I was very lucky to be able to squeeze in a day trip to Bath before England was plunged into ‘Lockdown 2.0’. This small city in the county of Somerset is steeped in history and, being only 90 minutes from central London, is an ideal trip for any visitors looking for a day of respite from the capital. Read on to discover things do in Bath and the five activities that MUST feature on your itinerary if you plan on visiting Bath.
1) Wander around the Royal Crescent
The Royal Crescent is a sweeping crescent of 30 terraced houses dating back to 1774. In the heart of the crescent you will find the Royal Crescent Hotel and Spa, which offers a wonderful afternoon tea in its Dower House restaurant.
2) Visit Pultney Bridge
Pultney Bridge opened in 1770 and, interestingly, it is one of only four bridges in the world to have shops across its full span on both sides. If you’re a fan of musicals, you may recognise Pultney Bridge as the filming location for Javert’s suicide scene in the 2012 adaptation of Les Miserables. Downstream from the Bridge you will find Pultney Weir, the V-shaped barrier designed to prevent the River Avon from flooding Bath, through controlling the water level and regulating flow. Maps of Bath have shown the presence of a Weir at that point in the river since 1603.
3) Explore the Roman Baths
If you thought that a Weir from 1603 sounded impressive then the main attraction of Bath will blow your mind – constructed in 70 AD for use as a site of public bathing and socalising, the Roman Baths are one of the best-preserved examples of Roman ruins in the world. The Romans built the baths around the thermal hot springs which occur naturally in the city (which was once known as the town of ‘Aquae Sulis’). Fast forward to 2020 and 1,170,000 litres of steaming spring water, reaching 46°C, still rises at the site every day. The green colour of the Baths is due to the presence of algae in the water and so, unsurprisingly, the Baths are no longer used for bathing. It was fascinating exploring the complex and seeing the chambers that were historically used for purposes such as changing rooms, or even as a plunge pool.
4) Eat a Bath bunN from Sally Lunn’s
You won’t be surprised to hear that Sally Lunn’s is based in another historic building – dating back to 1482, the Eating House is, in fact, one of the oldest houses in Bath. Allegedly, Sally Lunn was a French refugee who established the bakery in Bath in 1680. Today, the Eating House is still open for fine, traditional English food, including the world famous ‘Sally Lunn Bath Bunn’, a hybrid bread-cake that can be eaten with either savoury or sweet toppings.
5) Check out Bath Abbey
The site on which Bath Abbey sits has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,200 years. The building is beautiful with its incredible stained glass windows and honey coloured architecture. Sadly, the Abbey’s ‘Tower Tours’ were closed due to Covid when I visited and so I’m eager to return one day soon to experience the Abbey’s aerial view of the city!
Bath is on the edge of the Cotswolds in England. If you’re in this part of the world, be sure to check out my blog on the most UNMISSABLE locations in Cotswolds.
Bringing back memories – we visited Bath a few years back. Very easy trip from Dublin – cheap flight to Bristol and train on to Bath…. The flight must have been early -We were at Sally Lunn’s by mid morning!!!
That’s certainly good timing with the flight in order to avoid the lunchtime rush at Sally Lunn’s! Glad to have brought back some nice memories of the bygone days of when we could travel! 😀
These pictures are gorgeous. Hopefully some of us will get to see it in real-life someday soon. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you! The weather was mainly drizzly (as is standard for England) when I was in Bath but managed to get a few hours of blue skies so was able to get a few ‘nicer’ photos! Fingers crossed we can all get travelling again soon 🙂
I second that 😂🤞
Love it, thank you for sharing these tips. When the world gets back to normal, whatever normal means 😒🤔 I hope to visit Bath, fingers, toes, everything crossed!
I’m with you there – I can’t wait for the world to open up again so we can get travelling once more! I have my fingers crossed for you too 😀
Thank you🤞sooner 🙂
This looks like such a cool place to visit- history, architecture and food! I had thought to visit this place when I visited London but I ran out of time. Next time for sure. Thanks for this informative post.
Glad you enjoyed the article! Bath is definitely one to visit when you next get the opportunity to come to the U.K. I’d also recommend making the trip out to my local city of Cambridge if you’ve not been there either 😀
I love Bath, such a beautiful place. I live dthere for a very short while but loved it!
That must have been lovely! Hope the article brought back some fond memories 😀
Lovely description of the City in which I grew up. A city with so much history from Samuel Pepys’ diary to the modern arts and musical festivals.
As I now live in Europe so it was a good reminder of home.
Definitely one of the best in the U.K.! Very glad I helped bring back some nice memories, hope you’ve moved to somewhere equally as lovely!
Such a great list !
Hahaha a dip in the algae doesn’t sound the most inviting does it? I imagine it was quite hard to try and fit everything in when you were over here, but at least you have a reason to come back and visit in the (hopefully not too distant) future! 😀
Definitely a place I plan to get to. I have relatives in various parts of England, my mum is from London but moved to NY 80 years ago. She’s now 90. I’m in regular contact with cousins around the country and have visited several times, plus met up with them in Spain and Portugal. Great photos, too.
Oh wow, lots of reasons to make trips over to Europe then! Hope you get the opportunity to make it to Bath soon 🙂
Have been there a few times but so very long ago. My last trip included a beautiful ride on the Orient Express to get there and back. Such a beautiful place to spend a day or two.
We traveled with two littles (2016) and ended up not going to Bath. This post is a reminder of what we missed, and I’m looking forward to going back when we can travel more.
Looking at your post, Bath is one of incredible historical cities the UK owns. I’ve listed it in my bucket.
Anyway, thank you for visiting my blog.
Keep traveling and writing, your stories are amazing.
Yes it is certainly a special place and I hope you get to visit it soon! 🙂
It’s surprising to me that I found Bath was used as a shooting area for Bridgerton series due to its existing kingdom-style buildings like in 18-19th centuries. What an amazing county!
I know! The shots of the Royal Crescent throughout the series were just wonderful 🙂