I discovered the secret to having a relaxing trip to Europe.
Quick life update: I’ve been taking a break from writing since we moved on Friday and I was traveling in Scottsdale and DC. But now that I’m settled and (mostly) unpacked, I’m ready to start writing again! Let me know if there’s something in particular you’d love to read or are curious about!
Starting your trip in a busy, bustling city like London can be a bit overwhelming. I highly recommend flying into London and heading straight to a smaller city that is equally as exciting and memorable. Which is why Bath is the perfect on-ramp town to a perfect England trip.
Bath Travel Guide
Bath is full of gorgeous and unforgettable architecture, a killer food scene, and is totally walkable. Even though it rained during our entire stay, we soaked in the charm and saw everything there was to see.
Bath is well known for the Roman baths that were built on a natural spring. The coolest part is that you can still visit the baths today, and it is definitely worth the price. The green water looks like it is boiling, but we learned that the bubbles are just gasses escaping from the water. The town became really popular as a spa town when spring water was thought to have special healing powers in the Georgian era. We got to taste some spa water and it was absolutely ill. I personally think it tasted like blood, haha.
Jane Austen’s family had a home in Bath, too, for those of you who are fans! Bath has a Jane Austen festival every year and impersonators from her era are always walking around.
Bath Travel Guide: Walking Tours
We did several walking tours of Bath (a free walking tour and a comedy tour called Bizarre Bath) which helped us get oriented. We did the comedy tour at night, which was hilarious! Our guide pointed out parts of town while performing magic tricks around the city. The free general tour took us all the way from Bath Abbey (the huge main church in town above) to the Royal Crescent (the curved building pictured below), pointing out various architectural highlights while filling our heads with historical nuggets.
My favorite factual tidbit was Bath’s window tax. Each home was taxed on how many windows they had, so families started filling some of their windows in with bricks. Some even painted over the bricks to make the space look like a window, without having to suffer the tax. Tricky tricky!
Our guide also pointed out the bridge where Jean Valjean from Les Miserables jumps at the end of the movie. I snapped a pic of it below – maybe you’ll recognize it!
Bath Travel Guide: Where to Stay
The food in Bath was one of my favorite parts. We stayed at a small but convenient hotel called The Kennard, and every morning they provided us with a full English breakfast. I learned that “English Breakfast” means bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms, eggs, and potatoes. I exploded.
Bath Travel Guide: Where to Relax
After all the walking tours and thinking about roman baths, we really wanted to take a Bath. The Thermae Bath Spa is a modern spa in Bath where we enjoyed doing as the Romans did for an evening. They have an indoor pool, rooftop pool, various saunas and therapeutic rooms, and a cafe. You can also book a massage or treatment there, but we decided to just use the facilities for the experience. It was SO relaxing. Like I said… a perfect way to start off a crazy Europe trip! I don’t have any photos of that because cameras weren’t allowed inside.
Want more England posts? Check out Windsor Castle, My England Packing List (yes, 10 days in one carry on bag), and the accessories that made my trip a breeze!
Shop My Bath Outfit:
–Roxanne
On Mondays We Link Up
I love reading travel posts like this. Your photos are lovely dear!
Jessica | notjessfashion.com
Thanks so much, Jessica!
I am re-living Europe with your posts. This looks like an amazing place to visit.
Xx, Nailil
thirtyminusone.com
I’m re-living it all, too! Thanks for reading.
I enjoyed this post a lot, I love Bath!
Thanks, Nancy! I loved it too and can’t wait to go back.
Oh that sounds like an amazing start to your travels. Having a spa time in Bath would be epitome of relaxing I think!
http://www.mylittlenest.org
Your travel diary has certainly kept me occupied and living vicariously though your documentation.
bosbodaciousblog.blogspot.ca
Hi Roxanne
Sounds like a wonderful time. I hope to visit England one day, as I am 1/4 English 🙂 and have wanted to see London among other places. The architecture is wonderful and I enjoyed reading about Bath. What a fitting end to your trip there!
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
such a beautiful place!!!
Looks like a fascinating, educational and fun trip. I enjoyed seeing photis of and learning about Bath especially Jane Austen and Jean Valjean and the huge English breakfasts!
Though, I have so unpleasant rain stories while traveling. I love to see new places in the rain. It just gives it that different feeling. looking back at your picture. You remember the mess it causes and you laugh at it :). I am so happy you took us through your journey. beautiful pictures Roxanne.
http://www.chez-rama.com
Wow! How stunning. The window story is hysterical. People always find a loophole around taxes.
Wow this look so beautiful!! I definitely need to make a trip to England! Also that restaurant looks gorgeous! So fun!
<3 Shannon
Upbeat Soles
I loved visiting Bath! It rained the whole time we were there too, but for a Jane Austen fan like me, it didn’t ruin the experience of walking through a town that just felt like it still straddled the line between modern and historic. What a fun trip for you!
Virginia | More to Mrs. E
Beautiful pictures Roxanne! Bath sounds like a great place to explore and unwind. What an interesting tidbit is that regarding Windows and taxes! That is tricky!
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
I really enjoyed this post! My son went to university in Bath so visiting him was a complete joy – the restaurants and shopping are great there! So pleased you enjoyed it. it’s such a shame it was raining for you, strolling around is so much more pleasurable in the dry. Still, you look happy (and beautiful) xx
A shame that it rained while you were in Bath. But you made the best of it and sounds like you had a lovely time. I’ve been to Bath a couple of times (I live in the UK) but haven’t explored it in detail and you make me want to do that.
Looks like you had a lot of fun exploring! It sounds like there is so much to do there.
Thank you for the link up!
Hope that you have had a lovely weekend 🙂 We went to a wedding which was a lot of fun 🙂
Away From The Blue Blog