Tour of Bath

It is quite easy to come out of Bath station and wander up to the Roman Baths and see the Abbey next door. You could then just walk east for about 4 minutes and see the Pulteney Bridge and Great Pulteney Street before heading back through the town and north-westward to The Circus and then west for about 5 minutes to view The Royal Crescent.

Hire a guide by all means but it can be done on your own quite easily.

See >https://www.seat61.com/london-to-bath-by-train.htm

I agree with James - it is easy to do a trip on your own to Bath from London. The train ride was about 80 minutes each way. All the main sites are right near each other and maybe a 10 minute walk from the train station.

I wasn’t going to do a tour that included transportation – I was going to take a train in and then just meet a guide there and have them walk us around and give us some of the history. Maybe it’s not necessary. We’ve learned a lot from tour guides in various places, but there are definitely some places where it is more useful than others. We do lots of things on our own too.

There is an interesting free walking tour you might consider. There’s really no reason to go to the expense of a private guide unless the timing doesn’t work for you.

https://www.bathguides.org.uk/

You don't need a tour guide to see bath. Also, you can walk to everything. Take the train and do it yourself or spend a night there.

Andrea makes an excellent suggestion of taking the Mayor's free walking tour.

We've walked all over Bath onour own just using the RS book as a guide. But if would feel more comfortable with a guide, then use the free one Andrea mentioned. We took it our first trip to Bath, and it was excellent.

We did the daytrip last December, it was simple and we didn't feel like we needed a guide. You catch the GWR from Paddington, which it turns out can be kinda tricky to find on foot. You'll be outside a lot so dress appropriately. Beware that the return trains in the evening were quite full up.

If you say overnight in Bath, recommend the Brooks Guesthouse. Also, strongly recommend The Scallop Shell for the best fish and chips in England.

Thank you all. You've convinced me to do the free tour. It is going to be a tight day ... the tour starts at 10:30 and goes to at least 12:30 and we want to see the Roman Baths and the Jane Austen Center. I think if we do lunch straightaway after the tour, then do one hour at Jane Austen (bc it closes first), we can get to the Baths around 3:15 and have over two hours to see them. Then, depending on train schedules, we can have an early dinner in Bath and head back to London (to grab our bags and taxi to the Heathrow hotel for our flight home the next morning).

You've saved me a hundred pounds that I can spend on a nice meal instead!

The Jane Austen Centre is one of the most disappointing and least inspiring tourist attractions I’ve ever been to, and you can get much more of a sense of Bath in her days simply by wandering around the town. So that might help with your time allocation.

Vote #2 for GoldenGirl's post about the Jane Austen Centre. She didn't live in that house, they have nothing original of hers there, it is overpriced and a huge disappointment. And yes, I DID go a number of years ago because...well...I just had to. During the JA Festival (in September) in about 2015 I did do a walking tour sponsored by the Centre and it was excellent. You might see if they have any Christmas type walks although at the time I went they just did them for the Festival.

IF you want tea, I'd go to the Pump Room connected to the Baths which will give you a JA experience.

If you want to see something truly from the Georgian era, do the No. 1 Royal Crescent house. The docents are well-informed and I'll bet they have it decorated for Christmas.

https://no1royalcrescent.org.uk/

I am getting so much useful help here, thank you all so much.

I opened a new thread because it is a different subject, but in case anyone has any suggestion: is it nuts to spend the night in Bath if my flight out of Heathrow is at noon the next day? There are trains that will work, but I don't know how reliable they are, and I am well out of taxi distance, really.

...we can get to the Baths around 3:15 and have over two hours to see them.

It should not anywhere near take that long. And as long as you are right there, have tea at the Pump Room. Wonderful experience.

I saw your other thread and I would not risk it but I am very risk averse. IF you did decide to do it (looks like you might not) I'd take the National Express COACH from Bath directly to Heathrow. My SIL's sis did that in 2018 and did fine except it was a fine day in June not early January. I think she left around 6AM to get a noonish flight.

@Pam, that is amazing, thank you. That looks easier (no changes) and cheaper than the train. Ha, I really am very risk averse, but now you are kind of persuading me the other way, even though you don't mean to! I still probably we won't, but now I know how I will handle it if I do it.

Sort of leaning towards maybe bringing my bags to Bath and going straight to Heathrow from there the night before? Ugh, so many options.

Just an edit for others reading: more recent reviews are kind of bad for this service. I think I am fully persuaded not to attempt this in the morning; the night before is still open. Kind of afraid I won't find anywhere to leave my bags during the day though.

Stasher.com - search on Bath - locations right across from train station.

Do you have to do Bath the day before your flight? Can you do the day trip to Bath earlier in your London stay?

There's one other day I could do, but in terms of spending the night, it doesn't work out due to very late dinner plans in Central London. I'd also be coming from Gatwick in the morning ... it's not really ideal. I'd have to drop my bags off at my London hotel and then go to Bath. I really wouldn't want to journey to Bath with all of my bags there and back, it just seems like a huge pain. I could get an early start as we are spending the night at Gatwick, but it would be a very long day.

Oh no, I would not do it if you are overnighting at Gatwick. That just seems too awkward and time consuming.

For everyone suggesting the Pump Room for tea ... I'm a little concerned that the timing is not good, given the 10:30 free walking tour, but assuming we would do it, how does it compare to a fancy London afternoon tea. I expect we would not do both ... currently trying to choose between Claridge's and the Savoy in London. I do like a fancy tea! But if the Pump Room is equally lovely (if less posh), maybe we could skip the London one. It is a balancing act because we will have only the one day in Bath, but we have more time in London.

The Brooks Guest House (mentioned above) is quite a walk from Bath Rail Station.

Normally, the trains run bang on the minute and are every half hour between London (Pad) & Bath. 3 weeks ago we had a bad storm and parts of the Great Western Mainline got flooded causing major problems.

You can see how the trains are running on any particular day at this website - where I have set the location as Swindon on the great Western Mainline. (The trains in faint are freights). Click on any train and it will show you how it is running. (Trains to/from Bristol Temple Meads / Weston are the ones that usually go via a stop at Bath).

Claridges or the Savoy will be a class above the Pump Room. I haven’t had afternoon tea at any of these locations but the fancy London hotel teas are quite the experience. I would do one of these if that’s something you’re keen to try.

Claridges or the Savoy will be a class above the Pump Room.

Very, very true. And, as one would expect, the prices will reflect that. You can google all three and view the menus and prices. Doing so may help your decision making.

Thinking I'll stick with tea in London. Thank you.