More time in Bath?

...split those open days between London...Is Bath a good option...

In my opinion, yes. Bath is one of our favorite cities. The tour itself will just scratch the surface and there is a lot more to do there that can easily consume three days. The other days can be use for day trips to places nearby that the tour doesn't cover. Here is a link that may open up some possibilities. https://www.goatsontheroad.com/day-trips-from-bath/

Hi, RVPatti! One of the frequent posters here - Tammy (aka Diveloonie) - recently returned from Bath and London, and wrote a wonderful trip report that you might find helpful. Here is a link to it:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/london-bath-september-2023

Like TC I love Bath. Many people have only done day tours to Bath and don't understand how much there is to see there! The spring will be beautiful as well!

I'd include Prior Park Landscape Garden, especially if you enjoy Palladian landscape features (very cool bridge there). So yes, I've vote for Bath for 5 nights.

If you want you can also take a Mad Max tour to the Cotswolds if the days fall right for you. You'll have done Salisbury and Stonehenge on your Southern England tour but you could also do Avebury if you have an interest in megalithic sites.

You can also walk along the Kennett and Avon canal toward Bradford on Avon which should be lovely that time of year.

Are you birders? In 2018 as we were finishing the South England tour we walked along the canal and came across some birders observing a Peregrine Falcon nest on the spire of St John's Roman Catholic church which backs up to the Avon River. They had a scope so we were able to see the falcon chicks up close due to their kindness!

I've also done the American Museum which is outside of Bath. When I went pre-Covid they were providing a shuttle from the city centre out to the museum. I thought the museum collection was interesting but slightly odd and favored more toward the history of the US East Coast than the rest of the country but that was just my view.

What a fun time you will have! I hope you will give yourselves a few days ahead in Germany as well just to give yourselves some flex in case of train strikes. You could also consider a few days in Colmar or Strasbourg to break up that trip. Or, of course...Paris, hahaha!! (my fav!)

Wow. That was quick!

@TC: Thank you for that link for day trip ideas. I'll add this to my planning notes!

@Mardee: I read Tammy's trip report which lead me to think that Bath might be worth hanging in past the tour's final breakfast. I will also be mining that report for planning our stay in London (along with all the other TRs)!

@Pam: Thank you for all those ideas! Walking along the canal is high on the list as is a day tour to the Cotswolds.

Thanks to all of you!

If you have 12 days spare having done 2 weeks in the South, would you not want to see some more of the UK? By all means take an extra day or two in Bath but to spend almost a week there at the expense of seeing what else the UK has to offer seems very odd to me as a local.
You have time to visit all manner of other places. Here are just some examples off the top of my head - South or North Wales (or both), Herefordshire/Shropshire, the Peak District, Liverpool, Manchester, York, the Yorkshire Dales NP, the North York Moors NP, the Lake District NP, Northumbria or anywhere in Scotland.

PS For goodness sake if you end up staying in Bath, make some time to visit Bristol, in my mind more interesting in Bath.

I would not stay in Bath for 5 or 6 days but would head to somewhere just over an hour away by train - Cardiff, the capital city of Wales.

Did you know that 4 castles can be found in & around the city?
https://www.cardiffcastle.com/the-castle/ is found in the centre and dates from Roman times. In the middle is a Norman keep (1087) but much of the castle dates from the 1800’s when it was owned by the Marquess of Bute. CARDIFF CASTLE is now under the control of Cardiff Council who unfortunately allow events to take place on the green in the middle. When I visited in June, if was full of stuff in preparation for Blondie and Tom Jones was also due later that month.

CAERPHILLY CASTLE is a massive medieval fortress just a 20 minute local train ride north from Cardiff. The town of Caerphilly is a dump in an ex mining area but the castle is everything that you would expect of an 1100’s fortress complete with moat. If you are visiting Caerphilly, you might like to break the journey at Lisvane station and walk for 5 minutes across the car park and into CEFN-ONN-PARK (free). In spring it is very colourful with azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons and bluebells all under the canopy of a temperate rain forest. https://www.outdoorcardiff.com/parks/parc-cefn-onn/

CASTELL COCH stands on a hillside in north Cardiff. If you have a car - it is M4 junction 32 and you could easily visit this castle and Caerphilly Castle in one go. If visiting by bus from Cardiff - you need Stagecoach 132 from Greyfriars Road and alight at Tongwynlais (about 25 minutes out). The walk from the bus stop to castle is about 17 minutes uphill.

