Bath
The city of Bath is one of England's most popular visitor destinations. Bath is a town of supreme harmony constructed mostly during the 18th century with beautiful cream-colored limestone in the Georgian style of architecture. Along with the urban beauty there are numerous historic sites, museums, monuments and many quiet lanes containing hundreds of little shops that create an awesome combination that will keep you happy for several days. Perhaps it is not technically within the official boundaries of the Cotswolds, but it is on the border and is a major city from which to tour the regions
First we shall take you on a walking tour of the center, then go inside the two main historic attractions, Bath Abbey, the thousand-year-old church, and the Roman Baths, nearly 2,000 years old.
The town center has a human scale with lowrise buildings and quiet streets lined with shops and galleries ideal for strolling, all contained in a relatively small area only about 1000 meters in one direction and 500 meters in the other. Typical of our walking tours, we like to take you out of the way, and bring you to the main highlights.
A nice place to start walking is the Abbey Churchyard, just in front of the Bath Abbey we shall come back to see in detail later. Walk from the Abbey Church Yard through the columned arcade onto Stall Street, one of the commercial centers of town.
The small Abbey Green is a peaceful courtyard with a large tree in the middle and historic old buildings all around. This courtyard is quite central, just one block over from the Bath Abbey, yet is easily missed because it's really not very conspicuous.
Just around the corner are Evans, a traditional fish and chip bar, and a teashop and small kitchen museum in Sally Lunn's House, the oldest house in town (1482), on North Parade Passage, another quaint pedestrian lane.
Parade Garden is a pretty park along the Avon River, set about 18 feet below the main level of the city streets.
You are guaranteed to see quite a few street performers as you walk along in the lanes of Bath.
The southern end of this main pedestrian street is an excellent example of urban redevelopment. It's Southgate Street, which is kind of like a shopping mall in the middle of the historic center.
Walk a block over through St. Michael's Place to Westgate Street another attractive road with more shops on both sides.
This leads to Kingsmead Square, another local gathering place, nicknamed Seven Dials due to the converging streets around it.
A block north brings you to Theater Royale, the main venue for plays and live musicals in town.
Between High and Union streets there are several little pedestrian malls with more shops including the Corridor, Northumberland Place and Union Passage.
The Guildhall was built in 1776 as the Town Hall and it still used today as Council Chambers and for special events.
One block over continuing on Bridge Street you arrive at Pultney Bridge across the River Avon. It's one of only three major bridges in Europe covered in shops along with the Ponte Vecchio in Florence and the Rialto in Venice.
The River Avon flows through the center of town creating a delightful watery ambience with parks along both sides and boat rides on offer.
One-hour boat rides leave from this spot.
At the next block on Northgate Street you'll come across a modern shopping complex The Podium.
More traditional scenarios of traffic and wide sidewalks lined with shops also works well such as along Milsom Street with historic architecture retaining character from previous centuries.
The Circus
This circle of thirty-three elegant townhouses is an ideal example of town planning, with beautifully designed buildings that efficiently use the land yet also provide open green space for the residents.
The Circus was designed in 1750 by John Wood the Elder and completed by his son, John Wood the Younger, who created most of Bath's superb 18th century architecture.
Royal Crescent
It's just two short blocks further to the Royal Crescent, one of Bath's most famous sites. The Royal Crescent is the crowning achievement of the city and has become the symbol of Bath, with thirty homes connected in a graceful arch.
This outstanding Georgian-style landmark was the first housing crescent built in Europe, inspired by another masterpiece in Rome -- the curving colonnade in front of St. Peter's designed by Bernini.
For a pleasant route back towards the town center that will get you off the city streets for a while, enter the Gravel Walk and stroll through Royal Victoria Park.
You'll exit through the garden gates at Queens Parade which is connected to Queen Square.
Bath Abbey
Typical of many old European towns, there is an ancient church in the center, the Bath Abbey, with many old cobbled lanes around it, rich in sights to explore. Bath Abbey is the last major pre-Reformation Tudor church built in England, started in 1499 by Bishop Oliver King.
The Abbey is sometimes called The Lantern of the West because sixty percent of the walls are stained glass.
Roman Baths Museum
The heart of Bath was built on top of the original Roman baths, on the site of the main hot spring. A comprehensive museum has been built on the site, incorporating many of the original Roman structures along with hundreds of artifacts.
Roman conquerors arrived in the Bath area in 43AD and remained until 410AD. The Romans constructed baths in all their main settlements and went through the effort of building furnaces to heat the air and water, but here the heating was done naturally.
Pump Room
Next door, built on top of part of the original baths, you will find the elegant Pump Room, opened in 1706 and re-built in the 1790s.
Walk with local guide
You can take a free guided tour with Mayors Honorary Guides Walking tour in Bath, England.
Bus Tour
As in most tourist towns, there is a worthwhile bus tour of Bath that covers the main sights.