A city break in Bath

This year we headed to Bath for my birthday, somewhere I've wanted to go for years. Situated in Somerset, the city is named after the Roman baths there. Which we, of course, went to. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

How to get there and get around:
I appreciate this is always very London-centric whenever I write up any of my adventures, but since it's where I live, it's what I've got to go on. Trains run from London Paddington to Bath Spa, taking a rather speedy 1 hour and 20 minutes. This is easily a place you can just do a day-trip to. And Bath itself is pretty walkable place, albeit a bit hilly.

Where to stay:
Let me know if you know somewhere awesome to stay! We stayed at the 5* Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel which, in all honesty, was very tired. I wanted to stay at a spa hotel - and I did have the Elemis BIOTEC facial whilst there, which was good; Olly had a massage - but the spa facilities themselves were average. 

The grounds were nice (see above), though it was up a steep hill, but the hotel and our room, like I said, needed a bit of a refresh. Oh, and hotels needs to stop adding on supplements at breakfast if breakfast is included. Adding on a charge for a "speciality coffee" when it's literally just a flat white is pretty cheeky. If we go back to Bath, I'd maybe Airbnb it and book a treatment at the Thermae Bath Spa instead (see below). 

What to do: 
The Roman Baths. Goes without saying. Over 2,000 years ago, the Roman Baths were where the Romans used to come to take the water and worship the goddess, Sulis Minerva. They're still pretty impressive, and you can even taste the spa water, which is said to have curative properties. (It just tasted warm to me and a bit meh.) Tickets cost £23 for adults on a weekend, £20 in the week, and there's a rather excellent audioguide, which includes a narrative by Bill Bryson. Definitely something you can't miss when you're in Bath.

Since you can't plunge into the hot waters in the Roman Baths, head to Thermae Bath Spa instead if you want to bathe in Britain’s only naturally warm, mineral-rich waters. Annoyingly you can't book online and have to phone up to make your booking - you're going to be on hold for quite a while - but it's worth it. It's £38 for a two-hour spa session in the week, £43 on a weekend, and this includes use of a locker, towel, robe and slippers. Photos aren't allowed but the open-air rooftop pool is like a warm bath with an excellent view, whilst the wellness suite has various rooms to try out, including an infrared room and plenty of steam rooms. On the bottom floor you'll find the Minerva Bath, a warm indoor thermal pool. And if you're very lucky, you might even be able to book a treatment. 

     

Visiting Bath in nicer weather? Then you should check out the Bath Skyline. There are two walks, a 3-mile circular walk and a 6-mile one, both with excellent views of the city. We only had time to do the shorter walk but it was worth it to amble along the canal and see a stunning view. The walk also incorporates bits of the city itself, though not the Royal Crescent which you should also have a mooch to.

Finally, we headed to Prior Park Landscape Garden, mostly to see the Palladian Bridge which dates from 1755. Whilst I did say most of Bath is walkable, we did take an Uber here as it's up rather a very steep hill. Entry is £8 for adults, and an Uber will set you back around £6 from the city centre (buses also available!). Whilst we were there in April the verges were filled with swathes of wild garlic, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Worth spending a few hours there.

Where to eat:
We had some awesome meals whilst we were in Bath, so it deserves to have its own blog post. You can read where to eat in Bath here.

Have you been to Bath? x