The Bristol Harbourside is the regenerated floating harbour — a stretch of water kept at a constant level by a sluice system Brunel designed — lined with converted warehouses, museums, restaurants, and bars. This is where the SS Great Britain is docked, where M Shed tells the city's story, where the Matthew replica sits at its mooring, and where the weekend crowds come for food markets, outdoor events, and a walk along the water.
The harbourside runs from the city centre west toward the Cumberland Basin and the entrance to the Avon Gorge. The most active stretch is between Pero's Bridge (named for an enslaved man who lived in Bristol in the 18th century) and the Great Western Dockyard. On summer weekends it can feel crowded; on winter mornings the cranes, old warehouse facades, and grey water have a melancholy industrial beauty. The annual Harbour Festival draws large crowds in the summer.