The Beauty of Bath
I had often heard tell of the ‘Beauty of Bath’ but that was from my green fingered husband who talks of the apple variety and why we should plant it in the garden. Little did I realise that the actual small city of Bath is where the true beauty lies!
We opted for a late Spring 3 night weekend break to the famous city which is easily accessed with flights from Belfast to Bristol and a frequent direct bus service into Bath city centre which leaves from just outside the terminal building.
Once we had located our city centre hotel we headed out in search of food and sought out a little café that a customer of mine had recommend – Sally Lunn’s which is located in a period house and serves up the famous Sally Lunn Bun which I choose to have topped with lemon curd and clotted cream – yum!
Once refreshed we began our sight seeing in earnest with the first stop being the famous Roman Baths, we got a hand held electronic tour guide and made our way around the baths and pump house at our leisure – I would recommend around 3 hours here if you want to stop at each of the exhibits.
From there it was a short walk across the square to Bath Abbey where we had a look inside and spent some time reading all the memorials inscribed on the walls. The architectural wonder of the ceiling alone is worth going inside for. At the time of visiting the Abbey was undergoing some refurbishment works inside so you may not get access everywhere.
The next day we made our way to the famous Royal Crescent to view the spectacular architecture of this sandstone building and walked along side streets doted with antique shops and independent cafes wondering could there possibly be a more beautiful city until we rounded the corner and The Circus came into view. Not being able to get a good angle to take a decent photo – such is my disastrous photography skills, we decided to just sit a while and soak it all in and marvel at how without big cranes and machines with large engines did they ever manage to build this!
On route back into the city centre we passed the Jane Austen museum and I remembered back to my time at school reading the famous authors books and thought that this city would have suited Jane Austen to a tee. Back in the centre we popped into one of the covered markets and had a look around some of the shops and sat in the sun with an ice cream from the famous Swoon Gelato. Bath Farmers Market is also a must do – there are lots of artisan producers selling all kinds of delicious things.
We had hoped to take a train journey out of the city but there was work happening on the lines so we opted for the bus to Frome instead and we weren’t disappointed. Frome is a mid-sized town and has an actual small stream running down through the centre of it – small enough that you can jump over it if going from one side of the street to the other to look in through the shop windows. The town is choc full of unique and quirky shops and cafes and is certainly worth a trip out from Bath.
It would be remiss of me not to mention that Bath is a Spa town and there is the option to book into the Thermae Bath Spa, we didn’t try it this time but it will be on the to do list for our next visit which I hope will be very soon!
Mandy’s Top Tips – Bath is full of independent cafes creating all sorts of wonderful food, go room only at your hotel and try as many of them out as you can! We had incredible breakfasts at the Boston Tea Party and the Kingsmead Kitchen and delicious pastry’s from The Thoughful Bakery.
I’ve been told the Christmas Markets in Bath are fabulous but you did need to book well in advance to get reasonably priced accommodation during this time.
Get into the Roman Baths as early as you can as it does fill up with school and coach tours.
