UK Travel Planning

Bath Travel Guide: Top Sights, Where to Stay, and Planning Your Perfect Visit

• Tracy Collins • Episode 159

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When you think of travel in England, the historic city of Bath might be high on your list - and for good reason. 

In this episode, we dive into everything you need to know to plan your perfect visit to Bath. Drawing on our many personal experiences and favourite spots, we answer common questions about how to get there, top things to see and do, where to stay, and whether it’s best for a day trip or a more extended stay. 

From the iconic Roman baths and striking Georgian architecture to Jane Austen connections and delicious local dining, we share practical travel advice, insider tips, and insights to help you make the most of your trip. 

Whether you’re a first-time visitor or returning to see more, join us as we explore what makes Bath such a special, relaxing, and memorable destination.

📝 Show Notes - Episode 159

🎧 Listen to next

  • Episode #96 - Easy day trips from London by train (Part 1)
  • Episode #97 - Easy day trips from London by train (Part 2)
  • Episode #136 - Unveiling the Cotswolds: Top Experiences and Insider Tips

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Speaker 1:

Planning a trip to Bath. In this episode, I'm sharing practical tips and answering common questions how to get there, what to do, where to stay and whether to visit for the day or spend a few nights. Based on my own many visits, I'll walk you through what to expect and how to make the most of your time.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, Tracey Collins. In this podcast, Tracy shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation. Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.

Speaker 1:

Hi, welcome to this week's edition of the UK Travel Plan and Podcast. In this episode, we're going to be talking all about Bath. Doug is here. Hello there, One of the most popular cities in England, of course, Bath is, and the only entire city in the UK to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In fact, Bath holds two UNESCO designations for its Roman and Georgian architecture and is one of the great spa towns of Europe.

Speaker 1:

Now, before we dive in and start talking all about Bath, I would like to, or we would like to say a huge thank you to listener Lisa Webster, who supports the podcast with their monthly subscription. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much, Lisa. If you'd like to shout out on the podcast and want to support what we do from as little as three US dollars a month, We've included a link in the show notes. And thank you as well to everyone who sent us messages via Speakpipe. We love hearing from you. If you leave your name and email when you record your message, we'll always do our best to get back to you. Now back to today's episode. Doug and I have visited Bath numerous times.

Speaker 1:

Oh, many times, over many years, and so we thought in this chat today, we would share our favourite places, helpful tips and personal experiences to help you plan your own trip. So we're going to cover how to get there, what to see and do, where to stay, when to go and even a few great day trip ideas, yeah, yeah. So Doug's going to take over host and duties in this one, so he's going to be asking the questions we often hear from you guys and chiming in with his own thoughts from previous visits too, yeah. So whether it's your first time visiting bath or you're planning to return, this episode will help you feel more confident about how to make the most of your time there.

Speaker 3:

Let's start with a simple question to start with, for anyone who hasn't been, where is Bath and how would you describe it? And I suppose an extension is what makes it such a special place to visit.

Speaker 1:

Well, bath is located in the county of Somerset, which is in the southwest of England. It's an elegant and historic city full of beautiful Georgian architecture, roman history. It's compact and walkable, which makes it easy to explore and just enjoy being there. What makes it so special? Well, it's that mixture of history, architecture, spa, culture and literary connections, because you've got the Roman bath, stunning buildings like the Royal Crescent and, of course, jane Austen everywhere. It's the kind of place where you can slow down, take your time and just soak it all in.

Speaker 3:

I couldn't agree more. In fact, I would add on to that it's a relaxing place. We've spent many times visiting there and just had a picnic up near the park and just chilled out, haven't we?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it really is. It's a very special city.

Speaker 3:

Okay, so the next question is what's the best way to get there to Bath from London, for example?

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm actually going to turn this around and ask you because, as the UK train expert, I think if you explain how to get there from London by train, that would be really good.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense, doesn't it really Okay? So, departing from London Paddington, which is the train station on the west side of London, using the Great Western Railway service service, it takes about an hour and 15 minutes for the fastest service to bath spa so that's perfect, so that's the best way to get there by train.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, um, and you say it's just over two hours and we've done that journey so many times?

