We stayed for a night in the Leonardo Hotel in Bristol, just on the edge of the city centre. Having been built in 2021, I think this was the newest place we stayed in for the whole trip. It had a modern feel throughout and I particularly liked the fancy lighting around the bathroom mirrors!

Our room was on the sixth floor and had a very metropolitan view out to the city, with a mix of modern office blocks, heritage buildings and beautiful street trees. It reminded me of some areas of inner Melbourne.

During the industrial revolution Bristol experienced massive growth. There were some interesting old buildings around the area from this era, many repurposed as warehouse apartments, office spaces and the like. For example, there was an 1860s soapworks factory just near the hotel which had recently been converted into a mixed residential and commercial complex. It's great to see these buildings given a new lease of life rather than being demolished or left to decay.

The building in the fourth photo, which was opposite the hotel, was recently retro-fitted by the University of Bristol as a state of the art dental school. There is actually a canal on the other side of it that you can just see under the bridge on the right - one of Bristol's many waterways, having been a major port city since Roman times.