Bath, or Aquae Sulis as the Romans called it, is a city many attempt to visit in just one day, not realising the huge amount to see and do in the city. Being just a 90-minute train journey from London, tourists come for day trips expecting to see all that Bath has to offer, or they stay just one night and leave feeling as though they need to return. Depending on where you are travelling from, two or three days in Bath is the perfect amount of time to see everything worth seeing, and have some time to just relax and make the most of the spas available.
Thermae Bath Spa
Day 1 in Bath
2pm: Check-in: Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa
Check in at the Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa. This luxury five-star hotel is the epitome of refined British luxury, with complimentary valet parking available to every guest, the most beautiful rooms and suites in the city (each with their own unique design), and a spa that includes a ‘Vitality pool’ which contains minerals from Bath’s very own spring. The hotel is the only hotel situated on Bath’s famous Royal Crescent, and prides itself on offering guests an experience like no other. The service is truly exceptional, and the iconic Regency style of the hotel ensures you will experience the very best of Georgian architecture and luxury throughout your stay. We personally recommend the Ralph Allen suite for it’s quiet rear-facing Georgian windows looking over the breathtaking mature gardens, and the lovely lilac colour-scheme of the large and bright rooms.
3pm: The Circus & Jane Austen Centre
The Circus is a short 5-minute stroll from the Royal Crescent, and is one of the most famous examples of Georgian architecture in the country. Just down from The Circus is the Jane Austen Centre, which is well worth an hour or two in the afternoon even if you haven’t read her novels. It provides a fascinating insight not only into Jane Austen’s life, but to life in Georgian Bath in general.
5pm: Thermae Bath Spa
If you don’t like crowds and want the best possible experience of Thermae Bath Spa, you need to visit in the evening. Throughout the day it is packed with so many people you can barely move, and so the last entry of the evening is best. Even better, you’ll be able to watch the sunset over the city depending on the time of year. The baths are the ultimate Bath experience as the pools are filled from the spring the Romans used to fill their own Roman Baths just across the road.
8pm: Dinner at Clayton’s Kitchen
Clayton’s Kitchen is a lovely little cafe and restaurant on the way back to the hotel, the food is excellent and the staff accommodating. We recommend requesting a table by the front windows so you can people watch whilst dining.
Roman Baths
Day 2 in Bath
10:30am: Roman Baths (1.5 hours)
It is possible to see the Roman Baths in under an hour if you rush through, but an hour and a half is the ideal time to really take it all in and appreciate what you’re looking at. While the buildings above street-level date from the 19th-century, the baths below street-level are almost 2,000 years old, and it really is quite mind-blowing to walk around the baths and imagine human beings soaking in the waters thousands of years ago, and stepping on the very stones you are now treading on yourself.
12noon: Bath Abbey & Tower (1 hour)
Visiting Bath Abbey is a must due to the beautiful stained-glass windows and the tower, which after climbing 212 steps, offers breathtaking views all across the city. The Abbey is a Grade 1 listed building that was founded in the 7th century, and rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. There’s a fascinating little museum in the vaults that gives a great insight into the construction of the building and the artwork within it.
1pm: Pump Room lunch & Fudge (1.5 hours)
After visiting the Roman Baths and Bath Abbey, enjoy lunch at the Grand Pump Room and taste the Bath spring waters which are said to have numerous healing properties. Once you’re suitable filled from lunch, wander across the road to the Fudge shop and make sure you purchase a slab of dark chocolate and sea salt fudge – it tastes like chocolate brownie batter and is just divine!
2:30pm Fashion Museum & Assembly Rooms (1.5 hours)
The Fashion Museum was recommended to us by the hotel concierge who cited it as ‘one of the best fashion museums in the world, according to many of our international guests’ – a strong statement if ever there was one. Handily it’s located in the basement of the famous Assembly Rooms, so visiting both in one go is very easy. The Assembly Rooms themselves are a National Trust property, and are where Bath’s high society would attend balls and concerts.
4pm: Relaxing in hotel
Spend late afternoon relaxing in the hotel and making the most of the spa and bath house. We highly recommend the Deep Tissue Massage, which uses a combination of hot stones and a warm invigorating balm. The sauna and steam room are fantastic spaces to relax, with hot and cold showers, and a refreshing relaxation pool with views straight onto the spa garden. There are also various drawing rooms within the hotel where you’re able to enjoy afternoon tea if you so wish.
8pm: Dinner at Dower House
Dower House is one of the most well regarded restaurants in Bath, and for good reason. Choose from the tasting menu of A La Carte menu, and make the most of the expert sommelier. I am a notoriously fussy wine drinker, and he managed to find us a wonderful wine to pair perfectly with our courses just from my description of ‘I love an oaky, creamy Chardonnay, nothing fruity or sweet’. Every dish we enjoyed tremendously, and couldn’t fault a single aspect of the meal.
Day 3 in Bath
Breakfast & Spa day at the hotel
Enjoy breakfast in Dower House – we recommend the Eggs Benedict – and then spend an hour relaxing in the hotel spa. You can never have too much time in the spa when you’re in Bath!
No.1 Royal Crescent
After your time in the spa make a stop at the museum located at No.1 Royal Crescent. It’s just a 2-minute walk from the hotel and provides a wealth of knowledge on the Royal Crescent’s history and the well-to-do people who lived there.
Collect your car
When you’re ready to leave Bath and head home the concierge will bring your car to the front of the hotel for you, and away you go! Depending on where you live and how much time you have, you could visit nearby Lacock Abbey on the way home. It’s a gorgeous National Trust property and village which has been used in a number of films and TV shows over the years, including the Harry Potter films, and Pride & Prejudice.
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Catherine Lux is a food and travel contributor at AGLAIA, and a luxury lifestyle blogger documenting her life on her blog, Lux Life London. With Lux Life London having a large focus on travel and food, she loves nothing more than long-haul flights, excellent restaurants, and relaxing with friends in the coolest places in town.