Speaker 3:

yeah, our train is about one hour 15 minutes for the fastest for driving, depending where you're leaving in london from. I guess it's two hours plus, depending on how much time you stop and say where you're leaving from yeah, I would never say to leave from london, that would.

Speaker 1:

We would never say drive in london.

Speaker 3:

I wouldn't say that all the time.

Speaker 1:

I really would not um, but if you are planning to, you know, include bath in in a driving itinerary around the uk, which many, many of you do. We know it's a very popular place to go um. What about actually driving there and and parking?

Speaker 3:

well, there is, uh, car parks available in bath itself, but to be honest, I don't think you need to really. I mean, we're big fans of park and rides, aren't? We, yeah, we do definitely recommend them yeah, there's three around uh bath itself, depending which direction driving in from. But the park and rides themselves can work in a slightly different way.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I know some of them you park the car and you pay for the car parking and then you get a free bus, and some of them you pay for the bus and you have free parking.

Speaker 3:

Yes, those work a bit different, but they're easy to work out, aren't they?

Speaker 1:

Yes, so it's either.

Speaker 3:

which other way One time you pay for the parking and you don't pay for the bus, although you pay for the um bus and you don't pay for the parking. Yeah, that's it. But using the parking ride it can actually save you time, because you haven't got to drive into the center of uh well, any city but bath in this case, and so that can save you a lot of time. You haven't got to sit in traffic absolutely, and me is doing nearly all the driving, if not all the driving. It gives the driver a bit of a break as well.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, that's true. So if you're planning to go, and just if you, well, basically, if you plan to do that and go on a day trip and you drive it, and so it's part of your driving itinerary, that's what we'd recommend. We are going to talk about accommodation in a bit, but actually that's something to consider. Um, if you are going to get accommodation, that you need to really think carefully about the parking issues. But I say we will mention that in a bit. But, um, we honestly do recommend trying to avoid parking or even trying to park in any of these cities. Especially bath is extremely popular.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, I mean for bath itself. We've recommended to some, we've done itinerary consoles, for there's a lovely little village called Bradford-pont-avon, not too far, it's actually minutes away by train. So even if you're driving into that direction, you know you can maybe stay if you plan on staying more than one day in Bradford pontoon and then catch the train in.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's a good idea so do you think?

Speaker 1:

I mean, we know it's doable as a day trip, but you know, recommend staying overnight, really yeah, ideally, if you can, we would recommend that you, you know, have a few days in bath, um, but you can. If you, if you're limited itinerary time and limited time in the uk and you're kind of putting your itinerary together and you want to really go to bath but you're struggling to fit it in you, you can do it as a day trip and I've done that many times from London. Our partner that does this is the English Boss, which is a small coach. It's a small group coach that will take you to Stonehenge Bath and to a secret Cotswolds village which I won't mention because it's a secret, but I've done that before mention because it's a secret, but I've done that before and that's a really great. It's a small group, really great guide. You get to cover Stonehenge Bath and, as I say, part of the Cotswolds, so that covers kind of three very popular destinations, but you do get time in Bath to explore and at least have, you know, a small taste of the city. Really.

Speaker 1:

Other ways to go to Bath if you're staying in the Cotswolds, for example, you can go out with Go Cotswolds who, again we work with, do small group tours, excellent small group tours. Last year I actually went to Bath with my mum to the Christmas market and they also now have a new Bath and Southern Cotswolds tour which departs from Morton and Marsh or Stratford-upon-Avon. Now for both the English bus and Go Cotswolds we have a promo code for a small discount. So I will link to those in the show notes. And we actually have had Chris from the English bus and Lisa from Go Cotswolds on the podcast previously as well, so you can listen to them all about their companies, what makes them so special.

