Bristol

Bristol is biggest city in the south west England, UK.

To London, Birmingham & Cardiff
There are two spots to leave Bristol from the center, the M32 Silvey Services opposite Staples. This is a Shell petrol station, which is an excellent hitching spot. Signing from just next to the exit, cars are able to pull in or pick you up as they leave the petrol station and whilst not all lanes can pick you up, you are highly visible and all cars will pass you. Normally less than 15 minute wait, though Jonathan has waited up to 90 minutes. Many cars will not be going to London but don't be stressed.

About one kilometer further after the roundabout there is a long hard shoulder next with enough space for cars to stop. Colinc has waited for 2 hours at Silvey on occasion.

Where the Avon ring road (A4174) meets the M32 you can try to get a lift standing by the traffic lights next to the roundabout which is right before the slip road. (Which is better than M32 in center; but 7 km north of center.)

It's possible to hitch on the / roundabout if your driver is not going in your direction – 8km from center, watch out for police who may move you.

There are now cameras on this junction and police will be with you in about 5 minuets from my experiance and the ring road on to average wait of 3-4 hours.

Going north towards Birmingham/
There is a bus(number 309 or 310) that goes from the bus station to a village called Almondsbury which is really close to the and also far away from the Bristol suburbs. This is for those annoyed by hitching around suburb traffic. Alternatively walk north along Gloucester Road and in about 11km you will get there.

A third option is to take the 54 bus to Cribbs Causeway, get off just before the shopping centre itself. There's a roundabout by the Lamb and Flag pub with a lay by of sorts just after it. It's not a great spot but it's a lot nearer than Almondsbury. There's also a petrol station a little further back towards Bristol which could be worth a try.

Going South towards Taunton and Exeter/
Get to M5 junction 19 at PEAK BUSINESS TIMES by bus if you can. Or .....

The Clifton Suspension Bridge out of town narrows into a one lane  road  over   a ravine, and drivers have to pay a toll to get on. While you're not allowed to wait at the barrier, the time it took for the guy to get out of his booth and walk over to me to tell me this was all the time I needed to get a ride to Exeter (it looked like it wouldn't be too hard to wait either before or after the bridge, either). From the city centre, you can get a local bus (#8 and #9 both work) for £1.70 that'll take you to within about 200m of the bridge.

There's a big service station near Easton-in-Gordano at Junction 19. The good news is, hitching (in my experience) gets easier as you head South and West! Southbound from J19 Easton-in- Gordano services can be very slow at holiday traffic times - two hours or even six, especially in summer. Northbound hitching  is  also  dificult. There's an bus between Portishead-Bristol every 30 mins in the daytime  £3.80 from  J19 to Bristol centre.

Walking from J19 to Clifton is 7 kilometers.

Hitching into Bristol from J19 is now easier due to new  traffic lights.

Another place to hitch FROM Bristol to  South is  at the start of A369  - Clanage Rd - by U.W.E  Bower Ashton Art Dept.

Squatting
If you need somewhere to stay or want to get in touch with squatters in Bristol try BHAM Bristol Housing Action Movement, every Monday 8pm at the Smiling Chairs Infoshop, stokes croft

Social center and co
Kebele Community Co-operative 14 Robertson Road, in Easton donation Base Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast, Bike workshop, Infoshop, library with free internet etc...

Café Kino the not-for-profit co-operative veggie café in Stoke Croft and The Factory

Classic Free Shop, 35 Stoke Croft, next to a squatted art gallery in front of an anarchist book store who is also squatted. also Be sure to check out Stokes Croft, Bristol cultural quarter, where a lot of alternative culture and gorgeous graffiti and street art.

Internet
Most of the main libraries offer internet, that you can access with any Bristol Libraries card, some community centers have internet access you can look for them here, a list of bars and pubs offering with free WiFi can be found here, and Kebele also have computer available and free WiFi.

trash:Bristol