exaggerated. There are several firms operating locally, managing to make an honest living bringing out local books for local people, from the grand old Redcliffe Press, which deserves the freedom of the city, to hip young newcomers like Naked Guides. The firms all co-operate as an umbrella group, and if you look at their website you will find loads more books with local leisure ideas. www.bristolpublishers.co.uk

Websites

The National Trust For your complete guide to all the National Trust properties in your area and everywhere else. Awesome amounts of detail about the facilities at each place, including disabled access and dates of special events. The one thing that the site doesn't do too well is give you much detail about the Trust's landholdings - it owns lots of beaches, hills and sites of special scenic or scientific interest. For that, you'll have to join and get hold of a copy of the NT handbook, or go to your nearest tourist information centre and get your local Trust leaflets. Ffi: www.nationaltrust.org.uk

English Heritage is the quango that looks after a lot of the country's ancient sites and, generally, ruins from only slightly more recent centuries. Their star attraction in this part of the world is, of course, Stonehenge. The excellent website at www.english-heritage.org.uk details all their sites, including times, prices and dates of special events. Many of the bigger places, such as Old Sarum (see Rocks & Ruins section), host major living history events over the summer season, but EH is also responsible for loads of sites that are no more than things in fields in the middle of nowhere and which'll cost you nowt to visit. They're all detailed on the website. Ffi: www.english-heritage.org.uk

The Forest of Avon has a wonderful website that'll tell you about all the woody bits around Bristol, Bath and surrounding area. Ffi: www.forestofavon.org.uk

The Conditional Exemption Incentive … This is how you get yourself invited into the home of some big-shot or aristocrat who may well not want you there at all. People who own land, buildings, works of art, etc that HM Revenue and Customs decides are of national heritage or scientific interest get exempted from inheritance and/or capital gains tax on condition that the owners look after them and make them available for the public to come and see. But in the past a few people weren't too forthcoming in letting the punters in, which is one reason why the taxman, God love him, has put a searchable database of these 'tax-exempt heritage assets' online. Go to www.hmrc.gov.uk/heritage to see them broken down by region. Some of these places are already open to the public on a regular basis, while access to others is more restricted

Bristol and Bath's official tourist websites are at www.visitbristol.co.uk and www.visitbath.co.uk respectively. Both are good, well-maintained sites that should be your first port of call for info on accommodation and general touristy things. Both also have basic info on major public events.

About Bristol has been around since before most people in Britain even knew what the internet was (no, seriously), but is still one of the best introductions to local history and architecture in the form of a series of virtual tours. Print out and have yourself an urban adventure. Ffi: www.about-bristol.co.uk

Church Crawler Pretty much the complete history of Bristol's Anglican and RC churches, all in one place. Ffi: www.churchcrawler.co.uk

Memories of Bristol Not much tourism as such, but deserves a mention on account of the astonishing quantity of information about Bristol history - old photos (which you can buy), plus articles and links to articles on other sites. Not too easy to navigate around, but absolutely essential if you're even slightly interested in this kind of thing. Ffi: www.bristolhistory.com

Garden Gourmets Excellent site with loads of information on garden centres, nurseries, gardens open to the public and gardening shows in Somerset and Wilts. The first place to look if you're seeking horticultural adventure. Ffi: www.gardengourmets.co.uk

And don’t forget…

Venue magazine In the shops every Wednesday, price £1.50, with your complete guide to what's on in Bristol and Bath, including sections on days out and family activities. Ffi: www.venue.co.uk

Venue Days Out Guide - Bristol and Bath's best excursion guide. To order your copy ring 0117 942 8491. Only £1.95.