Speaker 1:

Another option is you can take a private tour, if you want, from London out to Bath. So MyTailor tours again they've been on the podcast they can talk all about their private day tours to Bath. If you want something a bit more bespoke for you, you want to kind of maybe include a few places on the way to stop off, for example Stone or Avebury, for example, you can talk to them. Otherwise, that's a great way to get out to Bath if you're and do it privately. But if you can, I would say try to stay at least one night just to soak in the amazing atmosphere of Bath.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I totally agree with that. So let's talk about accommodation now. So you've stayed in Bath a few more times than I have, so where did you stay and would you recommend those areas?

Speaker 1:

Well, we actually stayed together a few years ago at the Black Fox, which is an 18th century inn with what they describe as 21st century luxury which it is and it was fantastic. We really enjoyed that, didn't we?

Speaker 3:

We really did. It was really nice.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and it was fantastic. We really enjoyed that, didn't we? We really did. It was really nice, yeah, and very historic Fantastic breakfast, as they say and it was just really close, close to the train station, close to walking to the actual Roman Baths itself, to the actual centre. So that was really cool, so we really enjoyed that.

Speaker 1:

And then, actually, for my mum's 80th birthday, I took her to. She chose Bath as where she wanted to go for kind of a few days away. So we stayed in number 15 by Guest House, which was excellent. Food was excellent. You've got dolls, houses in the bedrooms, lovely bathroom. It's a real lovely boutique hotel and with lovely little touches. Like there's a little pantry that you can go and get crisps and drinks and sweets, which was just fantastic. They'll also pick you up from the station as well if you organize that with them. So if you arrive at the train station and you need to get, obviously, with your luggage to the hotel, they'll organize that for you. So that's a lovely hotel.

Speaker 1:

And then the other hotel that I stayed in actually I was invited to stay in last year was the Hotel Indigo in Bath, and now this is a beautiful four-star boutique hotel. It's close to the station, very close to Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths. Lovely restaurants, gorgeous rooms, bathrooms, beautifully decorated and actually I have a full review of my stay at that hotel on the website, which I will link to. But there are lots of boutique hotels, georgian b&b's, self-catering flats, lots of varieties, different places to stay in bath.

Speaker 1:

I will just say, though, if you're driving, make sure that you have got parking included in the accommodation. That's one thing that we are constantly reminding people of. It's very important in Bath, but beautiful. And another tip I will say as well as looking, if you're driving, making sure that you get parking is to consider booking ahead. If you're visiting during a festival period, during the summer school holidays, you know it can get very busy, especially in the Jane Austen Festival, which is annual. Christmas market, is very popular. So if you're planning to go stay in Bath in those periods, do book ahead.

Speaker 3:

Okay, so we know there's plenty of things to do in Bath, but what are some of the top attractions that visitors shouldn't miss?

Speaker 1:

Well, I think you should also join me talking about some of these things, and because you know we both love the same things in Bath, don't we? We? We do Right. So the number one that you really shouldn't miss if you go to Bath are the Roman Baths, and they are the top attraction. They were built in 70 AD, can you believe it? And they were built on top of the thermal springs. A lot of it is in ruins, but much of it really is remarkably well-preserved. You can actually see the changing rooms and the plunge pools that people swam in. Yeah, that's true 2 000 years ago.

Speaker 1:

It's. It's absolutely incredible. The museum is excellent, it's interactive and one of my favorite things about the museum is there's a model of actually what it looked like, because it was an entire complex that the romans built and you can even, if you want and we have both done this sample the actual mineral waters. We have and you can see the spring. You can actually see that the water coming from the spring. So it's absolutely incredible.

Speaker 3:

It's 100, somewhere you should include in your itinerary yeah, and doesn't matter how many times visited there, they it seems to get better every time. They just sort of embrace a little bit more of it or add this in it's just fantastic. I love going.

Speaker 1:

It's absolutely incredible and the museum is appropriate for all ages.

