Most visitors to England's West Country beeline for Bath's Roman baths or the postcard villages of the Cotswolds. An hour or so further down the train line sits Bristol, a harbour city that has quietly become Europe's street-art capital — and a surprisingly easy place for mainstream travellers to dip into counter-culture without feeling out of their depth.

This is where Banksy cut his teeth, and murals now cover everything from entire building facades to tiny stencils tucked into doorways. The city's rebellious streak goes back further than spray paint, too: Bristol claims Blackbeard as a son, the pirate who famously wove candles into his beard to look more fearsome — despite a reputation built largely on theatre rather than actual bloodshed.

There's plenty to book if you want a guided way in. Graft runs a graffiti tour and hands-on workshop at its community centre, where even total newcomers learn to read the hidden messages in the city's murals before picking up a can themselves. At Psychopomp Microdistillery, you're walked through the science of distillation, handed your own copper mini-still, and sent home with gin you made yourself — Gatwick and Heathrow both allow up to two litres of liquid in carry-on, so it can fly home with you. If making gin sounds like too much effort, the distillery also runs tastings and pours what the author calls a knockout G'n'T.

For something gentler, the Arnolfini modern art museum (founded in the early 1960s) pairs exhibitions with a theatre programme, tours, workshops and family events, while St Nicholas Market is the spot to browse work from dozens of local makers and pick up souvenirs that aren't mass-produced.

Getting there is simple: Great Western Railway trains run from London Paddington in roughly one to two hours, and Bath is a stop along the way if you fancy splitting your trip between Bath's history and Bristol's contemporary scene.

Where to sleep and eat leans characterful. The Harbour Hotel occupies two grand 19th-century bank buildings in the Old City, complete with a spa, two restaurants and rooms quiet as a vault. Food highlights include The Clifton Sausage, a family-run spot for Bristolian and British classics like Toad in the Hole and Yorkshire pudding; COR, a relaxed Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant run by a husband-and-wife team; and The Apple, a cider bar aboard a converted 1930s Dutch barge moored on the waterfront. Cider is Bristol's drink of choice, and The Cider Box, a local microdistillery, runs proper cider tours if you want to go deeper.

Part of Bristol's appeal is practical: tourist numbers stay relatively low, so locals are genuinely friendly rather than jaded, and prices sit below London's. It suits travellers who want culture with an edge — street art, small-batch spirits, independent shops — but still like a comfy hotel and a good dinner at the end of the day. Add a couple of days in Bath or the Cotswolds and you've got a well-rounded West Country week.