Overview
The Romans built a temple and bath complex here around the hot springs, and in the eighteenth century the city was rebuilt as a fashionable spa in golden Bath stone, laid out in crescents and squares. That Georgian townscape, little changed, is now a World Heritage site, wrapped around the Roman remains and the medieval abbey. Compact and graceful, it is a city for walking, for architecture and for a soak in the modern thermal spa, an easy trip from London.
Highlights
The Roman Baths, fed by the hot spring, are among Britain’s finest ancient sites, beside the fan-vaulted Bath Abbey. The Royal Crescent and the Circus show off the Georgian architecture at its grandest, and the whole centre invites a wander. A relax in the rooftop pool of the Thermae Bath Spa and the Jane Austen connections round out a stay.