Bath
If you've never been to Bath, you're in for a pleasant surprise. It's a truly unique place! Seen from a distance, the endless rows of elegant Georgian terraces stud the hills above the Avon valley like the little basalt blocks of the Giant's Causeway. Bath's rich history has been recognized in its designation as a World Heritage Site (just like the Causeway, in fact). Although often packed with tourists, it remains a calm and genteel place and makes an excellent destination for a day trip from London—or even further afield, especially if you enjoy browsing through quirky little shops and sitting in coffee bars.
Photo: Bath's answer to the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy: the Pulteney Bridge across the River Avon.
The location
Bath is officially in the West Country, that somewhat nebulous region of England that takes in Somerset and the South West. The best way to approach it is by rail, from the south, when the whole town suddenly opens up in front of you like a giant stone amphiteatre. Although close to urban centres such as Bristol and Swindon, Bath retains a distinctly rural charm. The winding river valley south of the city, leading down to the charming town of Bradford on Avon, is a delight. Town or countryside? In Bath, you have the best of both worlds.
Photo: Almost every street in Bath is an architectural gem.
Things to do
Attractions
Photo: Roman Baths and Pump Room
There's plenty to see and do in Bath itself. Historic Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths are likely to be top of any tourist itinerary. If spas are your thing, you could try the newly opened Thermae Spa (Britain's only natural theral spa). There's also the wonderful Pulteney Bridge and the 57-acre Royal Victoria Park and botanic gardens. You could take a walk or bus to Prior Park, with its fabulous city vista and famous palladian bridge. You'll also want to marvel at the architecture of the Royal Crescent and the Circle. Slightly further afield, there are major attractions like Longleat, Stonehenge, and Cheddar Gorge.
Shopping
If shopping's your thing, Bath is bound to
delight. Take at look at the Bath
Shopping website for a taste of what you'll find here. There's a
modern shopping centre toward the bus station,
which you can safely ignore. In the city centre itself, there are
still tons of interesting, tiny independent stores packed down a
criss-cross maze of little streets. While
you're recovering from shopping, how about taking tea at the famous Pump
Room or Sally Lunn's?
Houses and gardens
If you like houses and gardens, you'll want to stop off at Number 1 Royal Crescent. You're likely to find a visit to the famous Italianate Peto Gardens at Iford Manor well worth your while. Also nearby, towards Bradford on Avon, are two interesting National Trust properties at Westwood Manor and The Courts. The recently acquired National Trust estate at Tyntesfield is also nearby. One of the loveliest landscape gardens in England, Prior Park, is a half-hour walk from Bath City Centre (or about 5-10 minutes on the number 2 bus).
Photo: Prior Park, just outside Bath, makes a lovely afternoon's walk.
There are some lovely public parks in Bath itself. The Royal Victoria Gardens, down from the Royal Crescent, are open, pleasant, peaceful and free. You have to pay to go in the Parade Gardens and they are often full of people, but they open onto the river and a diligent gardener, constantly at work, ensures the wonderful flowerbeds never disappoint! Legendary, imaginative topiaries spring up here each year.
Culture
Bath is noted for its annual international music festival.
There's the main Victoria
Art Gallery, the Holburne Museum of Art, and many interesting smaller
galleries dotted
around the town
(including the famous Beaux
Arts). The Royal
Photographic Society
has a gallery here too. Don't forget the Theatre Royal, an arts
cinema called The
Little Theatre, and a bigger Odeon
cinema.
Photo: Bath Abbey
Bath has lots of museums too, including an American Museum, the Bath Postal
Museum, the Herschel Museum
of Astronomy, the Museum
of East
Asian Art, the Bath Fashion
Museum, and quite
a few more.
Places to stay and eat
As you'd expect, there's a huge range of hotels,
B&Bs, and guesthouses in the city. At the top end of the range, the
sumptuous Royal
Crescent Hotel (now owned by Von Essen) is a five-star favourite
if you don't mind a steady stream of tourists wandering past. The Bath
Spa Hotel (operated by Macdonald Hotels)
is also five star, has its own modern spa and swimming pool, and
wonderful gardens. The Francis in
Queen Square is superbly central though rather shabby and run down
inside (as of September 2007); if you don't like night-time city noise,
ask for a room facing the internal courtyard or stay somewhere else.
You can search for all types of accommodation on the official
Visit Bath tourism
website. Duke's Hotel on Great Pulteney Street looks really nice from
outside, but I've never ventured in to find out what it's like.
There are dozens and dozens of places to eat in Bath. Some of the
restaurants have got together to produce a handy map called
"Restaurants Bath: Free Guide and Map", which lists about 30 of the
better-known places. Get yourself a copy from the official Tourist
Information Centre near the Abbey.
Photo: Bath's eating places cater for every taste. Here's the Rajpoot curry house blending nicely into a historic facade in Argyle Street (just off the Pulteney bridge).
Getting here
Bath is easy to reach by road on the M4, M5, the A36 and the A46.
Bath Spa train station is served by virtually every train that goes from London Paddington to Bristol (a journey time of approximately 90 minutes), so there are direct links to such places as Swindon, and Reading. From the south, you'd travel up from Southampton or Portsmouth on the slow line that meanders attractively through Romsey, Salisbury, and Westbury. If you're coming from the Midlands or the North, you need to get yourself to Bristol first and then change there for Bath.
As of Autumn 2007, Bath's bus station is in the process of being
rebuilt. You can still get coach and bus links to
London and nearby towns and cities such as Salisbury and Bristol. First
Bus operates many of the buses in the Bath and Somerset/Avon area.
Maps
Here's a map of Bath from Google Images. You can use the "Find businesses" tab and search box to find local businesses, places to stay, and so on.
You can also download city street maps and, maps of the region, from
the official Visit
Bath site.
More information
- Visit Bath:
The official tourist information guide to the city. The official
tourist information centre is next to Bath Abbey, but there's also a
small commercial tourist shop posing as a tourist information centre
too, so be sure to go to the right place.
- City of Bath: Useful, unofficial tourist information.
- Bath: A good, comprehensive introduction from Wikipedia.
- Bath, England: See what images people are posting on Flickr.
