Clifton's Victorian swimming baths, closed in 1990 and reopened in 2008 as an outdoor pool heated all year, with a spa and restaurant
Open to visitorsopen all year; non-members book a two-hour guest swim online before you go
Bristol Lido began life around 1850 as the Clifton Victoria Baths, and it is also widely known as Clifton Lido. The Victorian builders gave the baths cast-iron galleries on two floors around the pool and an Egyptian-style central doorway. In 1998 Historic England listed the baths, together with the neighbouring Victoria pub, at Grade II*, the grade kept for particularly important buildings. The pool had closed in 1990 and stood empty for years. Arne Ringner, owner of Bristol’s Glass Boat restaurant, bought the site in the mid-2000s, and after a restoration costing about £2 million the pool reopened to the public in 2008.
Today Lido Bristol is a private business with a spa and restaurant as well as the 24-metre pool, which is heated right through the year, so an outdoor swim here is comfortable even in winter. If you aren’t a member, book a two-hour guest swim online; there are slots every day of the week. Clifton Down station is about 0.5km north, and the Clifton Suspension Bridge is a walk of a little over 1km south-west.
