Arnolfini Art Centre

A great space for art exhibitions - a good cafe & shop, too.

Ok place. Depends on the artist. Lots of steps. Not dog friendly anymore

Free entry modern art gallery. Exhibitions that will delight and challenge. Family and education activities, talks and more. Shop for art books and gifts and a cafe and bar with waterside location that is a lovely place to relax.

Lovely gallery cafe with lots of seating outside when it's hot. Brunch menu is tasty and good value. Cakes change regularly. Coffee and wifi both idea for remote working.

Refurbished art space in the centre of the refurbished docks area.

one of the places to see contemporary art in bristol. lots of interesting events, workshops and talks going on. friendly staff. good hot chocolate and coffee at the bar. there is a bookstore as well.

Great bar and restaurant! Especially good fun in summer when there are lots of stalls outside.

Good cafe. The art is unusual... Interesting as a change

Personally, I dislike the type of arts that you may see in the Arnolfini eg: dance - a women sitting around a table talking to a few spectators, then interpreting their conversation through dance. For some this may be fabulous but not for me. In addition, a couple of times I had popped in to discover that there was pretty much nothing there. The cafe is nice though.

Inconsistently open but when they are they have amazing exhibitions

The Arnolfini is something of a local treasure. It has been on the waterfront since 1975, when much of Bristol's floating harbour was all but derelict. It has always attracted comment, much of it complimentary, as well as the 'It might be art, but it's bloody poor welding' kind. Pretty much everything can and does happen there - art, sculpture, dance, film (sadly not as much as there used to be!) and golf!

The golf was amusing enough, if a bit more mundane than I was expecting, but the outstanding exhibition of the moment is that of Ian Hamilton Finlay's printed works. Finlay was, to my mind, one of the most interesting and important artist/poets of the 20th century. This exhibition concentrates upon his printed concrete poetry and has been curated very well indeed. Our expectations of a gallery generally include a few large images spaced out in a much larger space. Finlay's printed works are rather small, often very small. I expect it took courage to display them as they are on the tall walls of a big gallery space. These are intimate things, like postcards and greetings cards, they speak to individuals rather than audiences. I was instantly engaged by Finlay's wit and his extraordinary imagination and delighted to see that, all around the gallery, other visitors were similarly absorbed in little worlds of their own with the work. Also great to see what I believe is almost the entire output of the Wild Hawthorn Press in one place.

Finlay worked in all kinds of media - stone, wood, cloth, garden features, metal and actual concrete (!) in collaboration with a range of craftspeople. Thankfully some of those other media may be seen in the gardens around St Georges, Brandon Hill in commissioned works installed around 2002. Well worth a visit because what is missing at the Arnolfini is a sense of Finlay's extraordinary range - this is not a criticism, this show works really well as it is.

Beautiful space! Helpful and friendly staff who help loads.

Always friendly and helpful staff offering good grub and drinks for a reasonable price in a great atmosphere.

Great open and comforting big space for a break of the busy area in Bristol city were you can stop to work read, get online and recharge your phone or computer.

This place is fantastic, a great art gallery and worth a visit. The city of Bristol is a really interesting place to visit and there is so much to see and do. The Arnolfini is located next to Bristol's Floating harbour and is surrounded by lots of other interesting, visitor attractions.

Great breakfast. Good atmostphere. Nice drink selection

Lovely independent artsy cafe/bar with a beautiful area outside to sit overlooking the harbourside

Very little available to the drop in public since losing funding

Simple and elegant art gallery with really nice cafe, exhibition area, theatre and library. I recommend check out periodically since they have plenty of events :)

Very friendly staff, lovely location. Average food, small portions and overpriced.

At the time of posting, I saw a Grayson Perry exhibition with a beautiful selection of vase and carpet art.

Amazing free exhibitions here (most recently Grayson Perry), not too overcrowded. Lovely bookshop & cafe too.

Some great exhibitions but doesn t engage much with the local community or feel particularly welcoming.

A nice place, good cafe. The rest depends on what is being exhibited in the galleries at the time you visit.

I really like it here, great book and journal shop, exhibitions can be conceptual, but does have to artist such as Grayson Perry exhibiting. Worth a visit if your down on Bristol harbour.

Interesting exhibitions and events space with nice terrace in the summer

In a great spot right along the water front. The menu has lots of great choices but disappointed that I couldn't get a coffee with Coconut or Almond milk.

