We decided to take a quick trip to Bath. We visited Bath in mid-November and had no issues getting tickets or waiting for entry times to any of the attractions. Ticket availability and wait times may be different at other times of the year.
We arrived later in the day, too late to visit any of the main attractions. We spent the evening wandering around the streets, window shopping. The town is very easy to walk around and there are lots of shops to visit. While wandering around we found an amazing French chocolate shop – Maison Georges LARNICOL. From the window the shop looks more like a jewellery store than a chocolate shop! The chocs are delicious. So good that we had to go back the next day and get more choccies!
After our chocolate snack we had an amazing meal at Garricks Head. After dinner we went to The Dark Horse (a moody cocktail lounge) for an after dinner drink. The Dark Horse is a bit hard to find. There’s a staircase against a building on Kingsmead Square. This is a sign for The Dark Horse on the railing around the staircase.
As we walked between the town centre and our accommodation we crossed Pulteney Bridge. As you are walking down the street you may not notice that you are crossing a bridge as there are shops on both sides of the street. The variety of shops lining the street are cosy (aka extremely narrow). The bridge is best viewed from the walkway at the edge of the river or from street level a couple blocks away.
The next day we went on a tour at the The Jane Austen Centre. It was a short tour, and at the end you can dress in period outfits and take pictures.
After the tour we walked around to see The Circus. It’s a beautiful street wrapped around a large tree – very pretty. Not far from The Circus is the Royal Crescent. Here you will find No. 1 Royal Crescent, which is a house styled in the time of the street. We didn’t have time to take a tour. It looked nice from the outside (complete with a dressed doorman) and the pictures shown in their brochure. The street itself, was pretty and had a nice outlook.
Of course, the main attraction in Bath is The Roman Baths. I wasn’t expecting the baths to be so large, or have so much to look at. If you listen to the entire audio guide (included in the admission cost) it will take a couple of hours. You can of course decrease (or increase) that time as you wish.
The tour begins by walking around the terrace, giving you a great view of the great bath. From there you go inside to learn more about the Romans in the area and the creation of the baths. You also learn about the baths as a religious spa and temple of Aquae Sulis people, who worshipped the goddess Sulis Minerva. From there you head back outside to get up close with the great bath, the west and east baths, the wet bath area, and the sacred spring.
There’s a lot to look at, so make sure you plan to have enough time there.
Next to The Roman Baths is the Bath Abbey. The Abbey is free to enter and take a look. There’s not a lot to look at, but worth a quick visit to see the inside of the Abbey.
We spent the rest of our day walking around the streets of Bath. The buildings and shops are worth a look. Bath is one of those small-ish towns that you can just spend the day wandering around, stopping for a drink in a cute cafe, followed by a meal at a nice restaurant.