Speaker 3:

And very importantly from an accessibility point of view, it's 90% wheelchair friendly.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's honestly a fantastic place to visit. Now, if you do go, make sure that you go early and if you're going during peak season so summer holidays, school holidays, weekends, even that you book ahead, because it does get booked up and we've seen long queues, haven't? We really have? Yes, so the second place that I would say that you should visit is bath abbey. Now, it's only one minute walk away from when you come out of the baths, you turn right and the Abbey's right in front of you. You can't miss it. Now.

Speaker 1:

The Abbey dates back to the 7th century. There is a small fee for entrance and my mum she really wanted to go and see Bath Abbey, so she loved it when we went in. It has beautiful stained glass windows and just the architecture is absolutely stunning. Now, what you can do and I must admit I haven't done this, and I'm sure it was Wendy in a previous episode a long time ago when she was doing a trip around the UK she did climb to the top of Bath Abbey and the view is amazing, so I actually need to add that to my list for next time, most definitely and I can't believe I have not done it already.

Speaker 1:

Well, both of us need to do that. We need to clamp the top of Bath Abbey because, apparently, the views are amazing.

Speaker 1:

I can imagine, yes. So now, obviously, bath is very famous for its architecture, and there are two places that you shouldn't really miss. One is the Royal Crescent. Now, the Royal Crescent consists of 30 identical, luxury Georgian townhouses, and they are simply stunning, aren't they? They are, they are beautiful, really, really beautiful, and if you've got an interest in Georgian history, you want to actually see what it was like in a Georgian home. You can go into number one, royal Crescent, which is a museum. I found it a little bit pricey to go in, but, honestly, it was absolutely worth it, and I did it this year oh no, it was actually last year. It was October last year. I decided I was going to go and have a look around and, honestly, it was well worth it. It was very interesting. I will put some photos of what you can see, but I would recommend doing that and having a look around. And then, just beside the Royal Crescent is the circus. Inside the Royal Crescent is the circus.

Speaker 1:

Now the circus is, basically, it is a circle but it's not a circus, as in clowns and acrobats, it is a circle of again identical Georgian townhouses and they are stunning, so absolutely beautiful to enjoy, really, in architecture.

Speaker 3:

I enjoy looking at these sort of things as well. Even you know I'm not an architectural expert or Georgian expert, but it is actually visually worth looking at these sort of things as well. Even you know I'm not an architectural expert or georgian expert, but it is actually visually.

Speaker 1:

Oh it's beautiful, yeah but they're made of the bathstone as well, so they're just that kind of lovely creamy color as well. Um, and of course, there's a pulteney bridge. Now this, the architect who built this, was inspired by the ponte vecchio in florence. So it's one of the only bridges um in England maybe in the world, I think obviously along with the Ponte Vecchio, which has got shops built along the span of the actual bridge itself. So the architect, robert Adam, apparently visited Florence and went wow, I love this. So he designed Pultner Bridge based on that, and that was completed in 1774. So, again, quite old. And you do get a great view of the bridge if you take a boat tour.

Speaker 3:

We did that, didn't we yeah, we did a walking tour and a boat tour as well, which was a lovely combination, and you do get a lovely well, obviously, a different perspective from the river that you do from the road yeah, and that was a combination.

Speaker 1:

One is a combination, so we went on the boat to start with and then I had a walking tour afterwards. I'll actually link to that in the show notes uh, so that was absolutely fantastic. Now, obviously, I can't not talk about bath without talking about the um thermobath spa, which is, of course, as I say, bath is named after the spa. The spring, you can actually bathe in those lovely warm, mineral rich waters, um, just like the romans did, uh, which is amazing really.

Speaker 1:

So, um, yes, there is a spa, you can book that and you can go and bathe in those waters and enjoy, enjoy relaxing, yeah, very nice and, of course, if you've done that, or you see, you've done a little bit of sightseeing, you've had a bit of time at the spa and you think, oh, I could do with a bit of shopping, also there's quite a lot of nice shops in bath as well. I do enjoy. And, of course, bookshops. They've got some, some great bookshops, but I know your favourite is Mr B's Emporium.

