An extreme day trip means flying somewhere for the day and sleeping in your own bed that night: out on the first flight, a day in another city, home on the last one. Bristol Airport works well for it, because it is easyJet's largest base outside London and has a long list of European city routes. The flying is the easy part. The hard part is the two ends of the day.
The early start
Bristol Airport asks passengers to be in the terminal at least two hours before their flight. For a first-wave departure that means arriving in the middle of the night, and the terminal is open 24 hours, although the shops and cafés only open around the first departures. Work backwards: a 6:30am flight means being in the terminal by 4:30am, which from Bath or Cardiff means leaving home before 4am.
At that hour the choice is a lift from someone, the car park, or a booked car. A pre-booked BristolRide is at your door at the time you set and drops you at the terminal, with a fixed fare agreed the day before. See the fares on our Bristol Airport taxi prices page.
The late landing
The return leg is the one that goes wrong. Bristol Airport's night period runs from 23:30 to 06:00, with a yearly cap on night flights, and a delayed last flight can still land well after midnight, when there are few other ways home. Book the pickup to your flight number: we track the flight, the driver waits for the real landing time, and the first 60 minutes after landing are free.
Packing for one day
Take hand luggage only, so there is no bag drop on the way out and no carousel on the way back. Check the airline's cabin-bag size, carry your passport and anything you need to enter the country you are visiting, and make sure your phone will work abroad for the boarding pass and maps. Leave room in the plan for a delayed flight out: a missed connection on a day trip has no next day to fall back on.
Is it worth it?
For a short city break in reach of a two-hour flight, it can be. You avoid a hotel night, and from Bristol you are not losing hours getting to a London airport first. The cost to watch is the transport at each end, which is why a fixed fare booked in advance helps: you know the total before you go. If you are driving yourself instead, read our guide to drop-off and pick-up charges at Bristol Airport first.