Bath attractions

Don't miss the Roman Baths when

visiting the city

Expert guide to Bath

1.

2.

Hotels
3.

Attractions

4.

Restaurants

5.

Nightlife

6.

Shopping
An insider's guide to the best things to do and attractions in Bath, including visiting the Roman Baths, The
Royal Crescent and The Holburne Museum. By Fred Mawer, Telegraph Travel's Bath expert.

You can have a very pleasant time in Bath just wandering around, admiring its peerless Georgian architecture.
But the city offers much else besides, including more than a dozen museums, the Roman Baths – one of
Britain’s best presented historical attractions – and the snazzy spa.

First timers

The Roman Baths

Fascinating for visitors of all ages, with not only the Great Bath to take in (the surrounding statues are Victorian
additions), but the remains of the Temple to Sulis Minerva, hypocaust (underfloor heating) systems, more hot
and cold baths, and lots of finds. The audio guides are excellent – particularly the commentary for children.
Screens show a priest, soldier and bathers going about their business, and live actors, unwaveringly in
character, play out being merchants and stonemasons. Set aside two hours for the visit. Go early or late on
weekdays to avoid school groups, and early or late at weekends to avoid what can be lengthy queues to get in.

The Roman Baths are fascinating for visitors of all ages

Address: Abbey Churchyard, BA1 1LZ 

Contact: 01225 477785; romanbaths.co.uk 
Opening times: Jan, Feb 9.30am-6pm; March to mid-June, 9am-6pm; mid-June to Aug 9am-10pm; Sep, Oct
9am-6pm; Nov, Dec 9.30am-6pm
Prices: adults £15.50 (July and August £17); 65 and over, students £13.75, children 6-16 £9.80; family ticket
£46

The Royal Crescent

Built by John Wood the Younger from 1767 to 1775, when it overlooked fields, Bath’s most singularly
impressive piece of architecture is, in fact, a half-ellipse, not a crescent. Its 30 houses are now mostly divided
up into apartments – John Cleese owns one. Conjure up a reason (afternoon tea?) to pop in to The Royal
Crescent Hotel (see Hotels) for a snoop. Also have a look around No 1 Royal Crescent. Maintained by the Bath
Preservation Trust, it is furnished in period style, and a major restoration project has reunited it with its original
service wing.
The Royal Crescent is Bath's most singularly impressive piece of architecture Credit: ALAMY

Spreading over 57 acres westwards from below the Royal Crescent, Royal Victoria Park is the city’s main
green lung. Its highlights include a beautiful botanic garden and one of the biggest and best children’s
playgrounds you’ll find anywhere. It’s fun to watch hot air balloons taking off from the park on a fine
summer’s evening.

The Circus and Assembly Rooms

Encircling vast plane trees, the Circus is Bath’s other must-see Georgian masterpiece – note the carved motifs,
some of them Masonic, on the houses’ facades. Yards away, off Bennett Street, lies the Assembly Rooms, focal
point of Bath society in Georgian times. Restored to its former glory in the 1950s and 60s after being gutted by
bombs in World War Two, the beautifully proportioned Ballroom, Tea Room and Octagon (used for cards)
evoke Jane Austen’s Bath better than anywhere else in the city. Downstairs, the Fashion Museum has a separate
admission charge.

The Circus is Bath’s other must-see Georgian masterpiece.

Address: Assembly Rooms, Bennett Street, BA1 2QH 

Contact: 01225 477173; nationaltrust.org.uk/bath-assembly-rooms
Opening times: daily: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec 10.30am-5pm; March-Oct 10.30am-6pm
Prices: free (excluding the Fashion Museum)
Thermae Bath Spa

When it opened in 2006, the complex was years late and many millions over budget – but all that seems ancient
history now. Most visitors pay for a session in the New Royal Bath. This permits you to wallow in warm
(around 33C), natural, thermal waters in the open-air rooftop pool (particularly enjoyable on a cold, clear
evening) and the larger indoor Minerva Bath. It also gives you use of steam rooms – new Roman and Georgian-
inspired ones, plus an infrared sauna and ice chamber.

On Saturday afternoons and evenings, the New Royal Bath can be very busy (it's popular with hen parties), and
you may well may have a lengthy wait to get in; only groups of 8-12 can book a spa session, and only from
Monday to Thursday. If you want to visit during a weekend, Sunday mornings and evenings are the quietest
times to visit. Weekdays tend to be quieter still. Alternatively, have a session in the historic and much more
intimate Cross Bath, which can accommodate just 12 people. Again, you can't book, unless you are a group of
six or more or booking exclusive use. There are also spa treatments available, including Watsu, which takes
place in the thermal waters.