Speaker 3:

I love Mr B's Emporium. It's just so relaxing. The staff are incredibly passionate and helpful and really enjoy going there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah there's some comfortable chairs. You can sit down as well when you, you know, have a peruse in the books. I did.

Speaker 3:

I did drag me out last time.

Speaker 1:

I did, I did absolutely and, of course, just around the corner from Mr B's and I have to mention this. Of course, I have to mention this because we're talking about Bath is the Jane Austen Centre.

Speaker 3:

Yes, bath is so closely linked to Jane Austen, so really, what is the best place to visit for fans?

Speaker 1:

Well, I've just kind of mentioned it, the Jane Austen Centre. So that is an interactive museum. You get a guided tour by character actors and then you get to look around the museum, but it's an interactive museum. So I've got actually a picture of my mum writing with a quill, which she really enjoyed. You can dress up in Regency outfits. You can have your photo taken with the Jane austen waxwork or and we did this, I did took mom up there. You can go and have afternoon tea in the regency tea room. And I will also mention the gift shop is amazing. I always go to the gift shop, but I took my mom there, as I said, for her 80th birthday.

Speaker 1:

I went to bath and, um, she wasn't sure about the jane austen center. She said I don't know and she loved it. She absolutely the Jane Austen Centre. She said I don't know and she loved it. She absolutely loved it. It was one of the favourite things that we did. And what's really interesting is that the centre is at 25 Gay Street and actually Jane herself lived at 40 Gay Street, so not too far away, for a short period of time when she actually lived in Bath. So I think that's kind of cute, oh that's very nice.

Speaker 3:

So when is the Jane Austen Festival? And really, what can people expect if they visit that?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, that's really famous because obviously there's an annual festival every year. It's basically in the second week of September and this year, 2025, it's Friday September the 12th to Sunday, september the 21st. I am hoping that I can get to it this year. I really, really would love to. Uh, there's lots of different events, including a regency costume promenade. Can you imagine just amazing? Um, theatrical performances, talks, it's just that if you're a jane austen fan, honestly it's just fantastic. And it goes on for 10 days, um, so I will actually link to the website as well. So, if you want to fit that into your itinerary, definitely look out, see if you can get some tickets for that.

Speaker 3:

I bet the tickets sell out fast.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, and of course, as well as Jane Austen. More recently, we have got Bridgerton, which was filmed in Bath.

Speaker 3:

All right, yeah. So where are the key Bridgerton filming locations? Can visitors see them easily?

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm not going to give that away. I am not going to give that away Because you can do a walk and tour of Bath and discover all of those, and I'm going to highly recommend it because I did that last year and it was such a lot of fun. The one I will give away is Lady Danbury's House, which is located at the Holborn Museum in Bath, and that's it. That's the only one I'm going to give away. Do a tour, honestly, I highly recommend it.

Speaker 3:

Oh, that's mean Okay, so let's talk about getting around Bath. So, would you say, bath's easy to explore on foot.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it is walkable and you can see most of the city on foot really without much problem. I will say that I did go with my mom for her 80th birthday, so she did struggle a little bit, so we did. Uber is available and there are taxis available and baths, so we did. I did call Uber most of the time to if we wanted to get somewhere. That was a little bit like, for example, going to the um, the crescent, or going up the circus. There it's slightly uphill, um, and it was a bit rainy actually for one of the days, so we just called the uber and that was not a problem so visitors don't need to worry about transport within the city, then really no, because you can get.

Speaker 1:

Honestly, uber was easily available and there are local taxis, for example, outside the train station as well, um, you know, because there are a few hills, um, and if you want cobblestones and if you want to go out of town, obviously, you know, you'll probably want to get an uber or a, a taxi, and there is actually a hop on, hop off bus, which I've actually never done. That was another thing I think we're gonna. You know, I don't know how many times I've been at bath and there were a couple of things I'm like maybe we need to do those next time. But yes, so there's a hop-on, hop-off bus. But yes, we had no problem with any of that, it was actually worked out really well.

