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Bath, in the county of Somerset in southwest England, is built around natural hot springs that the Romans turned into a bathing complex nearly two thousand years ago. The town flourished again in the eighteenth century as a fashionable spa resort, when architects laid out its elegant streets and crescents in pale Bath stone. The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Roman Baths are the obvious starting point, with the original bathing pool and museum displays, and Bath Abbey stands next door. The Pump Room, overlooking the Abbey Churchyard, still serves meals and offers a taste of the spring water. Pulteney Bridge, lined with shops, crosses the River Avon beside the Parade Gardens. Uphill, the curve of the Royal Crescent includes No. 1 Royal Crescent, a museum furnished in Georgian style, and nearby the Circus forms a ring of grand townhouses. The Jane Austen Centre recalls the novelist's years in the city. The Holburne Museum sits at the edge of Sydney Gardens, Thermae Bath Spa allows modern bathing in the thermal waters, and Prior Park Landscape Garden overlooks the city from the hills.
Bath is compact and walkable, well suited to a relaxed break. It also makes a convenient base for the Cotswolds and nearby Wells.
WiserMap travel guideBath England Roman Baths Royal Crescent and Jane AustenDiscover Bath: the Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, Royal Crescent, Circus, Pulteney Bridge, thermal spa bathing, Jane Austen sites, Prior Park and the Skyline walk.Read the guide
The Roman Baths are a remarkably well preserved Roman bathing and temple complex built around Britain's only natural hot springs. You walk around the steaming Great Bath and through rooms of finds, including the gilded head of Minerva and curse tablets. Book a timed ticket, and try the evening openings in summer.
Bath Abbey is a large Gothic church in the city center, rebuilt from 1499, with fan-vaulted ceilings and huge stained glass windows. Its west front shows angels climbing ladders to heaven. Tower tours climb 212 steps to the bell chamber and the roof for views of the city. Tower tours are timed and limited.
The Pump Room is the elegant 18th-century hall above the Roman Baths, where Georgian society met to drink the spa water. It is now a restaurant serving afternoon tea, often with live music, and you can taste the warm mineral water. The Abbey Churchyard outside has street performers. Book tea ahead.
Pulteney Bridge, designed by Robert Adam and finished in 1774, is one of only a few bridges in the world lined with shops on both sides. Below it the River Avon tumbles over a curved weir. Parade Gardens beside the river offer a lovely view of the bridge and weir. River cruises leave from below the bridge.
The Royal Crescent is a sweeping curve of 30 Georgian houses built between 1767 and 1774, facing a wide lawn and Royal Victoria Park. No. 1 Royal Crescent is a museum house furnished as it would have been in the 1700s, showing both the grand rooms and the servants' kitchen. Allow about an hour.
The Circus is a ring of grand Georgian townhouses designed by John Wood the Elder and finished by his son, split into three curved segments around a circle of plane trees. Its facades are decorated with hundreds of carved symbols. It is a short walk from the Royal Crescent along Brock Street, so see them together.
The Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street tells the story of the novelist's years in Bath from 1801 to 1806 and how the city shaped books such as Persuasion. Guides in Regency costume introduce the exhibition, and the Regency Tea Room upstairs serves tea. The Jane Austen Festival each September brings costumed parades.
The Holburne Museum fills a Georgian building at the end of Great Pulteney Street, with paintings by Gainsborough and Stubbs, silver, porcelain and changing exhibitions. Behind it, Sydney Gardens is Bath's oldest park, where Jane Austen walked, with bridges over the canal and railway. Entry to the main collection is free.
Thermae Bath Spa lets you bathe in Bath's natural thermal waters, the only place in Britain to do so. Its rooftop pool looks out over the abbey and the city skyline, with steam rooms and a lower indoor pool. Sessions are timed and walk-in lines can be long, so book ahead and try a sunset session.
Prior Park is an 18th-century landscape garden on a hillside south of the city, run by the National Trust. Paths lead down past lakes to its famous Palladian Bridge, one of only four of this design in the world, with views back over Bath. The slopes are steep. There is no parking, so take the bus or walk.
The Bath Skyline is a six-mile circular walk through the National Trust land on the hills east of the city, through meadows, woods and hidden valleys with views over Bath. It passes Sham Castle, an 18th-century folly. Shorter loops are possible. Wear good shoes, as parts are muddy after rain.
The Kennet and Avon Canal leaves Bath through a flight of locks near Sydney Gardens. Its flat towpath makes an easy walk or bike ride east toward the Dundas Aqueduct and the pretty village of Bradford-on-Avon about ten miles away, past narrowboats and canalside pubs. Bikes and boats can be hired at Bathampton.
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