Our Favourite Parks in Bristol

Family parks in Bristol

We are blessed with many lovely parks and open spaces in Bristol.  If you are looking for free things to do with the kids, visiting a park would be top of the list.  So, here’s a selection of great Parks with great play equipment and areas for families with children of all ages.

Hengrove Park

Hengrove Park Bristol

Hengrove park welcomes visitors with a lot of greenery and open spaces that are as refreshing as they are full of activities to enjoy.  The park provides everything from sandpits and climbing frames for children from different age groups.  It also has a café, cinema, bingo hall, and free Wi-Fi for you to avail and enjoy as your children burn off some energy.

Hengrove Park Bristol

Not only that, but some of the most talked-about attractions of the park include a “wheel park” for skateboards, rollerblades, and BMX riders and a part that allows visitors to fly small model aircrafts and drones.  Or you can relax in the wildlife area at the west end, with plenty of grassy areas to have a picnic and watch the world go by.  In short, Hengrove has something for everyone.  It doesn’t have a dedicated carpark, but there is plenty of parking in the surrounding areas.

Hengrove Park, Hengrove Way, Hengrove, Bristol BS14 0HR.  Visit the Website for more information.

St. George’s Park

St Georges Park Bristol

Where Hengrove focuses on modern facilities and greenery, St. George’s Park is a very old and historic place that still boasts some of its Victorian architecture at its main entrance. One of the most loved parks by visitors, it is comprised of acres of lush green grass with a beautiful lake in the middle where different kinds of birds have nested. It offers spaces that are natural, pet-friendly, and safe for children to play in.

St Georges Park Bristol

Other attractions include a wheel park for skateboards, scooters, and BMX, tennis and golf courts, and a café kiosk with an outdoor seating area. The park also includes a dog-free playground.  There is a massive lake with resident fish and birds, but it does not allow fishing.  The Park doesn’t have a dedicated car park, but there is plenty of nearby parking.

St George’s Park, Church Rd, Whitehall, Bristol BS5 7AA.  Visit the Website for more information.

Oldbury Court Estate (Vassell’s Park)

 

Oldbury Court Park Kid Playground BristolOne of the most attractive and appealing aspects of the Oldbury Court Estate is that it has multiple enchanting panoramas to offer and is an ideal site for natural photography – such is its beauty and greenery. It includes a highly aesthetic woodland and riverside paths combined with a modern and attractive picnic area and play area. The park offers different activities for children of all ages including a water and sand play with a pirate play ship, swings, a roundabout, seesaw, spinner and slide, nest swing, slide, rock feature with a rope bridge, slingshot, dish spinner, zip wire, and much more. The play area is fenced to make it dog-free.

Oldbury Court Park Bristol

The park also has a lovely café kiosk, a terrace next to the play park, a tea hut, two football pitches, a cricket pitch, a protected area for wildlife, and also some fishing spots in River Frome.  This very popular park has it has it’s own very large car park. Visit the Website for more information.  Oldbury Court Estate, Oldbury Court Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 2JH

This very popular park has it has it’s own very large car park.

Blaise Castle Estate

Blaise Castle Park Bristol

Blaise Castle is another great tourist attraction with a very interesting history. The place showed signs of occupation in the Neolithic era, and the castle was built out of ashlar stone with limestone dressings back in the 18th century. The land has been one of the most popular and famous tourist attractions of Bristol ever since – mentioned in several literary works by famous writers and also praised by many other notable personalities.

Blaise Castle Park Bristol

The parkland around the castle includes a museum, plant nursery, café, play area, multiple walking courses, cricket pitch, picnic spots with benches, grassed spaces for sports, and also a lily pond. You could easily spend the whole day there exploring.  This is such a large park there are two free car parks, one off of Kings Weston Road at BS10 7QS the other smaller car park is of The Dingle at BS9 2PA.  Visit the Website for more information.

Greville Smyth Park

Greville Smyth Park Bristol

The Greville Smyth park is another prominent place to go and relax while allowing your children to indulge in different healthy games and activities. It includes a dog-free play area for children under 12 years of age as well as one for teenagers, three football pitches, a ping-pong table, tennis courts, outdoor exercise stations with great equipment for adults, and also a bowling green.

Greville Smyth Park Bristol

The park boasts a very generous amount of open space and is the perfect place to chill out, relax with friends and family for picnic snacks and a game of frisbee.  Greville Smyth Park, Ashton Road, Ashton, Bristol BS3 2EA.

Visit the Website for more information.

