Bath - one of the most beautiful cities in England, the seat of the bishop and the main city of Somerset county, located on the Avon River. This famous balneological resort has been famous since ancient times thanks to its healing mineral springs. The heyday of the resort came in 1775, when traces of the Roman baths were discovered in Bata, later museumified. Then the London dandies, led by the "king of swagger" Richard Nash, frequented the city, and the famous architect Robert Adam designed the elegant Paltney Bridge over the Avon here.
Every summer during the second half of the 18th and most of the 19th century, Bath served as the unofficial capital of British social life, as it was here that a large part of the English aristocracy came "on the water".The action of two Jane Austen novels - "Northenger Abbey" and "Proofs of Reason" takes place here.And local monuments of the classicism era were even included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The average annual temperature is +10 ° C (higher than in most English cities).Summer is very hot, and winter is rainy, but mild.The best time for health trips is from November to April.
30 km from Bath is Bristol Airport, which receives flights from many European cities, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paris and Prague (but not from London).There are Flyer buses from the airport to/from Bristol Temple Meads station, and from the station you can get to Bath by train (1 hour) or taxi (40 minutes, £30-40).
Another nearby airport is in Southampton, which can be reached in a couple of hours by train.The "low-cost" company Flybe is based there, which operates flights to many European cities at very attractive prices.
In addition, the county has the airports of Cardiff, Bournemouth, Exeter and, of course, London. Heathrow Airport is approximately two hours' drive from Bath. You can get there by RailAir (departure every 20 minutes) or National Express (23-28 GBP). From Gatwick to Bath is at least 3 hours, there are no direct trains or buses, it will be necessary to change in London. The same applies to Stansted and Luton airports.
On the train
From / Batha train station - a very beautiful building in the Victorian style, located in the very center of the city (no storage rooms).Regular trains arrive there from London, Reading, Southampton and other cities.From the capital, trains depart from Paddington station every half hour, travel time 1 hour 40 minutes, cost 40-80 GBP.Alternatively, Cardiff (1.5 hours), Bristol (15 minutes), Oxford (1.5 hours) and Portsmouth (2.5 hours) via Salisbury (1 hour) can be reached from here.
One of the most convenient ways to explore the city is to take a tourist bus: through the city center (stop near the fountain at the abbey) or Skyline tour (stop near Bog Island). Both routes use the hop-on hop-off system and allow tourists to get on and off at any stop along the entire route. The cost is 15 GBP for an adult and 9.5 GBP for a child aged 5-15 for both routes: the 40-minute Skyline tour and the 50-minute city center tour. There are discounted tickets for students and pensioners (over 60 years old) - 12.5 GBP, family tickets - 43 GBP for 2 dollars. and 3 children.
There are large car parks in the center on Walcot Street, Manvers Street (near the station) and Charlotte Street.Parking costs GBP 2-3 per hour, GBP 0.3-0.5 per 10 minutes.On Sundays and every day from 19:00 to 08:00, parking is usually free (need to check on site).Many parking spaces are marked with a residents parking only sign, so you should be careful - tourists can leave their cars here.
In Bath, there are both economical hostels, comfortable triples and quadruplets, as well as chic luxury hotels, including the Royal Crescent Hotel 5 *, located in the famous "Royal Crescent", and the Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel 5 *.
The hot springs, to which the city owes its existence, were known already in 44, even before the appearance of Roman legions in these places.There are a total of 4 springs in the city, with an average temperature of +46 ° C. Indications: gout, various rheumatic diseases, paralysis.
The most famous sight of the city is, of course, the Roman baths, which are over 2,000 years old.There are still hot mineral springs that are not found anywhere else in the world (you can try the water from them in the restaurant at the museum).In addition, it is worth visiting Kingston Square and Queen's Square ("Queen's Square"), the abbey church, the town hall (Guildhall) and the museum of Roman antiquities attached to it, a spacious market building, a club building, two theaters and two grand arenas.
Favorite places for walks in Bath - Victoria Park and Sydney Garden.
There are many museums in Bata.So, you can get acquainted with the life of the aristocracy and high society of the 18th century in the house-museum No. 1 "Royal Crescent" - a residential street of 30 houses in the shape of a crescent.In addition, an interesting small museum at the Baths, Assembly Rooms costume museum, Holburne Art Museum, Jane Austen Centre, Sally Lunn's Museum, dedicated to the local butter roll, once brought to Bath by Sally Lunn, who returned from Huguenot captivity (tasting the roll is a must and free), as well as the Museum of Astronomy and the Museum of East Asian Art with a fine collection of ceramics and porcelain from Japan, Korea and China.
