A Perfect “Three Days in Bath” Itinerary

Hello everyone! Greetings from the beautiful United Kingdom. For those of you who don’t know, my husband Josh and I moved to England at the beginning of the year. We settled down in Bournemouth, which is right on the south coast of the country and I really feel as though this place has welcomed me with open arms. Josh had spent quite a few years living in Bournemouth before we met, and he definitely didn’t steer me wrong when suggesting that we re-locate here.

We’ve spent the last month or so settling in, enjoying our new apartment, and getting used to staying put for a while. However, this usually causes me to get itchy feet so naturally, I needed to plan a short trip! I wanted an excuse to do some traveling and also get to see another part of this country that I’m currently calling my home. Alas, that brings us to Bath, for a fun-filled, three-day getaway. . .

Day One

From Bournemouth, getting to Bath was fairly easy. We choose to take the train, which was also pretty quick- approximately two hours each way. I booked a few weeks in advance, as to get a better price and our round trip tickets per person came to around $50. I imagine that this cost would be similar, traveling from most parts of the south coast.

We hopped on the train around 10:30 am and enjoyed a beautiful ride with views of the England countryside, rolling green hills, and sheep filled valleys. The views only got better as we approached Bath. By 12:30 pm we had arrived and choose to walk the ten minutes from the train station to our hotel. Side note: Everything in Bath is very walkable. During the time we were there, we didn’t once have to think about getting in a taxi, which is definitely a money saver when trying to choose an inexpensive destination for a quick trip.

We stayed at Z Hotel Bath. Besides being in the most perfect location, the hotel was very charming and modern, with friendly staff members and great facilities. My favorite part- complimentary wine and cheese in the lobby from 5pm-7pm every night! This was such a lovely touch. A two-night stay at Z Hotel came to $116. I will note, this was the cheaper option, as our room was small and did not have a window. If this is a deal breaker for you, I’d recommend going with their more expensive option.

After getting settled in, the exploring began! We started off with a walk to The Circus, a historic street of large, beautiful, townhouses that form in a circle. I’m not sure if it’s the time of year, or because we came during the middle of the week, but it was so quiet and relaxing walking around this area. Right off the circle, we found The Circus Restaurant- a quaint, charming place, with a well-thought out menu and a nice wine list. We stopped in here for our first meal in Bath.

After a delicious lunch and a tasty glass of wine, we continued on to the Georgian Garden. This re-creation of an eighteenth-century town garden gave me serious “The Secret Garden” vibes, which was one of my favorite movies as a child. So although there was nothing overly notable to see, I still really enjoyed it for what it was.

From there, we walked to Bath Abbey, which is an extraordinary, gothic style cathedral with a rich, unique history. The Abbey was the last medieval cathedral to have been built in England, after a few other churches stood in its place. It laid in ruins for almost 70 years before construction of the Abbey that we see today began. Building started around 1499 and was completed in 1616, making the construction period well over 100 years! It’s understandable why it took so long when you see for yourself how impressive it is. Don’t forget to look inside!

Fun Fact: Bath Abbey is also a burial site, with an estimated 8,000 bodies burried under the floors!

Right behind Bath Abbey is a nice path that leads to the Pulteney Bridge. This bridge is fairly iconic in Bath and even in England, as it is one of only four bridges in the world that is lined with shops throughout its full span. We even stopped in a few of them. My favorite was The Antique Map Shop, which carries maps that date back to the 1600s! Some of the other shops on the bridge included some adorable bakeries and a lovely flower shop, all worth strolling past. The Pulteney Bridge is a great place to take a nice, relaxing walk, and a beautiful area to sight see, so don’t miss out!

By this point, we were ready to head back to the hotel for a little down time and of course, we couldn’t miss out on the cheese and wine! Around 7pm we ventured back out for dinner and ended up at The Raven, a traditional style pub with a variety of beers on tap and delicious, savory pies. Being vegetarian, I had yet to try a pie since moving to the UK, as they are almost always prepared with a meat filling. The Raven offered a vegetarian version, which I was very impressed with! And for roughly $13, you even get your choice of chips (french fries) or mashed potatoes.

After our lovely dinner, we decided to call it a night, as we had an exciting day ahead of us!