Speaker 1:

It's a relaxing place as well. So I think the whole pace of Bath is quite steady. It is. It does get busy, though in the summer and in Christmas to the Christmas markets, and it was quite busy. So I think you've got to take that into consideration, that it is a very popular city it is, so it can get.

Speaker 3:

Even with British people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah exactly, so it can be busy yeah so Okay.

Speaker 3:

So let's talk about one of my favourite subjects now food and drink. So what would you say are some of your favourite places to eat or have a drink in Bath?

Speaker 1:

Well, I would say for both of us it's probably going to be sally lawns, isn't it uh?

Speaker 1:

and we recommend sally lawns to everybody. So, honestly, we should have chairs and sally lawns, which we don't. I'll just go front, we don't have. So actually, the building that sally lawns is located in, um, they've dated the fireplace and chimneys back to 1482, you really? I mean, I mean just going into Sally Lunn's and the whole experience is amazing. So, basically, sally Lunn arrived at Bath around 1680. She was a Huguenot refugee and she started baking what have become her famous brioche-style buns. Now we love them, don't you? And you can get sweet and savoury. Now, I highly recommend the lemon curd. Oh yes, just delicious. But we've also gone there for dinner, haven't we? We have, yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we have, because they're very filling as well.

Speaker 1:

They are, and we had savoury ones in the evening.

Speaker 3:

We had a savoury mushroom one.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was really nice. So I would definitely again get busy, but, honestly, go and have a salad on spawn lemon curd if it's at lunchtime and a cup of tea you will. You won't regret it and the settings are amazing. Now what you need to also do is don't miss the little museum. After you've had your, your brioche born is to go down the stairs and there's a little tiny kitchen museum where you can see the medieval oven that was used. It's incredible, and you can also see how the pavement levels have changed over the centuries, which I found absolutely fascinating. So don't miss that. A lot of people, I think, don't know about it. So have your tea, have your Sally Lunsbourne and then go and check out the museum downstairs.

Speaker 1:

Now, I also did mention before that we stayed at number 15 Guest House, which was a lovely hotel, and I'm going to mention their restaurant because my mum and I ate there, I think two nights, because the food was so good and what we tried was a local dish which are bath pork chaps, so C-H-A-P-S, which were just delicious, absolutely delicious. I don't even know how to describe them. Hopefully I've got photographs so I can put in the show notes, because it's going to be a difficult thing for me to describe, but, believe me, they were absolutely delicious and I've never had them, since I didn't have them before that, I've never even heard of them, but they were lovely, so I'd highly recommend that. So number 15, honestly, was really really good. Also, actually, the indigo bath. We had a beautiful, beautiful French onion soup.

Speaker 2:

It was delicious.

Speaker 1:

I still remember it because it's one of my favorite things to eat anyway, but it was really good.

Speaker 3:

So there's different options for all budgets and dietary requirements, though.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, there's loads of independent cafes, there's pubs, there's high-end restaurants. There's a lot to choose from. I would just say book though. Like, if you're thinking you're having a sunday roast, make sure that you book ahead because you're gonna especially if you're there doing like, well, only sunday, really it's going to be always necessary to book. But make sure that you do book restaurants if you, you know, specifically want to have, you know, want to eat in one of the specific restaurants.

Speaker 1:

I would also say I went to bath last oh, actually it was January this year on the English Buster and arrived and we hadn't booked anything for lunch and I thought I really want to go to the pump room. It's mentioned in Jane Austen's novels. Who doesn't want to go in the pump room for afternoon tea? So that's what we did. Luckily they had a couple of spots. It was lovely. So afternoon tea with the piano playing, so somebody playing the piano. There was somebody, um, I think they were playing violin. Oh, it was just, it was amazing. So classic music in the beautiful setting of the pump rooms, um, and just having this gorgeous afternoon tea. I would highly highly recommend it. I think it was just, it was lovely and just to sit in somewhere that you know has been mentioned in j Austen's novels. It was just crazy, yeah, so I'd recommend that. But, as you said before, there's loads of places to choose from for food, and if you're on a budget, honestly, there's Marks Spencer's. Go and get yourself a meal deal.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we've done that many times. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good to know. So, when talking about when to visit, you've been at different times of the year, as have I. When would you say is the best time to go, though?

