The Siberian American: Quick Trip: 24 Hours in Bath, England

Monday, December 1, 2014

Quick Trip: 24 Hours in Bath, England

It’s been a while since I introduced my Quick Trip: What to do in a city when you only have 24 hours series with Boston. Today I wanted to switch gears from recapping our fall foliage cruise and share one of my favorite places in the United Kingdom—Bath, England.

When we were in England, I knew I had to visit Bath for two reasons—to see the Roman Baths and a city where Jane Austen lived. Bath is located only two hours from London and one hour from Stonehenge so it’s a great place to add to a London itinerary. Plus, the beautiful, quaint city is so much fun to explore!
What to do: The Romans built the Roman Baths around 2,000 years ago, and tourists have been visiting since that time (first to bathe, now to explore). I really enjoyed our visit to the Roman Baths, especially the Great Bath. We bought the audio tour, which was well worth it. As we explored the different areas, it explained the purpose of each room. You can’t bathe in the natural mineral water at the Roman Baths, but Bath does have a warm mineral spa called the Thermae Bath Spa where you can relax in the thermal spa.
After we finished at the Roman Baths, we wandered over to the Bath Abbey across the street. The Bath Abbey is absolutely beautiful and worth a visit. We decided not to do this, but you can also pay £6 for a 45-minute guided tour that takes you up to the tower, where you can get a lovely view of Bath.
Another highlight to our time in Bath was the Pulteney Bridge, which has fun shops on both sides (it is one of four bridges in the world that has a full span of shops on both sides). We also enjoyed the gorgeous architecture of the Royal Crescent and the nearby Victoria Park.
Although Bath is known as a place where Jane Austen lived with her family for several years (Northanger Abbey is said to be based on her time living in Bath), I thought the Jane Austen Centre was disappointing. It wasn't interesting to me because it wasn’t close to where she lived, and it didn’t include any artifacts from her life.
Where to stay: We decided to spend the sleeping part of the 24 hours in London instead of Bath. Since London is only two hours away, it made sense for us to spend the night there since we were headed to Belgium the next day. If you would like to stay in Bath, several of my friends have recommended the Bailbrook Lodge.

Have you been to Bath? What are some of your favorite places in the city?

15 comments:

  1. oh you're killing me! I have been to London twice but I never made it to Bath. I was planning on going next Summer, but we ended up having to scrap London thus also getting rid of Bath. I really want to go, mainly because of Jane Austen, so maybe one day. Although I have heard that about the centre, that it's more of a gift shop not a museum, which is still fine, but it makes me feel better that we aren't going right now. Plus apparently Jane Austen wasn't a huge fan of Bath, or so I've heard.

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  2. How fun!!! I didn't make it there when I was traveling either- fabulous pics!!

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  3. Bath was my favorite part about our trip to England this summer!! I felt like I was transported back to Italy!! It's so crazy beautiful there!!

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  4. Wow, what a beautiful city. I still haven't made it to the UK yet, but it's definitely at the top of my list. Too bad it's so expensive to travel there!

    Cat
    http://oddlylovely.com

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  5. That looks amazing! We spent some time in London for our honeymoon and loved it so I cannot wait to go back to England and explore other cities! I'm adding Bath to my list for sure.

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    1. A London honeymoon sounds wonderful! I am so glad you want to add Bath to your list- it's so beautiful there! :)

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  6. I've never been to England but looks nice and rainy as expected! lol What kind of camera do you use? Your travel pictures are always gorgeous.

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  7. I wish I'd had time to visit Bath when I was there. It looks amazing!

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  8. Absolutely stunning pictures! The last time I was over there we didn't get a chance to go and I really wanted to!

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  9. You know I'VE never been there {but as my usual comments on your travel posts...} your pictures are incredible! When we were on our road trip for Thanksgiving, David and I started playing the, "If you could go on any trip outside the US, where would you go?" game. I couldn't decide but I told him the UK was on my list and this just confirms it!

    -Claire
    www.fashionandfeathers.com

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  10. Wow, this looks incredible! I hope to take visit Europe someday (actually, I hope to visit many times, ha!) and this looks like an amazing day trip!

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  11. These photos are beautiful! I've always wanted to tour Bath. Thanks for the post.

    XO Liza
    http://cakeandcocktails.com

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  12. Wow, these pictures are stunning! It must have been so awe-inspiring to see!

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  13. I've never been, but you make me want to go! European churches always put me in awe. And those baths...what a unique site!

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