Begbrook Green Park

Begbrook Green Park Bristol

Another one of Bristol’s great attractions, the Begbrook Green Park includes a very engaging play area for children of all ages that is fenced to keep it dog free. The toddler play area is separate with a climbing frame, cargo net, slide, swings, and nest swing. For older children, the park provides a rock-climbing wall with a cargo net. Adults can also indulge in different activities at any of the four outdoor exercise stations and enjoy the equipment provided by the park. There are football pitches, a bowling green, all-weather pitches, and also some changing rooms for the sports pitches included.

Begbrook Green Park, Frenchay Park Road, Bristol, BS16 1JG.  Visit the Website for more information.

If you are looking for Self-Catering Accommodation for your next trip to Bristol, we have the perfect place for families and groups of friends – Contact me for availability clare@buryhillfarm.com or check availability for more information HERE

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Strolling around Kingsgate Park, Yate Bristol

Play area Kingsgate Park Yate Bristol

We went for a walk in this lovely park in Yate, it was a really warm early autumn afternoon we took our dog too.  I’d read there was a lake, so I loaded up a bag with chicken pellets and some chopped up iceberg lettuce, which our chicken love and so I thought I’d see if the ducks would appreciate them too.

The park has a number of entrances, we entered from a road named Elmwood, off of Sundridge Park.  There’s a small carpark there for approx 10 cars there is also lots of parking on the road.  The park is as you would expect full of mature trees and open grass land.   It has some nice additions, such as a very large Bug Hotel, Close to the Elmwood entrance and a large totem pole just in front of the entrance to the younger children’s playground which is in the centre of the park.  There are quirky swings made from fallen trees, a climbing frame with tunnels and a slide, a junior roundabout, mini obstacle course, seesaw, tyre swings and plenty of seating.  It’s completely enclosed by a fence and surrounded by shrubs and trees.  There is normally an ice cream van in this area, but sadly that day we missed it.

Kingsgate Park Yate Bristol

Behind the junior park there is a more open area with a basketball court and more climbing obstacles, slides and seating.  A row of more trees separates this part of the park from the large bespoke climbing adventure park for the older children.  The adventure park has been built within the trees, making it feel like you are in the jungle.  There are rope walkways, rope bird cages, a small tree house, fireman poles and alongside there is a zip wire.  This section of the play area is also fenced for safety and dogs are not allowed.

Kingsgate Park Yate Bristol

Beyond the play area the lake is home to lots of wildlife.  The ducks and swans really enjoyed the chicken food and lettuce.  It was quite comical to watch the ducks diving down to reach the pellets as they sunk into the water.  There were young swans sitting on a floating island in the middle of the lake which eventually joined the adult swans to eat the food too. It’s surrounded by hilly grounds, there are lots of areas to explore and plenty of places to chill out and relax.

Kingsgate Park Yate Bristol

The Park hosts community events during the year such as an annual Easter Eggs Hunt and a number of Music Festivals, including “Yate Rocks” which is in it’s 13th year, a free music festival also offering, dancing displays from local clubs and academies, arts & crafts, children’s activities and games and community stalls with a great range of local products, novelty gifts and a wide variety of refreshments.

A very popular café is just outside the park it’s called Vintage Birdcage Cakery, it’s a really beautifully decorated café with pretty bunting and fairy lights and serves breakfasts, loaded jacket potatoes, salads, sandwiches, paninis, toasties, baguettes, bespoke homemade cakes, cream tea, milkshakes etc including a children’s menu, the list goes on and caters for everyone.  They even make muffins for dogs.  Open every day until 4.30pm apart from Sunday when it closes at 3pm.      Website

Vintage Birdcage Cafe Yate Bristol

Address – Kingsgate Park Sundridge Park, Yate, Bristol BS37 4EP  –  5.2 miles – 12 minutes from Bury Hill Farm by car.   Website

Review – August 2018

Lovely park, big play area with swings etc. and plenty of space to kick a ball around, a few picnic tables dotted around, also a lake with swans and ducks. Really well maintained. On the sides of the park is a pub and a beautiful cafe called the Birdcage, Both accessible from the park.

Review – July 2018

The team that runs the Park are always doing some fantastic family friendly events. It’s a good location not too far from the shopping centre and it has a great park for young and slightly older which is often maintained.

If you’re a Pokémon Go user there’s two pokestops and one pokegym so you’ll spend a while running between them and the not so far from that location either. Host to Easter events, Yate Rocks and a swan feeding pond (with food sold at a very close establishment) there’s always something to do.

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