Stokes Croft is where Bristol keeps its counterculture, and it still has one. The murals cover almost every available surface, political, communal, commissioned, and illegal in roughly equal measure, and the strip from the city centre to Cheltenham Road contains some of the best examples of public art in England. Banksy's work has largely migrated to other parts of the city but the tradition he drew from is alive here.
Walk it by day for the art and the shops. Come back at night for the bars. The Canteen, the Crofters Rights, Cosies, that run along and off the main drag. The community is real and not performative. Bring nothing but time.