Day Two

We woke up around 9:30 am and got ready for the day. The hotel did have a pretty nice breakfast menu, but I heard such good things about the Thoughtful Bakery right up the block that I needed to experience it for myself. I’m not actually sure how anyone can walk past this place without being pulled in, as the smell of freshly baked bread is so intoxicating! I had a croissant (one of my favorite things in the world) and some freshly baked sourdough with the most delicious jam! . . . YES, I do love my carbs! I will say, my only regret was not getting some pastries to go.

After breakfast we made our way to The Roman Baths. I pre-booked tickets online, as I read that sometimes the lines and wait times can get extremely long. Booking online also saves you 10% so it is worth doing. Prices, however, vary depending on what day of the week you go. Monday through Friday tickets cost around $18 per person and Saturday- Sunday tickets run $21 per person. I strategically planned our trip over Valentines Day so we managed to save a few dollars going on a week day.

Thankfully there weren’t any lines when we arrived and even got to go in a bit earlier than our 11 am booking. The museum was extremely well done, very informative, and thoroughly walked you through the history of this ancient structure. The Roman Baths were originally built in 75 AD as a religious spa complex. That’s nearly 2,000 years ago! They used the natural hot spring water that the city was founded upon to fill their baths. However, swimming is no longer allowed here due to very poor water quality.

Luckily, the Thermae Spa is close by and that was our next stop! This award-winning spa was opened in 2006 and uses the same natural thermal waters that the Romans used in their baths. These waters, however, are properly treated and make for a very special spa experience. I was unable to purchase tickets for the spa ahead of time, but if you are looking to book a package or treatment, this can and should be booked beforehand. Even though it was Valentines Day, thankfully, the line wasn’t very long and it wasn’t overwhelmingly crowded. Tickets per person cost around $47 and give you access to the open-air rooftop pool, an indoor Minerva bath, and the wellness suite which includes steam rooms and a sauna. Important Tip: You are allowed 2 hours at the spa for this price. However, if you’ve gone to the Roman Baths and you present them with your ticket, you will get an additional hour at no cost! Phones and pictures are not allowed in the spa out of respect for the spa-goers, so I’ll share a photo of the building with you instead.

After our relaxing afternoon, we went out in search of some lunch. Right across the street from our hotel we discovered Las Iguanas, a Latin American restaurant with an extensive menu of Brazilian, Mexican, Cuban, you name it, food! We loved our meal, and little did we know, Las Iguanas is a chain and there is a location very close to us in Bournemouth, which will come in handy when we’re craving these delicious nachos again.

We spent the remainder of the day taking it easy and relaxing at the hotel until our dinner reservation at 7:30 pm. We had a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner at Bill’s. They offered a really nice two or a three-course meal for under $25 for the holiday, along with their full regular menu- both of which had tons of delicious options. I also thought the rose and candle were a nice touch.

This concluded our second day in Bath and from dinner we made our way back to the hotel for a relaxing evening in shared over a bottle of wine.

Day Three

Our hotel check out was at 11am but we got up a bit earlier to give ourself time to pack up and get ready. We wanted to do a little, last bit of exploring before heading off so thankfully the hotel offered a baggage storage free of charge. We checked out, stored our bags, and headed off to The Boston Tea Party for a nice breakfast. This is a cozy, comfy cafe/restaurant with good coffee, delicious looking pastries, and a great breakfast menu. I went for their avocado toast on sourdough with added mushrooms and a side of hasbrowns. Avocado toast is always my go to!

One last thing I needed to do before we left Bath was purchase post cards to send back home to family members and friends. This has become a habit of mine since I started traveling. Every new place I go to, I try to always send a few people a nice note. Luckily, Bath is filled with places to get pretty, inexpensive post cards. If you look around you’ll usually find a few shops that offer 4 for 1 pound.

After my last minute shopping and some final moments of appriciation for this beautiful place, we grabbed our luggage from the hotel and headed back off to the train station for our journey home to Bournemouth.

Getting to adventure around Bath was such a joy and a truly, lovely experience. I would recommend anyone traveling to England, to put Bath on their list for at least a couple of days. The history, architecture, and great food is enough to make you want to stay even longer. To anyone currently planning a trip to Bath, I hope this itinerary gave you some good ideas or suggestions of things to do and see. And for anyone else, I hope this might inspire you to visit one day yourself! Please feel free to leave any questions or comments below and as always, happy travels!