Bath, Beautiful Bath

Posted on 18. Aug, 2011 by Dan Collins in UK

The title says it all – Bath is beautiful.  After a good night stay at a little town called Rode we ploughed down the A36 towards the centre of Bath. It took us a while to find a parking spot but once we did we were all set. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and I didn’t have to pay to park… what more could I ask for?!

Bath Gardens

I started off by exploring in the gardens next to the river which were absolutely fantastic. There was a small entrance fee (£1) but all of the money goes towards the upkeep of the grounds and so I didn’t mind paying it. Once you’re in you are allowed to use one of the deckchairs provided to lounge around or you can choose to walk around and take everything in. I went with the latter so I could get a few photos. I know gardens don’t sound like the most exciting place to visit which is why I’d say Bath is more of a relaxation destination rather than an adventure, but either way it’s still pretty cool.

There are a few areas in the gardens that you can go around. There’s the gardens themselves, a funky building at the edge of the gardens with giant stone pillars and then there’s a nice walk along the riverside. I tried to ask an elderly person to take a photo of me by the river but it ended up a photo of my crotch (don’t worry I won’t share that with you on here… send me a private message if you want to see it though *wink wink*).

The River running through Bath

After the gardens I took a short walk up the road to cross the river and then took a walk down the opposite side. There’s a natural maze hiding at the side of the river that’s actually impossible to complete. A 7 year old managed it while I was there but unfortunately it got the better of me and so I gave up when I got sent back to the entrance for the 4^th time. I think the kid cheated.

Embarrassed from my defeat I grabbed a fruit drink from the demon company Starbucks and wandered around the indoor market just across the road. Several brain freezes later I walked in to a photography store to pretend I was interested in buying something but secretly just wanted to use their bin. After disposing of my rubbish like a good citizen I made my way to the Roman Baths. The Baths were a little more expensive to enter (£15 I think it was) but there’s a lot to see in there. After paying you walk through a lot of areas with different ruins of baths dotted around. Artefacts that have been recovered are on show and there are a few movies playing on loop for info on the baths themselves. On a sunny day the Great Bath is a truly awesome sight. The East and West baths aren’t as impressive but for what they are they are still great.

The Great Bath

You exit the baths at a different location to what you came in so try and get your bearings back before moving on otherwise you could get lost (not speaking from experience or anything…..)

Again for the lounging around (I said it was a relaxation destination!) you can head up to the Royal Crescent. The Royal Crescent is basically a load of buildings in a crescent shape that goes on forever! In front of the buildings is a huge lawn where it seems people go to ‘chill’. There were mostly groups of younger people there but I’m sure old people are allowed too.

Overall I liked Bath. For those of you who like to shop I passed a whole load of those designer places that as a backpacker I can’t afford to go to. For those that like to relax there are places EVERYWHERE for you to just chill out. I didn’t see much in terms of nightlife but that could be because I wasn’t there at night and to be honest I wasn’t really looking for it. But yeah… I like it! Check out some of the photos:

Tags: Bath, England, UK