Speaker 1:

To be honest, I think any time of year is perfect for Bath. I mean, I'm just trying to think, in the last year or so, I've been there in July with my mum. It was quite warm, had a little bit of rain, but it was. It was pleasant, very, really nice. Um, I've been there. I was there actually early, late january, early february this year, so go and start. It was actually early spring, so there was lots of daffodils everywhere. It was lovely. It was actually quite quiet, um, and it was just one of those cold, crisp days, so it was lovely. Um, of course, I was there in december for the christmas markets, which were just very atmospheric and lovely.

Speaker 1:

Um, I guess the months that I would consider, perhaps, if you, if you're, can avoid it, I guess would be september, because you've got the jane austin festival, but again, that's just 10 days of september, so it will just be busy so that's particularly interesting, yeah of course, if you're going for the I mean I want to go for the festival, so I want to go in in September but if you're not particularly interested in that or you know it's going to be more expensive for places to stay and it will be busier, but I don't think you can really go wrong. I think the thing is preparing. If you're going to go during a school holiday time, during peak season or summer, you just make sure you book things ahead.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, very good. So you mentioned the Janeane austin festival in september this year. Do you have any other seasonal tips or festivals to plan around?

Speaker 1:

well, I think it's just checking online, because there are lots of festivals that are held. Obviously, the most famous one is a jane austin festival, which is, as I said, annually every year in september, second second week, um, so that you know that's come out. But there are literature, festivals, music, just there's lots of things going on. So I think it's just a case of check-in, um, if you've got a particular interest, that if there's any of these kind of annual events on when you go yeah, that's good to know.

Speaker 3:

So we've mentioned earlier about using bath as a somewhere to base yourself. So you know where would you say is nearby. Is it you know to explore? Oh, you say is nearby to explore.

Speaker 1:

It's a great base because there's lots of places that are close to Bath. So if you base yourself there and want to go out on some day trips some you will have to take you'll need a car for but a lot you can access by train, for example, salisbury and Stonehenge, not very far from Bath at all. Yeah easy one. Yeah, you know, you've got Wales, You've got the southern Cotswolds. You can go by train to Bristol. You can even go to Cardiff.

Speaker 3:

Cardiff, that's right.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, there's plenty of options for day trips from Bath itself. So I have got actually a full article on that, so I'll link to that in the show notes as well.

Speaker 3:

So if you actually go and base yourself there, yeah, bath spa, train stations well served yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

I mean like, if you can, a popular actually tours, a lot of tours will leave from bath that you can go to stonehenge, salisbury, southern cotswolds, for example, you know, castle coombe, lakehawk, they're very accessible from bath. Um, you know, and you can, you can combine half this half day tours to different places.

Speaker 3:

You've got avebury and stonehenge even badford on avon-Avon, which we said earlier. Yeah, yeah, that's another place to visit.

Speaker 1:

So plenty of places to go from Bath itself.

Speaker 3:

Oh, that's good to know. So can you recommend any guided tours or self-drive options to places like Stonehenge, Salisbury or the Cotswolds?

Speaker 1:

Okay. So private tours we would recommend Daniel from Bath Insider Tours. You can actually listen to Daniel on podcast, episode 139, where he talks about himself. He's born and bred in Bath and he takes walking tours, including Bridgerton, as well as day tours and multi-day tours and bespoke tours. So you can you know, we've talked about all those different places that you can visit from Bath. You can chat with Daniel about creating a tour for you, be private and you can go and visit all of these places with him. So that's a great option. You know, if you're going to do some of these kind of self-drive options again, I'll just make sure that you've got. We always talk about this, but it's so important to make sure you've got parking. If you're going to leave your car and then drive back, make sure that you've got parking wherever you're staying accommodation, but there's plenty of places that you can drive to from Bath as well.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, so many. Okay, so partly touched on this before, so where have you not yet visited? In Bath, jason, hope to add to the list for next time.

