Getting There
If you're coming from outside Bristol, your options are cycling, coach, train, car, air, sea, possibly horseback.
This year's start and finish is in Hotwells, a couple of miles from the ride's traditional spot - allow extra time if coming by train! We're at the Pump House, Merchants Road, Hotwells, BS8 4PZ, a fabulous inn and restaurant right next to the waterside, and just across from the S.S. Great Britain. There are plenty of hostels, hotels, BnBs and AirBnBs nearby.
By bicycle
Cycle to Bristol. Cycle to the Pump House (w3w bottom.part.boots). Go on the ride. Simple. 🚲
By coach
Bristol coach station is next to the Bearpit roundabout, and Hotwells is a fairly easy nine minute bike ride away. See map.
Bringing a full sized bicycle on the coach is difficult or impossible, but the ride is not taxing, many people take part on folding bikes, which coaches can usually accommodate (in a bag).
Along the way, check out the Bag O Nails, AKA "the cat pub", at the roundabout at the end of Deanery Street..
By train
Bristol Temple Meads station is about ten minutes away from the Pump House by bike. See map.
Bringing a bicycle on the train can be challenging, as there are often very limited spaces available, however, generally a folding bike in a bag will fit in the carriage luggage space, and the ride is not a taxing one, a folding bike is more than adequate.
By car
Bristol city centre is pretty car-hostile. There's a "clean air zone" of a weird and cunning shape designed to cut off most routes to the South, including the obvious route between the airport and the M5. Parking in or near the city centre is punitively expensive and often short-term. Many of the surrounding areas have resident parking zones.From the South or South West, there's the Long Ashton Park-and-Ride near Ashton Court, which is a moderate but weird cycle ride from the Pump House. The park and ride is free (you're meant to pay for the bus) and open until 10pm, and it's outside the clean air zone, but beware the clean air zone extension explicitly designed to catch people out who take the junction signposted for Bristol airport - you want the previous junction, if you're coming from the Exeter end of the M5. If you miss it, and your car is not clean-air-zone compliant, then carry on to the M4 and head East towards London and take the M32 down into Bristol from the North.
From the North, Wales or East, join the M4 and go down the M32. If you want to use paid parking very close to city centre, use the Cabot Circus car park, the North entrance of which, in Houlton Street (and only that entrance!) is outside the clean air zone. Remember, if you use that car park and your car is not clear air zone compliant, do not enter or exit by any entrance other than the Houlton Street one!
There's also paid parking on the street further along from Houlton Street, on Little George Street and Eugene Street. (You'll need to search one of the "find parking" websites to book a space, whereas with Cabot you can just rock up and pay on the day.)
From the vicinity of Cabot Circus, cycle across town to Hotwells.
For the more adventurous and parsimonious, and especially for people with vans, there's on-street parking free of RPZ restrictions (for now...) around St Werburghs and its environs, off the middle junction (J2) of the M32 (where Ikea is). Unpaid on-street parking around Glenfrome Road, various side roads off James Street, also New Gatton Road (especially suited to vans) and Gatton Road - all are within reach by bicycle. There may be on-street meter parking along City Road, Wilder Street or the side-roads between, but beware that the clean air zone starts on Cheltenham/Gloucester Road just below where City Road joins it - the escape route is North up Gloucester Road, or back along city road.
There's meter and paid parking along and off Jamaica street, the majority of which is (I think!) outside the clean air zone, though emerging at the hospital end onto Marlborough Street, or via a sideroad onto Cheltenham road, would probably be a mistake.
If you auto-pilot to our previous venue in Stoke's Croft (either the Full Moon or PRSC Space) then instructions to get to the Pump House are basically the same as for the coach station, above.
By air, sea or horseback
Arriving at Bristol Airport, you will be relentlessly relieved of large amounts of money until you escape, typically by overpriced taxi, overpriced bus, or rental car with an enormous insurance excess. Possibly by bike if you can arrange to collect one at the airport, or pack a folder in your hold luggage. Make your way towards Ashton Court and the Pump House. It's about 40 min by bicycle.
Arriving by boat, you'll probably want to moor up in the marina somewhere, you're basically right there.
It's possible you might be able to find somewhere, by prior arrangement, to park a horse in one of Bristol's rural suburbs or surrounding villages, e.g. Long Ashton, and get the park and ride. Horse parking in central Bristol is scarce to non-existent.
Bike rental
Various places in Bristol offer rental bikes, but the availability, terms and conditions and prices are ever-shifting. For the moment, search for "bike rental Bristol" on your favourite search engine, and phone to check availability.
Shortly, we'll add recommended rental places, but we haven't yet had time to make enquiries this year; many places that did offer rental bikes have stopped doing so because bikes were coming back too damaged - ALWAYS phone and check!
Here's a preliminary list (MAY BE OUT OF DATE!):
Cycle The City offer Bristol-made hybrid bikes, adventure bikes, kiddie trailers. They also do tours of the city. Website, map. Phone: +441174271072.
Bristol Tandem Hire offer Bristol-built tandems for rent - contact and pre-arrangement is essential. Tandems are more costly to rent than solo bikes, but then you only need one per two people... Bristol Tandem Bike Hire also do tours of the city. They are a mere 7 minutes cycle away from the Pump House. Website, map, collection point map. Phone: +447470311592
Bristol Bike Hire operate a kids' bike rental scheme, but are "closed for adult bike hire until further notice". Website, map. Phone (shop): +441179854357. Phone (rental): +447516661801.
Pedal Progression offer a wide range of rental options for all ages, starting from just 2 years old, and have a shop/workshop in Ashton Court, very close to the Pump House. Website, map, Phone +441179731298.
We will try to approach local cycling schemes and business and add links and maps for folk who offer rental options, or who are prepared to offer them for WNBR riders.
See also Better By Bike, who link to local hire places, and Brompton Bike Hire who offer a national scheme where you book and collect Brompton bikes from lockers located in cities throughout the country.
Accessibility
Warmley Wheelers offer rental of horizontal tandem and wheelchair platform bikes, and are around 30 minutes from the Pump House, cycling. See map.
Strawberry Line Cycles, in Yatton, offer rental bikes and trikes adapted for people with disabilities. Unfortunately, they don't deliver/collect, and Yatton to Bristol is quite a way to cycle.
We'll try to establish if there are any central Bristol based providers of similar. Watch this space, or search by the usual means.
E-scooter and e-bike scheme
Bristol is working hard on becoming a cycling city, with many new dedicated cycleways, and an e-bike and e-scooter scheme currently operated by Dott. These are available throughout the city. There are two styles of bike, both fairly heavy, and also the e-scooters which we don't really recommend for WNBR. Check out the operator's web page for the terms and conditions - often, rides are of limited duration so you would have to swap bikes during the ride, the bikes and scooters are "geofenced" and the GPS can be sketchy, leaving you stuck with a bike that refuses to move, which is not ideal. They are also quite pricey unless you buy a discount pass, and the sign-up is tedious, involving uploading your photo ID via their app. You have to have a driving license, though a provisional will do.
They can be a great way to get around the city if you're staying over, albeit un-necessary if you have your own bike, obviously (well, except insofar as you don't have to worry about one being stolen). They're not really ideally suited for WNBR use, though.