The nearest airport to Bristol is Bristol Airport (BRS) itself — 8 miles south-west of the city centre on the A38, in North Somerset. Nothing else is close. But the route network matters as much as the mileage, so here is the honest ranking for anyone travelling from the West Country.
Bristol (BRS) — 8 miles
A single compact terminal handling around 10 million passengers a year. It is easyJet's largest base outside London, alongside Ryanair, Jet2, TUI, KLM and Aer Lingus — strong across Europe and the Mediterranean, thin on long-haul. There is no railway station: the Airport Flyer A1 bus reaches Temple Meads in about 30 minutes and the Air Decker A4 runs to Bath.
Cardiff (CWL) — around 62 miles
Over the Severn and down past Barry, roughly an hour and a half by road from Bristol Airport. The Severn crossing into Wales is toll-free, which still surprises people who last drove it years ago.
Exeter (EXT) — around 68 miles
Straight down the M5, about an hour and a half. Small, but genuinely convenient if you are already in Somerset or Devon.
Southampton (SOU) — around 85 miles
Roughly two hours across the A36 and M27. A regional network plus the Channel Islands, and the airport nearest the big cruise terminals.
Birmingham (BHX) — around 103 miles
About two hours ten up the M5. A real long-haul alternative when BRS has nothing suitable, and often the answer for connecting flights.
Heathrow (LHR) — around 114 miles
Two to two and a half hours down the M4, and the reason most West Country long-haul journeys start with a drive east. Gatwick is further again at around 144 miles.
Getting between them
None of these airports has a direct rail link to Bristol Airport, so an airport-to-airport connection by public transport means several changes with luggage. BristolRide runs every one of these corridors as a fixed-price private transfer, flight-tracked in both directions — see the full airport-connection list, or the Bristol to Heathrow route and the Bristol to Cardiff Airport route for the two most-asked.