Visiting Bath, England

What to do in the City of Bath and Bath attractions

Bath typical street — Lose yourself in Bath town centre

As a travel website on London, these pages are written from the perspective of visitors to London wanting to spend a day or more outside of the capital.

We detail getting from London to Bath as well as the main tourist attractions in Bath and travel options around the city, including hop-on, hop-off buses.

Having a car in Bath, is a millstone around your neck. It'll just stay in an (expensive) car park all of the time. Bath is a very walkable city, everything is packed into a very compact area.

There is so much to see and do in and around Bath that you couldn't see everything in a weekend. If you are visiting from London on a day tour on a coach, you will probably only get around 2 hours in the city.

So it is wise to do some preparation and prioritise what's attractive to you personally. You can easily visit Bath independently by rail from London and get a full day.

Attraction of Bath Sightseeing in Bath Shopping in Bath Getting to Bath from London Hop on buses, Bath

So what's the attraction of Bath?

Pulteney Weir, Bath, Somerset — Pulteney Weir

The key attraction to visitors to Bath originates from two periods; Roman and Georgian.

The natural resource of a hot spring from the waters of the surrounding Cotswold Hills was a great attraction to the Romans when they invaded England about 2,000 years ago. The resulting Roman Baths are the biggest single attraction for visitors to Bath.

The other main period was the Georgian period in the 18th Century. Read our Georgian Bath page that describes the Georgian society and how Bath was transformed from a backwater into an elegant spa town where the cream of society flocked too. Today the charm of Bath emanates from that time.

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Sightseeing in Bath

We would heartily recommend that visitors with enough time take the free walking tours of Bath as an introduction to your visit.

Taken by volunteers, these walks of over two hours explain the history of Georgian Bath by taking you through the city past all the key landmarks.

Use the menu on the left hand side of the page for links to all the main attractions. The official tourist office itself is on the river (eastern) side of the Roman Baths by Bath Abbey.

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Shopping in Bath

Shops in the City of Bath, Somerset — Pretty shops in Bath

Bath is not a museum piece, it's a major thriving town and a regional shopping centre. Part of the charm of Bath is that business and shops coexist with visitors within the Georgian Bath environment.

This is old fashion shopping with individual shops, no malls (as yet).

Bath is quite an affluent town and shops cater for all tastes, from the large chain stores down the main High (Main) Street to the quirkier and antique establishments only found by exploring.

Shopping in Bath - more details

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Getting to Bath from London - tours or independent

Bath Georgian crescent — See iconic Georgian crescents in Bath

The most painless way of visiting Bath is on a one or two day tour from London. For time poor visitors the most popular is the Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath tour that visits all three world class attractions in one long day. Full details of the different kinds of tours are on our Bath Tours page.

However, these tours will only give you between 90 minutes and 3 hours in Bath. (Unless you choose our make-you-own 2-day visit to Bath, where you opt to spend overnight in Bath.)

It is very easy to get to Bath independently from London. Full details are found on our Getting to Bath from London by public transport page.

For a day tour, regular fast trains run from London's Paddington Station take only around 90 minutes and run until late. Frequencies are twice hourly for most of the day.

Cheaper and slower are National Express buses from London Victoria, only worth considering if you're staying more than one day.

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Bath Tootbus: hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus

Bath is a very walkable city, everything is packed into a very compact area.

You do not really need a hop-on, hop-off bus from a logistical sense, although there is a tour option that offers a Bath skyline tour outside the city of Bath.

However, what you do get is a good orientation of Bath perched high up on the double deck bus. Especially if you are visiting independently the commentary can set the scene nicely for your stay.

Tootbus (formerly called The Original Tour) also operate a very popular hop-on bus experience in London.

Bath hop-on, hop-off bus routes, frequencies etc

There are two routes covered by the same ticket. The core route (City Tour) covers the city of Bath itself and takes you to the Roman Baths, the Pump Room, Bath Abbey where England's first King was crowned and the Assembly Rooms amongst others. In fact all the main attractions in the city.

The City Tour takes 50 minutes to do a full loop and runs every 20 minutes.

The second 'Skyline Tour' takes you from Bath Railway Station round Claverton Down past the University of Bath and Prior Park Landscape Garden.

The Skyline tour takes 45 minutes to complete a full loop and runs every 30 minutes.

Both routes run between 10am and 5pm.

The tours use modern double decker buses like those photographed here. There is a live guide conducting the tour in English with headsets available with pre-recorded commentary in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin and Polish.

When you buy a ticket it is flexible, and can be validated anytime within three months of purchase. You also get a free booklet with deals and discounts for museums, restaurants, and local attractions included.

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