Bath, England (June 2025)

Instead of an all day bus tour from London to Bath and back, we took the train by ourselves and enjoyed exploring on our own. We take tons of pictures (and I’m always looking for reference pix for my art) so we can never spend too long at any location. We arrived around 1030am and took the 530 train back and this was not too much time spent. We took in the Abbey, had lunch, walked up to the Royal Crescent, then took the normal admission ticket to the Baths. Then a quick loop walk on the longboat tow path brought us back to the train station. Just keep an eye on the clock if you run across any boats traversing the locks!

Sights:

  • The Roman Baths. Recommend to simply take the lengthy and very detailed self-guided tour (with headphones) of rhe ruins, included in admission, rather than an extra guided tour.  Frequently, street musicians play in the yard between the Abbey and the Baths. https://maps.app.goo.gl/EtJdCABtpjJNFTjK6
  • The terminus of the aqueduct that brought cold water to the Baths is a beautiful archway over the street: https://maps.app.goo.gl/VbUKg4uoadCXLqUZ9
  • Loop tour of four longboat locks, via the Tow Path (downhill). Walk east on N Parade from Bath Abbey/Parade Gardens, starting here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ui2stdCCpfedVEe78.  Continue under the trestle, uphill. The short stairway puts you out onto the towpath just N of Top Lock cottage. Turn right and walk downstream past 4 picturesque locks. If you are lucky there will be boats in the locks. Longboat travel operates at a much slower pace. The boats themselves aren’t too fast and the many steps of the lock traversals are very relaxing to watch. Continue south and cross Halfpenny bridge to arrive at the train station. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Q7xVnfHXFH6oWAyN7 . You will have to go thru the little tunnel on the right to arrive at the train station door on the front, town-facing side of the building. Approximately 45 minutes. Note that there are many more locks than these to explore in the area!
  • Royal Crescent (of Bridgerton fame)  https://maps.app.goo.gl/yKMUcaafaNMZT2ai6
  • My legs were giving out but the area west and north of the Baths is full of quaint streets and shops that are worth getting lost in.

Restaurants on our short list

  • Ponte Vecchio – Lunch at Ponte Vecchio was perfect. So touristy, but the Aperol Spritz with Amaro was soooo refreshing. Great location on the bank of the river. Getting there: don’t blink or you’ll miss the tiny staircase down at the end of Pulteney bridge. https://maps.app.goo.gl/k4vczELr7zrCcxYU9

.

Places we wished we’d gone:

Comments are closed.

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