I go for the superb bookshop which has some lovely books, they also hold some interesting exhibitions plus they have an excellent restaurant.

A bit disappointed as there were no displays or exhibitions although it is a stunning building.

Fabulous for the galleries, events and relaxing with a beer or coffee...

I only visited the cafe, the tea was good, but the coconut and lime cake was stodgy. It was also cold in there.

Really cool gallery, very well laid out and contains plenty of information about the artists.

Lovely bookshop and cafe! No exhibitions when we visited sadly.

Exhibition space, bistro, meeting place .. in short, a bit of everything!
When I visited it, it hosted a beautiful exhibition by an English artist I didn't know but I was very impressed.
The space is large, modular, modern.

Great place good child friendly changing facilities nice cafe

Recently attended the Grayson Perry exhibition there - thoroughly enjoyed it

great cafe to catch up on work or studies in, nice atmosphere and huge spaces

On a chilled out day in Bristol, relaxing strolling along the banks of the river we were looking for a warming soup to quell our hunger. Bizarrely, almost right away, we found this lovely little cafe and they were serving a vegetable soup. And delicious it was too. Very popular cafe with people waiting for tables. Staff very busy, friendly and helpful and a good ambience. Lovely food coming out and all a bit different from the run of the mill meals you usually see. It is attached to a book shop/club/ art centre and there were talented girls doing dance numbers for the public.

Nice locstion on the river but not great fun inside

Lovely setting, good atmosphere, excellent local beer.

At the moment the arnolfini is a great place to get sh!t done. The downstairs exhibition room has been turned into a windowless box with a few tables where people can come along an use. In the room there are shelves and shelves of books on all aspects of the arts to read) if your not there to get sh!t done). There is constantly stuff going in, so check the listings. The cafe is very nice as well with friendly staff.

Mega friendly bartender, mega selection and affordable

Interesting and varied menu. Food is good quality and not too pricey.
Sometimes has too many people with laptops taking up whole tables by themselves while they sip a coffee, but it's understandable for the nice venue.

Lovely place to chill and have a few drinks! Great scenery and surroundings.

They always have a thought provoking installation to look at for Free!

I loved the exhibition about feminism and the struggle of women throughout history.
Today, I've visited the exhibition's Gallery and I've loved it. Feminism and women resistance.

Thought provoking art, family activities, and once had a calculator on a plinth. Did I mention the cardboard space shuttle pill packet with the Dutch guy rapping about Lariam? That happened.

Got one nice exhibition but not loads of exhibition options as the exhibition area is very small but has a nice atmosphere and shop has lots of interesting books.

Always interesting and challenging! One of my favourite places in Bristol.

The cafe is nice and so is the bookshop but the art exhibitions are always a bit dubious. But hey, what *is* art anyway?

Great location, with harbour views. Very good restaurant serving home made food and artisan teas and coffees all day, closes at 5pm. There is a gallery, but when I visited it was not being used for an exhibition, it was being used as a meeting place, with books, Wi-Fi, newspapers, etc, plenty of seating and tables. There is a very good art bookshop here, great selection of art, graphic and film/theatre books, with seating area. Recommended for breakfast, lunch or a browse in a relaxed area.

Gets crowded during popular exhibitions. Lots of space on multiple floors.

Wiered as always. Can't help thinking that a lot of the exhibits are flimsy. Occasional diamond in the melee.

Great gallery, exhibitions updated quarterly or sooner. Excellent bookshop and nice bar for summer drinks.

Nice gallery with a few of the best free exhibitions I've seen over the past few years. Would recommend as part of any visit to Bristol.

The cafe is nice and they have interesting events occasionally. They don't seem to have an exhibition space for art anymore which is a shame.

Saw Black Men Walking performance. Great show. Helpful, warm friendly staff. Bar staff very knowledgeable. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Average cafe, in a great location;
broken toilets and no art to speak of for over a year!


From 2018 the Arnolfini lost its Arts Council Funding; hence the absence of art. As a cafe, its OK, but it is no longer an "art gallery".

A lot of 5 star reviews, are for the great view ...
It would still have the same view if it was the worst cafe in the world!!

I've been to some interesting installations here. Has bookshop and cafe.

Great gallery with brilliant exhibitions and good cafe