Good local airport (Bristol International Airport (BRS))

Member Name: worst_trip

Product:	Bristol International Airport (BRS)
Date:	24/06/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nicely compact and well supplied with parking, eateries, shops etc.

Disadvantages: It's somewhat back of beyond in terms of location

Bristol International Airport's a good, local, option. Budget carriers such as Easyjet and Ryanair fly out from Bristol to a range of destinations in Britain and out across Europe, and in recent years a number of transatlantic flight routes have begun operating. In peak holiday season a variety of package tour companies use the airport as a base for summer sun destinations.

A slight problem, given that quite a proportion of the summer traffic through Bristol is from package tour operators, that I've encountered is in trying to find destinations that can be travelled to from Bristol, especially outside of the holiday season. For various reasons in recent years we have taken our holidays earlier on, in late winter / spring, and as many of the routes that operate from Bristol only seem to be available between May - August, it has been difficult to find this kind of information. Internet searching for flight routes hasn't proved particularly helpful, and the best option in this case seems to be to consult a local travel agent.

Despite the increasing size of the airport - and it's been enlarged recently - I would say it still is very much of a local option. This is because of it's rather tricky location: while only about 10 miles south of central Bristol it is in a very awkward rural placement. Access to the airport is via smallish and winding country A-roads; to get to it from the M5, the nearest (roughly north-south running) motorway, one is directed if travelling from the north on a long and winding route right through the suburbs of Bristol; this route, while it is signposted is quite a tricky one in practice to drive, involving at some stages sudden and unexpected changes of lane - most notably through a one-way system with traffic lights in Bedminster, Bristol. And although we have travelled to and from the airport many times (and even lived in Bedminster for a quite a while), we are still very likely to become unstuck at this particular point. I have never been to the airport by public transport myself - buses do operate from the city centre, and the nearest train station is also in the centre of Bristol. The access problems to Bristol Airport mean that it's unlikely to become a much larger operation than it already is; there clearly isn't much scope for enlarging the roads to it, due to geographical and urban barriers all around.

On the plus side, the airport offers a fairly good range of shops and pubs / restaurants for its size, and a good choice of airport parking options - competitively priced, as there are a number of private car parks nearby, as well as on site, that offer long stay parking. The terminal itself is small enough to be easily navigable. Unfortunately the only fast-food outlet there is a Burger King - and a recent visit there reminded me why its been the first time I've eaten at a Burger King in years.

Summary: Excellent choice for travellers from the south-west; a personal favourite