Justin Lee Collins, Bill Bailey, Pieminister. There are some names that are just inherently…read moreassociated with Bristol. But arguably the most famous of them all is Banksy: graffiti artist extraordinaire. Banksy has left his tag all his beloved city but my favourite mural can be found at the bottom of Park Street. Opposite College Green on the side of a building you'll see one of his funniest pieces: the story of a lover hanging on to the window ledge for dear life while the suspecting husband looks on. You may need to wait for a minute or two while eager tourists have their photographs against it - but it's definitely worth the wait. Sadly, vandals couldn't stand the witty talent of Banksy and felt the need to deface it with putrid blue paintball shots. The city council have done an excellent job at restoring it back to its former glory, so don't let it put you off visiting. And, if you like this, you'll love the rest of his Bristol collection. Just pop down the road to Fopp and pick up a guide to Banksy's Bristol.

Banksy shows that street art can be thought provoking, beautiful and fun. One of the pieces that…read moresays Welcome to Bristol is the Mild Mild West Giant Teddy Bear vs policemen. Bristol has long had a reputation of musical cool for not only putting out some of the best drum and bass in the country but Trip Hop was known as the Bristol sound. Banksy has most certainly put Bristol on the map as the hub for exciting new urban art. Whereas in London the exciting arts movement tends to move around so that poor artists are pushed further and further into the recesses of deeper darker London, throughout Bristol, North and South pockets of artistic communities have emerged. Bedminster for example has some gorgeous pieces by Cheo and there are Arts Trails that take place all over the city. Banksy is not only responsible for fantastic pieces of art but for helping legitimise creativity all over the city and showing that grafitti doesn't have to be crappy tagging and vandalism but art that enhances the environment.

If you're in town and you want somewhere pleasant to get away from Broadmead, this is the spot for…read moreyou. Indeed, the thing I most associate this place with is grabbing a lunch time bite with some colleagues when I worked nearby. Due to its location it's not exactly a communal spot, and the layout, with lots of hills, flowerbeds and trees, means that unlike College Green, frisbee and footie games are unlikely to break out. It's a pleasant place though and big enough for you to grab a spot of your own, possibly with a view of the river.

Castle Park, a great place to escape from the hustle and bussle of broadmead. I found this delight…read moreafter getting bogged down in the christmas shopping mayhem, I was after a slice of tranquility then... bam! ... I arrived in castle park, the snow had settled and all was peaceful. Soon my eye was caught by a monuement standing out on the carpet of green and white (from the snow!), there stood this beautiful old derilict church, around the back of the church my eye was caught with a row of trees side by side, leading me down to a fountain at the end. I was sold, took a couple of snaps (see 'Snow hit' photo I uploaded) and Voilá!, my grandparents christmas present had been solved with a few clicks of my camera! Perfect in summer or winter, with the river so close on one side and shops on the other, it's like a link between relaxation and retail therapy.

To experience an amazing night of magic, storytelling, poetry and music this good there has to be…read morerules. The rules, I've discovered, are as follows: 1. Acoustic Night is held fortnightly in the back room at the delightful Halo on the Gloucester road. 2. There are 17 open mic slots, half for spoken word poetry (often like stand-up comedy) and half for live, live music. 3. Acoustic night is a safe place to experiment new songs or poems and the audience is there to cheer you on! 4. Starts dead on 8.15pm (register to perform at 7.45pm) 5. Its free as a bird, but donations are gratefully received. Previous 'guest' performers have included spoken-word meisters fresh from the festival circuit - Byron Vincent, Tim Clare, Nathan Filer, Rosy Carrick and Kate Tempest. What a cultured and memorable way to ease into the week! .

The Folk House has a number of fingers in a number of pies. Its main business is adult education -…read moreevening and daytime classes on pretty much everything from languages and writing, singing and music lessons, art and pottery, dance and drama, knitting and self-help. They run their classes in three 'terms' so you can pick a class up every 12 weeks or so, plus they have summer schools and Saturday day classes. I have learnt how to knit and sing in harmony here and enjoyed the mix of people it brings to the classes and the level of knowledge of the tutors. Art from their students is displayed about the place to buy with regularly changing exhibitions.. The House also has strong connections to live music of Bristol - obviously perhaps the folk scene but also blues and jazz. Live music is often on. This also draws in the record fairs every few months. Lastly, and this ties in the comings and goings of the various user groups, there is a cafe with nice food and cake and very good cup of tea. You can use the cafe if you are not attending a class. There is a nice little cobbled courtyard out front and undercover bike racks. The Folk House is signposted on Park Street, but is easy to walk past - you have to duck into an alley next to Nomad (see one of the photos). You can pick up a programme of their events and classes without going all the way in though as it is on the wall at the alley entrance.

Perhaps you're attending an art course at the folk house, or perhaps you've been shopping on Park…read moreStreet - the cafe is a perfect pit stop for those seeking a light lunch and a lovely cup of tea. They dish up homemade local dishes like cauli cheese or shepherd's pie, with crisp fresh salad. What made me drool is the rows of lush-looking cakes - I sampled (just for research purposes obviously) a slice a blackberry crumble flapjack with yoghurt topping - tart and sweet all in one, crunchy and yummy. You're cocooned by bright tribal art (from the courses they run) and afternoon's even offer up a plethora of musicians to lull you while you munch! Its not a load of hippy nonsense, its wholesome, warming and immediately filling - just like mum used to make.

