BRISTOL is the best place to live in Britain.
Ok I might be biased as it has become my adopted home after moving here 12 years ago from London.
But it has everything the capital has to offer – just less busy and hectic.
Banksy has made it famous with his brilliant and funny graffiti.
His seminal painting of the naked man hanging out of the window of his mistress, takes pride of place at the bottom of the city’s Park Street.
And if you wander around the docks – once a thriving hub of trade at the heart of the Industrial Revolution – you can spot his iconic Girl with the Pierced Eardrum.
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The city, with a population of 500,000, has just been named as one of the top 50 destinations to visit in the world because of its street art.
It ranks alongside stargazing in New Zealand for an experience according to the experts at Lonely Planet which said: “No city in Britain uses its urban landscape as a canvas quite like Bristol, with some of the best street art anywhere in Europe.”
I even have a graffiti mural on the side of my house, painted by a brilliant Italian artist that was done as part of Upfest, Europe’s biggest graffiti festival.
Dozens of other homes and shopfronts in the city are also adorned with all sorts of quirky and irreverent artwork.
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But it is not just the street art scene that makes Bristol great.
It has everything from sport, to music, theatre, architecture, and some of the best restaurants in Britain.
It’s host to the mighty Bristol City and Bristol Bears football and rugby teams, as well as Gloucestershire Cricket Club.
And arguably England’s most famous cricketer, WG Grace, lived and played on the city’s many grounds.
Other famous residents included Archibald Leach – better known as movie star Cary Grant.
Bristol was also where “drum n’ bass” was invented, is home to brilliant bands Massive Attack and the Idles, and in its Bristol Beacon has a world class music venue which has hosted everyone from the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, and Adele.
Its Motion and Lakota nightclubs are also world famous.
And the people, with their West country burr, are some of the friendliest on the planet.
Many are also radical freethinkers who are at the front of counter culture, and lead the way on environmental and equality issues.
A group famously banded together to pull down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston and throw it in the harbour.
The statue was pulled out later and put in a museum.
Its famous Clifton Suspension Bridge – built so the posh residents of Clifton could cross Avon Gorge and get away from the smog for a walk in the countryside – is one of the most iconic bridges in the world.
It was built by Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose genius also gave the world the Great Western Railway with its long and complex tunnels, and the then fastest steamship in the world, the SS Great Britain.
On still days, residents are often treated to the spectacle of hot air balloons floating over the city.
The ubiquitous orbs end up landing randomly, including once on a cricket pitch in the middle of a match.
The annual Balloon Fiesta also attracts thousands of visitors.
And one of the greatest advantages of the city is its location and how quickly you can get to some of the best countryside in the UK.
In less than three hours’ drive you can be on the sandy beaches of Cornwall or the rugged coastline of West Wales, with masses of beautiful countryside in between.
There is also a glut of brilliant places to eat with cafes, bars and food shacks, and three Michelin starred restaurants.
One of my favourites is a newly-opened kiosk on the waterfront – near the famous Old Duke jazz pub which has live music every night – called Soft Buoys selling grilled cheese sandwiches and mind blowing ice creams and affogato.
Bristol has a lot going for it, which is why it is believed to have a higher retention rate of university students going on to live in the city than anywhere else in the country.
Bristol University is one of the best in the world and it is just completing a mega new Enterprise campus near the train station, Temple Meads.
I could go on but you get the picture.
It has its bad sides too, as does any big city, but they are too few to bemoan and the benefits massively outweigh them.
It definitely rains less than Manchester.
So yes I agree Bristol should be on the list of the top 50 destinations in the world to visit next year.
Just don’t all come at once or it might get too hectic and it would be like living back in London.
If you are looking for a place to stay in the city, then there is a central Bristol hotel with a riverfront restaurant and revamped rooms.
Plus, great UK city breaks for half term with the kids – that are cheaper and easier than London.