I booked my ticket several weeks ago and got the cheapest day return I could find. It's best to travel to Bath from London at the weekend, as the week day train schedules are more suited to people commuting for work than to daytrippers like me. The 8:30 am train from Paddington got me into Bath at 10 am, just enough time to stop in at the visitors' centre to get a free map of the centre city before the free 10:30 walking tour offered by the mayor's guides. There are three different walks (two free, one for £15) that have assembly points outside the Roman baths and the Abbey — the mayor's guide tour was the one with the massive crowd awaiting the start. I was a bit worried during the introduction as the group was so big and there didn't seem to be any use of amplification or headsets, but it was quickly revealed that there were six guides available and that the throng would be divided. I found myself in a group of about 16 people with an excellent guide called, coincidentally, Austen. He really knew his stuff and told us gobs as he lead us around, first inside the old Roman city walls and then uphill to the newer (1700s) part of the city, for two hours. Although I could have downloaded a self-guided walk or an audio guide, this guided walk turned out to be a great thing to do. I learned so much about the development of Bath, from the pre-Roman settlement, through 400 years of Romans, to some local kings, the Norman conquest, the building of the Abbey around 1500, a bunch of kings called George and the development of the 18th century Georgian city, to the rediscovery of the Roman architecture.
Along the route, we saw the sites of some of the hot springs that have been used through the centuries for relaxation and healing, locations of various Medieval and Georgian hospitals (to this day, one of Bath's largest industries is health care), lovely Palladian facades facing pretty squares, the King's Circus, the Royal Crescent and the Assembly Rooms. I peeled off from the group at the Assembly Rooms, the penultimate stop on the walk, to eat my packed lunch on a bench and then backtrack to the Royal Crescent to see No. 1 Royal Crescent, a restored, beautifully appointed Georgian home.
From there, I reversed the walk's route back down the Gravel Walk. On the way up, I'd seen an open door leading into the Georgian Garden and wanted to return for a look around.
I then zigged and zagged back down hill, passing along Milsom Street with its bow-front shops, a posh commercial street in the 18th century and a bustling place today. I nipped into the Guildhall Market, had a sit down, a tea and a Welsh cake (a bit like a dense currant scone) before taking a look at the Pulteney Bridge with its shops on both sides (like the Rialto Bridge) and the weir on the River Avon. As I looked out at the bridge and at weir, I could hear the sound of a cheering crowd. Turns out that the rugby pitch was just across the river and Bath were playing a home game.
My next stop was the Roman Baths. It's an expensive ticket, even at concession price, and I wondered how looking at an old swimming pool filled with green water was going to be worth the price of admission. Well, there's a lot more to the site than just that. Underneath the Georgian bath building and the Pump Room lies an entire complex of Roman bathing and worshiping facilities. With audio device in hand, I spent nearly two hours going through the exhibitions and numerous rooms.
The photo above is of a bloke that they pay to sit around wearing a cloak and pretending to be a Roman. He was periodically approached by a punter who engaged him in conversation. Wonder if he spoke in Latin.
My plan was to go to the Pump Room after to taste the waters, but it seems to have closed sometime when I was roaming around the subterranean ruins. My other plan was to leave an hour for seeing the inside of Bath Abbey. I exited through the gift shop right at 5 pm, having made a mental note that the Abbey was open until 6. Not that day, it seems. They had just closed the doors in order to hold their annual harvest dinner for the congregation.
And so I spent my final hour mooching around in the waning light. I passed a row of shops selling tourist tat and got a tote bag (with top zip!) for a fiver. It will be perfect to use as an overnight bag for my upcoming trip down to Arundel. By this time, the rugby fans had spilled back into the centre city and were heading into the pubs and restaurants or flocking to the train and coach stations. Time for me to catch the 6:43 train back to Paddington.
As I write this, it's a gloomy, damp Sunday morning. I had a lie in, did my laundry and am tidying up a bit. Tomorrow it's Margate!
Stats:
$43.71 train ticket (booked online from the US, so charged in dollars)
£4.55 for No. 1 Royal Crescent (half off the concession price with Art Pass)
£4 tea and cake
£18.55 Roman Baths
£5 souvenir tote bag
£2.15 water and olive roll for train journey home
£12 wine and veg from market in Tufnell Park
21,671 steps
9.06 miles
Tour sounds great. I was there briefly ages and ages ago—only vaguely recalled, but the baths did give that shivery feeling of linkage with lost civilization.
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