Are you mad about sarnies? If so, you must go to this place. A small, understated little shop at…read morethe top of Gloucester Road, it's easy to miss. But Mad About Sarnies sells a range of authentic sandwiches that put the packaged supermarket variety to shame. All of the produce is locally sourced and snacks and sandwiches are made on the premises. Mad About Sarnies also sell jacket potatoes, panninis, baguettes and wraps. The shop is vegetarian friendly too, and stocks a range of meat free produce. Try the falafel, rocket, tomato and cajun mayonnaise (£2.20) sandwich for a transcendental experience.

This is a great little shop and when I say little, I mean it. It's about the entire size of an…read moreelephant. True elephants are pretty big but for a shop, that's pretty small. They've used the space well and knock out some incredible sarnies. Beef and horseradish sauce is a classic and my favourite but these guys push the boat much further out. All the ingredients are local and fresh where possible and there are plenty of veggie options too. For a baguette shaped upgrade you can pay a little more and some of the choices can even come toasted! Mad About Sarnies is quite a long haul out of town but a very worthwhile pit stop.

Park street is one of the hottest places in Bristol this year. In May we had the Water Slide and to…read morekick June off we had Park on Park Street. Both were awesome so I thought it only right to big up the biggest hill in Bristol! Unlike Gloucester Road, Park Street doesn't host solely independent shops and restaurants. That, however, doesn't make it any less important to Bristol and our globally recognised quirky culture. One of the first things you see from the bottom Park Street is an iconic Banksy piece: Naked Man. And from there-on-up it's a vibrant mix of awesome independent shops, high street fashion, restaurants and late night bars. My picks of the street would be BS8 for their random selection of clothing and nick-nacks and Meluha for the best curry I have ever eaten. I'm buzzing to see what they turn Park Street into next.

It's the magnificence of the steep hill that draws me to Park Street, much more than the actual…read moreshops. Walking up the hill, you're in the meek shadow cast by the Wills Memorial Building; walking down (if you can keep control of your legs), you're heading down towards the vibrant city centre, College Green and waterfront. Yes, it's an impressive street, busy, dramatic, and buzzing. The shops, though ... I struggle to find anything particularly useful on this street. They're posy shops, posy cafes, posy restaurants: The Guild, Woodes, BS8, Chandni Chowk. People don't flock to Park Street for actual serious shopping trips - Broadmead and Cabot Circus down the road will provide that. No, this is the place for buying one tiny thing and strutting up the road carrying it in a branded paper bag. I like spending time on Park Street because of the buzzy atmosphere, the good coffee you can get at Woodes. I don't particularly like the street at night time; it gets very raucous on Friday and Saturday nights with students rolling up and down the hill between bars, such Yia Mass and The Elbow Room. Even the nice pub, The Bristol Ram, seems to get completely overrun with drunk 21-year-olds as soon as the sun goes down.

The Bristol Eco Veggie Fayre is the largest of its kind in Europe. Each year they expand in ever…read morediversifying directions, making it a centrally located, multi-faceted event that has something for everyone, especially families. It's essentially an inner city festival, that spans a weekend. These days The Bristol Eco Veggie Fayre concentrates a lot of its efforts in keeping people entertained as well as educated and informed of the new developments in all things green and edible. The entrance fee is justified for the bands alone, especially considering that 3 Daft Monkeys are putting in an appearance this year. It also features an eco cinema and eco art exhibition this year too. Always well attended, this event is a lot of fun, always buzzing, always refreshing. With more stalls this year than ever before, there will be plenty of delicious food to sample and innovative gadgets and devices to see. Let's hope the weather will be kind to them again this year.

Never a dull moment in Bristol, particularly in the summer months, there seems to be almost…read moresomething going on every weekend. This year, on 29th-30th May is the Bristol Eco Veggie Fayre, which as the name suggests is geared towards all things green. You will be hard pushed to find much meat around, but you will find over 140 stalls with some tasty vegeterian options. There are lots of things going on; cookery classes, veggie awards, live music, presentations... all of which are expected to be seen by around 8000 people over the weekend! A great day out for all the family, here's hoping the weather will be nice. If you've been wanting to become a bit more eco friendly then this is the perfect place to pick up some hints and tips about what you can practically do to make a difference.

A very odd one from the outside - is it a house? Is it a junk shop? But it was the apple logo that…read morefinally gave it away to me - it's a internet cafe - here in the Whitehall area! Perfect opening hours and I found access easy and service adequate. I sipped a lovely brew whilst checking my mails, just 50 of your English pence for 20 minutes of web-browsing freedom.

I don't work very far from Henleaze Road but it was while before I came across it, if you didn't…read moreknow it was there it comes up on you quite quickly. Henleaze Road is a lovely shopping street in, wait for it...Henleaze! I would say it starts and ends with the worst shops in terms of encouraging localness, Tesco petrol station at the bottom and Waitrose at the top, but in between there's a whole host of local, independent business, some of which have been there for years! You have a nice butchers about half way up, a good greengrocers, a good selection of charity shops, the usually alarmingly high number of high dressers! There are a couple of nice places you can grab a cup of something, nearer the top there is a pub/bar type place and opposite waitress a more conventional pub that serves food. It is often populated by elderly people, maybe something to do with all the charity shops, but also younger people. Not as extensive as Westbury on Trym but you could be up and down in half an hour if you were in a hurry!