RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Connecticut >> Hartford County >> Bristol >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Bristol, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bristol and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Bristol:
    • 41.681209, -72.940659
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Bristol
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Hartford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hartford County
    • Since Bristol is near Litchfield County and also New Haven County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Litchfield County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for New Haven County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Bristol

Communities Also Named Bristol ...

We found five communities that are also named Bristol.

Within Connecticut, the name Bristol is unique.

Beyond Connecticut, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Ontario County
      • This Bristol is located in Ontario County and lies 242 miles [389.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bristol that is located in Hartford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ontario County community of Bristol.
    • Rhode Island
      • Bristol County
      • This Bristol is located in Bristol County and lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the east of the Bristol that is located in Hartford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bristol County community of Bristol.
    • Vermont
      • Addison County
      • This Bristol is located in Addison County and lies 169 miles [272 km]<1> to the north of the Bristol that is located in Hartford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Addison County community of Bristol.
    • Wisconsin
      • Dane County
      • This Bristol is located in Dane County and lies 832 miles [1,339 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Bristol that is located in Hartford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dane County community of Bristol.
      • Kenosha County
      • This Bristol is located in Kenosha County and lies 773 miles [1,244 km] to the west of the Bristol that is located in Hartford County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kenosha County community of Bristol.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bristol ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Bishops Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Forestville
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Forestville is located in Hartford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
  • Greystone
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Greystone is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
  • Lovely Street
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lovely Street is located in Hartford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovely Street
  • Plainville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Plantsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Plymouth
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Terryville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Terryville Station
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Terryville Station is located in Litchfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville Station
  • Unionville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Whigville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Whigville is located in Hartford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whigville
  • Woodtick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Woodtick is located in New Haven County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodtick

How Far From Bristol to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Bristol to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bristol and extending to:

  • Hartford, which is the State Capital of Connecticut, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Bristol to Hartford, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 288 miles [463.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,610 miles [9,028.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,318 miles [10,167.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,194 miles [6,749.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bristol) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<4>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Bristol to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bristol. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.6812, Longitude: -72.9407       In this case, the coordinates for Bristol have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.195 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.832 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.748 degrees.