Best of England Sept 13 tour

HI Don
Just read your post. Great idea for suggestions. I especially would like the pubs for traditional music and the atmosphere. Can't wait to go, we are so excited. Talk to you this weekend. I hope someone gets back to you with suggestions.

Bath is one of my favorite cities! You'll do the Roman Baths as part of your tour as well as a walking tour. I can't remember if we went in to Bath Abbey or not. I know the guide stood in front and talked about the facade and the angel carvings.

I'd suggest:

• The Jane Austen Festival is on so you'll see people walking around Bath wearing Regency-era costumes. I scheduled my Best of England tour to coincide with this as I'm a huge Regency fan. I had a great time watching the costumed people! IF anyone is a Regency or JA fan you might consider doing one of their special city walks or doing one of the programs if any appeal. BTW, their presence did not make Bath seem any more crowded. It's always busy on weekends.

https://www.janeaustenfestivalbath.co.uk/

• 1 Royal Crescent Museum This is a restored Georgian townhome. The docents are very good.
  https://no1royalcrescent.org.uk/

• The Holburne Museum is small but pretty good. I've seen a couple of special exhibitions there that were wonderful.
  https://www.holburne.org/

• The Herschel Museum of Astronomy (the guy who found Uranus)
  https://herschelmuseum.org.uk/

• Prior Park Landscape Garden - if anyone has an interest in seeing the Palladian Bridge which is unique. It's a walk out there and is VERY uphill. The TI office can give you directions and tell you about the bus.
  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/prior-park-landscape-garden

Maybe see:

• Victoria Art Museum - only if they have a special exhibit. The regular collection is pretty dull.
• Check to see if Bath Abbey has any kind of special concert on your arrival night. I've done an organ concert there that was very good. They don't always have evensong like some other English churches so check carefully or you might wind up with Evening Prayer if you decide to go. It's a low-key spoken service and nice for worship if that is what you are looking for.

I would SKIP:

• The Jane Austen Centre. It will be a madhouse anyway since it's the JA Festival but they have nothing original of hers nor did she live here. Way too expensive for what you get.

• The American Museum. It's OK, there is transportation from the bus area near the Parade Gardens but I'd not spend the time. I finally made it there about my 4th visit to Bath.

Pam
Great input. We are there with the tour for 3 nights so I will go through these and add them to our list of possible things to do in our off time. Safe travels and hope to bump into you along the way.
D

Sorry no pub or restaurant recommendations...I'm vegan, lol. If you are in the mood for vegan or vegetarian, The Green Rocket which is across the street from the Parade Gardens - which are also a nice place for a sit and enjoy the afternoon kind of place. It's 1.5 GBP to enter and is a lovely space. Several visits ago I ate at YakYetiYak which was an interesting Nepalese place.

I'll also add last time I was there I walked along the River Avon to the Kennet and Avon Canal, going down to river level at the east end of the bridge across the Avon on Parade Road. I was ready to walk along the canal a bit but I'd already walked the legs off my travel companions and they mutinied, hahaha!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennet_and_Avon_Canal

https://goo.gl/maps/9ZneV4g25SVZss2w8

Hope you all have a wonderful time. This tour is one of my favorites! SO many different things to see and do. Be sure to have a waterproof jacket with hood. Umbrellas will be useless if it's windy in Wales, the Lake District or Hadrian's Wall.

I second Pam's suggestions of 1 Royal Crescent and the Holburne Museum (and gardens). I also thoroughly enjoyed the Fashion Museum and the Museum of Bath at Work. If the weather is nice, a stroll through the Parade Gardens would be very pleasant -- there's a nice view of the weir.

For food, The Scallop Shell on Monmouth Place has yummy fish-and-chips. I also had some very tasty gelato at Swoon in Kingsmead Square.

It's a great tour. Have a wonderful time!

Awesome all is right up our "Alley"
Thanks
Safe travels

I took the tower tour at the abbey and really enjoyed it. It isn’t so much about seeing the view from the top but about learning about the bells. That made it different than most tower tours. You get really close.