Bristol welcome sign over State Street, spanning the two states.

Bristol is a city in Southwest Virginia and Eastern Tennessee, United States of America.

Understand

Bristol is a city bisected by the Virginia-Tennessee border; the north half is in Virginia and the south half in Tennessee. State Street runs along the borderline and the two cities share a downtown.

Bristol, Virginia is an independent city in Virginia, bounded by Washington County, Virginia and Sullivan County, Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 17,835.

Bristol, Tennessee is in Sullivan County. As of the 2010 census, the city has a total population of 26,702.

Originally named Goodson, the city was renamed to Bristol in 1890.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Tri-Cities Airport (TRI  ^IATA) (the closest major airport is approximately 20 miles driving distance).  

By car

Interstate 81 connects Bristol with other cities (Roanoke, VA to the north and Knoxville, TN to the south) along a scenic and well maintained corridor that is a major route for private and commercial traffic. Bristol can be accessed via exits 1, 3, 5, and 7 in Virginia and exit 74 in Tennessee. Exit 3 on I-81 leads to I-381, a short spur freeway that takes traffic into downtown Bristol.

Get around

Public transportation is available to a limited portion of the city via a municipal bus system.

See

• Downtown district including shopping, historic landmarks in the history of Country Music.

Cumberland Square Park and War Memorial

• 1 Birthplace of Country Music Museum. (updated Jul 2018)

Do

• 1 Bristol Motor Speedway, 151 Speedway Blvd. A NASCAR short track auto racing venue. An enlarged cartoon version of this track appeared as the "Motor Speedway of the South" in Pixar's "Cars" in 2006. 

Eat

• 1 Eatz on Moore Street, 17 Moore St, ☏ +1 276 591-4755, eatzonmoorestreet@gmail.com. (updated Sep 2021)
• 2 Shanghai Chinese Restaurant, 711 State St, ☏ +1 276 669-9000. (updated Sep 2021)
• 3 State Line Bar and Grille, 644 State St, ☏ +1 423 652-0792. (updated Sep 2021)

Sleep

• 1 Quality Inn & Suites, 131 Bristol East Road, ☏ +1 276 669-8164, fax: +1 276 669-2805. 
• Courtyard Bristol, 3169 Linden Drive, ☏ +1 276 591-4400, fax: +1 276 591-4402. 
• Delta Hotels by Marriott Bristol, 3135 Linden Dr, ☏ +1 276 466-4100. 
• Motel 6, 21561 Clear Creek Road, ☏ +1 276 466-6060, fax: +1 276 466-0755. 

Go next

Routes through Bristol

Roanoke ← Wytheville ←	N  S	→ Kingsport → Knoxville via
Roanoke ← Wytheville ←	N  S	→ Splits into and
Merges with ←	N  S	→ Johnson City → Knoxville
Merges with ←	N  S	→ Kingsport → Knoxville

Bristol, Virginia