ST.FAGANS CASTLE & MUSEUM OF WELSH LIFE is just to the west of the city. This must be the best free place to visit in the UK - you have to pay for parking = £6 at present. The site is vast and needs at least half a day. You have grounds with buildings of significance brought from all over Wales and re-erected. The Castle is really a 1500’s Manor House. You will also find gardens near the castle.
You will also find indoor galleries explaining about life in Wales through the ages - handy if it starts to rain.

LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL is about 2 miles NW of Cardiff Castle.
If visiting Cardiff, I suggest you visit CARDIFF BAY - which is just over 1 mile south of the city centre.
https://cardiffmuseum.com is a small museum about Cardiff in the centre of the city. THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WALES is found just N of the shopping area next to the City Hall. It has extensive art galleries.

If visiting Cardiff, note that the city holds major events - especially in the Principality Stadium. This can result in hotels charging massive rates to cash in on all the fans and transport systems are stretched. (Taylor Swift is now booked for 18 June 2024).
Best to avoid such events if of no interest.
https://www.visitcardiff.com

Trains run usually every half hour to London (Paddington) and take 1 hour 50 minutes. Pre-book around 5 weeks out for lowest prices on specific trains. Avoid the 9.50 as this is not an InterCity Express.

5 days in Bath, NOT.

Cardiff and York would be my choice. You can get to Cardiff, St. Fagan's and Caerphilly easily by public transportation. Take a group tour from York to see the Dales. I've been to Bath twice and found both of these other cities more interesting.

EDITED: I would spend two nights in Cardiff, not do it as a day trip from Bath.

I fall into the Bath being worth a couple days at most category. Years ago we used Bath as a base and took day trips from it, but I cannot fathom just staying in Bath for 5-6 days by itself. We did have a car and day tripped to places like Stonehenge, Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury, Salisbury, Cardiff, Wells, and the Cotswolds.

But you could stay in Bath, and day trip to Bristol, Cardiff, Stonehenge/Salisbury, Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury etc by public transport- most by train, some by bus.

But what others are saying is that there are many other districts of the UK except Bath, London and the Cotswolds is also very true.

I would read 'Yorkshire' for York- as places like Knaresborough, Harrogate and many others provide very easy access to York as well as many other places.

Bath is a perfectly nice place to spend 5 days. The op wants a rest from travelling and Bath would be a good option for this. Lots of amenities and easy places to visit nearby.

I like Bath well enough, and there are a lot of things you can travel to easily via public transport (Bristol, Cardiff, Salisbury/Stonehenge) or via organised trips (the Cotswolds).

It is an expensive place to stay, and I would find it a little twee after a few days, but then I’m British so I don’t set so much store on quaintness.

But you could certainly do a lot worse as long as you’re happy to pay the prices.

I’m very fond of Bristol, just up the road. It has its own gorgeous Georgian bits (like Clifton) and a lot of fascinating history, but also a hard urban hipster edge too. Certainly worth a day trip to see the SS Great Britain and the Clifton Bridge.

Some people have suggested Cardiff as a day trip from Bath. Yes, that is possible but counting your travelling time by train of just over an hour each way, you would have time to visit the city centre, Castle and nip down to the Bay but would be hard pushed to visit any of the other places I have mentioned.

Mention has been made of going to York. Note that to do this by train involves going to Bristol Temple Meads for direct trains to York with Cross Country Trains who have high prices and short trains that can’t cope with demand. The alternative to go GWR to London Paddington and then transfer to Kings Cross for trains to York. So Bath to York is about 4 hours 10 minutes on the fastest timings. That’s the best part of a day gone.

Given that the OP has 12 days to play with there's plenty of time to do both Cardiff and York justice. Or equally have a good tour of Wales or similarly Northern England.

With 12 days, there are certainly no end of places to explore all over the country. I appreciate all the great ideas. However, as @Helen noted, we are looking for a place to relax for a few days. We plan to make a separate trip in the future to explore points north like the Peak and Lake districts, Yorkshire, etc. And Wales. We've been to Scotland. And we both have spent time in England in the past.

It looks like Bath is a good option. I will look more into Bristol and Cardiff, for sure. Lots to consider.

Thank you all for taking the time to weigh in, especially with all the details. You all are awesome!

Ok, perfectly sensible plan. Why not consider South Wales then? Cardiff as suggested but also the Brecon Beacons and Pembrokeshire are all very worthy of exploration and the latter two would be great places to relax, rather more than Bath in my view.

If you're going to be travelling by train a bit from Bath this rail rover will be of use- especially on the 8 in 15 days version it will be easy to make it pay- http://www.railrover.org/pages/freedom-of-severn-and-solent-rover.html

Thank you @isn31c