Editor Pick
Shopping at the Circus
- August 9, 2009
- Rated 4 of 5 by
frangliz from Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Cabot Circus, opened in September 2008, is Bristol's largest shopping complex. It has ample car parking space, but is also easily reached by local buses and is only fifteen to twenty minutes' walk from Bristol Temple Meads railway station.
The centrepiece of Cabot Circus is the Glasshouse, a three-storey construction with a partial glass roof that affords both protection and light. The upper levels can be reached by either steps, escalators or a lift. At the time of my visit in November 2008, it was easy to find knowledgeable staff on the groung level handing out plans of Cabot Circus and answering particular questions about the location of individual shops. The House of Fraser department store dominates the Glasshouse, but we found it unbearably hot inside and did not stay for long. Instead we found a table by a window at Costa Coffee, ordered hot drinks and sat and watched shoppers of all ages go by.
Coming out of the Glasshouse and crossing the road, we went in search of the Apple Store in the Friary area. This was chock full of Mac enthusiasts trying out the various products on display, from Macbooks to ipods. My sons wanted to look at headphones on the upper floor, so I left them to it and went to see what else was on offer in the Friary. This was for me by far the most pleasant area of Cabot Circus, with its old church alongside Raymond Blanc's Brasserie Blanc and Carluccio's Italian Restaurant. Opposite these is a row of clothes shops and shoe shops that were mostly beyond my pocket. It seemed hard to believe that we were suffering a credit crunch, although one of my sons pointed out later that there were plenty of people around but not many actually carrying bags. I ventured into Harvey Nichols and noticed that they had a doorman – was this because on opening day one of the doors smashed as a young mother with a buggy was entering?
My sons emerged from Apple without having parted with any cash, telling me that although bigger than the store in West Quay, Southampton, it didn't actually have a wider range of products but merely more of the same. They had also realised that better headphones were available online at a loer price. We headed back to the Glasshouse and visited the Sony store on Level 3, which was almost deserted compared to the crowds in Apple. We were rather intrigued by their e-reader which none of us had seen before, but I'm afraid that here again none of us bought anything.
At this point we were ready for a late lunch and considered Cafe Rouge and La Tasca, both of which have outdoor and indoor seating. There was also the possibility of Yo! Sushi, but menus were not on display in the window, so we plumped for La Tasca. This was mid-afternoon on a Saturday, and the manageress gave the impression that they had been overwhelmed at lunchtime. We were lucky to have a choice of tables.
There are of course toilets in all the eateries, but I hadn't noticed many others around. It was only when we went back down to the lower level that I noticed a separate one there – handy at least for families with young children, or the disabled.
I was looking for an O2 Store, but this turned out from the plan to be in the nearby Broadmead centre, so I went to Carphone Warehouse instead and was assured that even if I bought a phone there and had a problem with it, I could return it to their branch in my home town. I would have liked to visit Broadmead as that is where Waterstone's bookshop is situated. Cabot Circus seems to have everything you could possibly want, except for bookstores. Broadmead is very close by, but we had a train to catch and couldn't spare the extra few minutes.
Whether you're looking for clothes, jewellery, accessories, mobile phones, toys or gifts – in fact anything except books – you will find it at Cabot Circus. There are plenty of places to choose from to rest your weary legs for a while and have a drink or a bite to eat.
From journal A Day Out in Bristol