Wallow in warm, natural waters at Thermae Bath Spa Credit.

Address: Hot Bath Street, BA1 1SJ 

Contact: 01225 331234; thermaebathspa.com 
Opening times: daily 9am-9pm for the New Royal Bath, 10am-8pm for the Cross Bath
Prices: two-hour session in the New Royal Bath: Monday-Friday £35, Saturday and Sunday £38. 90-minute
session in the Cross Bath: Monday-Friday £18; Saturday and Sunday £20

Old hands

The Holburne Museum 

In 2011, the Holburne reopened after a three-year refurbishment. Previously rather fusty, the museum now
features a striking and – for an architecturally conservative city – controversial glass and ceramic extension that
protrudes from the rear of the grand, neo-classical building into Sydney Gardens. Inside, you’ll find some fine,
beautifully displayed British 18th- and early 19th-century paintings, an eclectic collection of antique curios
accumulated in the 1800s by Bathonian Sir William Holburne, interesting exhibits and a rather good café.
The Holburne boasts British paintings, antique curios and a rather good café.

Address: Great Pulteney Street, BA2 4DB 

Contact: 01225 388569; holburne.org
Opening times: Mon-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun and bank holidays 11am-5pm
Prices: admission to the main galleries is free, but there is a charge for temporary exhibitions.

Prior Park Landscape Garden

Laid out below Prior Park mansion (now a Catholic school) are National Trust grounds, in part designed by
Capability Brown and Alexander Pope. It takes about 30 minutes to walk around the woodland-flanked valley
that sweeps down to the delicate Palladian bridge and lake. You may well spot deer on the way, and the views
across Bath are sensational. Note that parking near the garden is tricky.

Prior Park has fine Georgian structures and wonderful views over Bath Credit: AP/FOTOLIA

Address: Ralph Allen Drive, BA2 5AH 

Contact: 01225 833422; nationaltrust.org.uk/prior-park. 
Opening times: daily 10am-5.30pm (or dusk if earlier), except for Jan, Nov, Dec, when it's open 10am-4pm
weekends only
Prices: adults £7; children £3.40; National Trust members free

Bath Skyline Walk

One of the joys of Bath is that on most sides the city urban development stops abruptly, giving way to lovely
countryside. On the southern side, you can follow a well-signposted, very enjoyable and varied six-mile circular
trail through fields, meadows and woodland. It starts on the south-eastern fringes of Bath above Bathwick and
Widcombe – with fantastic views across the city, this is the most scenic section. The walk then skirts Prior
Park, the university and a golf club, where you pass Sham Castle, a folly built in the 1760s by local
entrepreneur Ralph Allen to improve the view from his home.

Contact: nationaltrust.org.uk/bath-skyline

Bath Two Tunnels Circuit

You can follow a very satisfying and immensely varied 13-mile cycle loop out of and back into Bath. The Bath
Two Tunnels Circuit leaves the city via two dramatically-lit former train tunnels that were opened for cyclists
and walkers in 2013; the Combe Down Tunnel is Britain's longest cycle tunnel. The circuit then passes through
the village of Monkton Combe, before returning to Bath along the towpath of a scenic section of the Kennet and
Avon Canal. En route are several enticing pubs, including the canalside George at Bathampton.

The circuit leaves the city via two dramatically-lit former train tunnels Credit: ALAMY

Contact: sustrans.org.uk, which has a downloadable map of the route; visitbath.co.uk

Prices: bike hire £15 a day (£10 for children's bikes) from Bath Narrowboats (01225 447276)

Museum of Bath Architecture

This is the best place in Bath to learn about the city's Georgian architecture. Models and maps provide a
revealing introduction to the transformation of the city in the 18th century and the design of the buildings.
Some displays focus on details easily missed when you're out wandering the streets, such as how doorways can
vary on otherwise uniform terraces, and how the backs of houses are often a visual mishmash – the ostentatious
Georgians only cared how the front facades appeared. Until June 4 2017, there's an exhibition on the Royal
Crescent to mark the 250th anniversary of its creation.

Address: The Countess of Huntingdon’s Chapel, The Paragon, The Vineyards, Bath BA1 5NA
Contact: 01225 333895; museumofbatharchitecture.org.uk
Prices: £6; over 65s, students £4.50; children 6-16 £2.50; under 6s free
Opening times: Tue-Fri 2pm-5pm, Sat, Sun 10.30am-5pm