Speaker 1:

Well, obviously we'd love to go to the Jane Austen Festival. That goes without saying, and this year it's the 250th anniversary of her birth, so you know how amazing would that be. So what I haven't done and I've looked at so many times is actually the Bath Thermos Spa. I've just not done it and I really would love to. You really need to book that ahead. That's the problem. We've actually gone before and not booked it now. If you go in the morning, I think like 8 am or 8 30 when it opens, you may get spaces that morning and we thought about doing it, but we had such a full itinerary we didn't um. Also, I'd like to try the hop on, hop off bus so I can report to you guys if it's what it's like and where it goes. Um, and also from again previous uh trip reports we've had on the podcast. I'd like to walk up Alexandra Park and get the panoramic views of a bath.

Speaker 3:

Oh, that'd be great, that would. Yeah, that's good to know. So, on sort of practical tips, what do you say? Bath is a family-friendly destination.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely. I think the Roman baths have done such a great job in the museum. Absolutely, you've got kids to take them and to have a look around it. It's really good. Take them on a boat ride on the River Avon, that's really good fun as well. Yeah, I think so. I think it's family-friendly absolutely.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'd agree with that one. So attractions again. Paula touched on this as well. Would you recommend booking in advance?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I kind of want to reiterate this to honestly look at booking the roman baths ahead of time. If you want to do the thermal bath spa again, book that ahead of time. And if you're going to be visiting during the festivals or christmas markets, I would make sure that you book hotels as well ahead of time yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 3:

So really, and then for a first-time visitor, how long would you recommend visiting for?

Speaker 1:

well, I really would say stay for two nights stay for a minimum oftime visitor, how long would you recommend visiting for? Well, I really would say stay for two nights. Stay for a minimum of two nights if you can, and I know you know I've got a one-day itinerary. So if you're planning to do it independent from london and that's all you can fit in, have a look at my one-day itinerary or do one of the tours you know with. If you're from london, with english boss, or if you're in the cotswolds, go with Go Cotswolds and explore that way, but ideally, if you can spend longer there. I mean, I don't know how many times I've visited. I mean I've stayed in Bath three times in the last couple of years. In fact, in the last year, I think, I've been three times, and I could go back again and again. And, as I say, I haven't done everything at all. There's so much more to do.

Speaker 3:

Oh, that's great, thank you. Now this last part. I'm sure you're expecting this question. If you could give just one tip to someone visiting Bath for the first time, what would that be?

Speaker 1:

Well, again, I guess I'm going to repeat myself, but just please don't rush it. Give yourself at least one night, if you can, and also do the Roman Bath. Visit the Roman Bath. You'll learn so much about the history of baths because it grew up around that. Obviously before the Romans, the Celts were there. So you know, you've got that history. It's just fantastic. And make sure that you book those attractions like the Roman baths and the spa in advance so you don't waste time either queuing or miss opportunities to go. You don't get time a either queue and or miss opportunities.

Speaker 3:

You don't be disappointed if you visit him.

Speaker 1:

You know specifically for that yeah, absolutely, and just have a great time most definitely. Yeah, well, thank you very much well, thank you very much because you've been interviewing me in this episode which is, which is always fun for me. It kind of gives me a, give me a podcast episode off asking the questions, so I've been answering.

Speaker 1:

Um well, I guess what I'll use me to kind of say for this episode is that, as always, we'll find links to everything we've talked about in the show notes for this episode, and there'll be lots of photos as well, which will kind of illustrate some of the places that we stayed, or some of the places that we've eaten and lots of the places that we visited in Bath. Yeah, but I think that leaves us to say until next episode, until next week.

Speaker 3:

Happy UK travel planning.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK travel planning podcast. As always, show notes can be found at uktravelplanningcom. If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favourite podcast app? We love to hear from you and you never know. You may receive a shout out in a future episode, but, as always, that just leaves me to say until next week. Happy, UK travel planning.