Clifton Arcade

Ok, now for a little history lesson (sorry I wouldn’t do this unless it was very interesting). The Clifton Arcade, a beautiful Victorian version of a shopping mall, was buried under 60 tonnes of debris (including a caravan) until just 20 years ago.
The story goes, when a builder was working around the site twenty years ago and started drilling into a wall, his drill went all the way through, meaning it was hollow inside; he made the hole big enough to look through and saw this beautiful old Victorian parade of shops, untouched for decades. Now I don’t know how much of that the complete truth, but pretty cool is nonetheless.
As far as shops go, they are suitably useless but fit in with this special building. They are lovely little independent businesses. There is an amazing little Mexican shop that only sells, well, Mexican things. Like wrestlers masks. Nacho Libre!!!
There are art shops & a really cool vintage clothes shop (woman only, dam!). The biggest shame is that the brilliant little record store that used to be at the far end has now closed. Dam, now this arcade really is only suitable for woman, mothers and grannies who can literally get lost in their for hours. Some peace for the rest of us.

Being an arcade in the posh bit of town, you would expect this to be snooty and pricey. In fact it is what a lot of Bristol is like — quirky and original, a little bit worn but with that touch of glamour.
The arcade itself is Victorian and beautiful — a wide staircase at one end and a decorative window.
Shops include antique home and jewellery stores, a modern print and art gallery and a proper second-​hand music shop. Positively my favourite part of Clifton. Find this stepped back from the main Clifton Down Road, on your left as you head downhill.

Boutique shops in Cliftonian grandeur, The Clifton Arcade is home to a variety of galleries, jewellery shops, a vintage record shop and clothes shop among other things. At the front lies Primrose Café, so after having a spot of lunch you can peruse at leisure along this charming old fashioned covered arcade. To purchase anything in most of the shops is probably going to set you back a bit, this is Clifton at its best, but it’s a really nice little corner of Bristol which is worth visiting, and definitely putting on the tourist map next time you’ve got a friend to show around. The record shop at the end, which also stocks videos, is full of surprising little finds, and although you probably won’t jump at buying much due to the price tags, the furniture shop just to the front of this has some really nice and unique wooden craft work. It’s an exploration that must be done, and don’t forget to look up and appreciate the impressive architecture of the building.

This is kind of symptomatic of everything that’s good and bad about Clifton Village. You enter by the Promrose Café and stroll through this beautiful arcade, though I have to say, I’m struggling to think of a time that I’ve ever bought anything here.
Pretty much everything in here — bar the music store — is high end, which means, especially in this day and age, that it’s all a little rich for my blood. Always worth a quick stroll when you’re in the area, but you may want to encase your wallet in concrete before you enter.