Europe Unlocked Research
Best time to book flights from Bristol? Typical fares, the bargains we found and what booking early or late did, one airline at a time, in 2026.
Written By Rick Blyth
Happiest at 36,000ft as the sun rises above the clouds
6 min read
Published on 12th November 2026
In our trip search on 12th November 2026, Bristol had more places for a city break than any other airport in the South West and Wales: 86, with 38 of them under £50 return.
Wondering about the best time to book flights from Bristol? Here's the good news first, from our trip search, then what booking early or leaving it late did to fares in our 2026 fare tracking, one airline at a time.
This page is the Bristol part of our study of the best time to book flights to Europe.
Here's what we found when we searched for city breaks from Bristol: return trips, flights only.
86places for a city break from Bristol, in 28 countriesMore than any other airport in the South West and Wales
38of them under £50 return, and 77 under £100More than any other airport in the South West and Wales
City break in EuropeFuerteventura1 night in December, from £28 returnCheapest from any airport in the South West and Wales
City break in IrelandDublin2 nights in December, from £30 return
City break in the UKBelfast1 night in December, from £30 returnReturn trips, flights only, per person, from our trip search on 12th November 2026. Fares move, and you book each flight directly with the airline. Compared with the other UK airports our trip search covers, searched the same day: we only say "more" when an airport is well ahead, and "cheapest" when it's at least £5 lower.
See every city break from Bristol →Here's how much lower fares were 6 to 8 weeks before departure than in the final days or six months ahead, airline by airline.
From BristolRyanair to Dublin£51 lesstypically, 6 to 8 weeks out than in the final days
From BristolRyanair, other routes£26 lesstypically, 6 to 8 weeks out than in the final days
From BristolJet2£43 lesstypically, 6 to 8 weeks out than 6 months ahead
From BristoleasyJet£16 lesstypically, 6 to 8 weeks out than 6 months ahead
📬 Free · Every Sunday
Each email has the best-value trips from Bristol for the following two weeks, found and priced for you.
What lands in your inbox on Sunday
To: you
The full figures, for journalists and anyone who likes the detail, start here. This is the typical one-way fare on the flights we tracked from Bristol, booked 6 to 8 weeks before departure, one airline at a time. Typical means the middle one: half cost less, half cost more.
From BristolRyanair to Dublin£21typical fare one way, booked 6 to 8 weeks ahead
From BristolRyanair, other routes£49typical fare one way, booked 6 to 8 weeks ahead
Each flight is compared with its own fare 6 to 8 weeks before it left.
From BristolJet256% higherbooked 24 to 26 weeks out, about £43 more a flight
317 flights tracked, departures 5 July to 7 November.
From BristoleasyJet23% higherbooked 24 to 26 weeks out, about £16 more a flight
806 flights tracked, departures 5 July to 7 November.
From BristolRyanair to Dublin182% higherin the final days, about £51 more a flight
546 flights tracked, departures 1 March to 7 November.
Each point covers 100 or more flights. One-way base fares for one person, without bags, on the flights we tracked from Bristol.
What happened to fares in the last days before departure, airline by airline:
What booking about six months ahead did, against booking 6 to 8 weeks out:
In our fare tracking, Ryanair to Dublin is the one route we can fairly compare between airports, because it's the same airline on the same route. From Bristol:
Here it is from the 12 UK airports where we tracked enough Ryanair flights to Dublin, in alphabetical order. These are increases, not fare levels.
Bristol’s rise was clearly different from East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool, London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted and Newcastle. It wasn’t clearly different from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow or Manchester, so we don’t compare it with those.
It depends on the airline, so we looked at each one on its own. In our 2026 fare tracking: Among the 546 Ryanair flights to Dublin we tracked from Bristol (departures 1 March to 7 November), fares 6 to 8 weeks out were typically about £51 lower than the same flight's fare in the final days. Among the 519 Ryanair flights (leaving out Dublin) we tracked from Bristol (departures 1 March to 6 November), fares 6 to 8 weeks out were typically about £26 lower than the same flight's fare in the final days. Among the 317 Jet2 flights we tracked from Bristol (departures 5 July to 7 November), fares 6 to 8 weeks out were typically about £43 lower than 24 to 26 weeks out. Among the 806 easyJet flights we tracked from Bristol (departures 5 July to 7 November), fares 6 to 8 weeks out were typically about £16 lower than 24 to 26 weeks out.
Booked 6 to 8 weeks before departure, in our 2026 fare tracking: Among the 646 Jet2 flights we tracked from Bristol (departures 1 March to 7 November), the typical fare 6 to 8 weeks before departure was £85 one way. Among the 645 Ryanair flights (leaving out Dublin) we tracked from Bristol (departures 1 March to 6 November), the typical fare 6 to 8 weeks before departure was £49 one way: 28% were under £30 and 50% under £50. Among the 676 Ryanair flights to Dublin we tracked from Bristol (departures 1 March to 7 November), the typical fare 6 to 8 weeks before departure was £21 one way: 66% were under £30 and 86% under £50. Among the 1,754 easyJet flights we tracked from Bristol (departures 1 March to 7 November), the typical fare 6 to 8 weeks before departure was £81 one way.
In our 2026 fare tracking, yes. Among the 546 Ryanair flights to Dublin we tracked from Bristol (departures 1 March to 7 November), fares in the final days were typically 182% higher than the same flight's fare 6 to 8 weeks out, about £51 more. 81% were dearer and 12% cheaper.
Yes. Media outlets, websites and other publications are welcome to use them, but must credit Europe Unlocked with a link to this page. Journalists can also get the press pack from our full study.
We've done the searching, so you don't have to. Find city breaks from Bristol, or read the best time to book flights to Europe, our full 2026 study.
