Ideas for Excursions
Full Day in Bath;
Explore the city of Bath on foot with a local guide
10.00 10.30 With a local guide walk to Number One Royal Crescent, alternatively a mini bus can pick the group up from the hotel.
10.30 11.00 Visit Number One Royal Crescent.
Number 1 was designed by John Wood the Younger, and was the first house to be built in the Royal Crescent, now designated a World Heritage Building. It has been redecorated and furnished to show how it might have appeared in the late eighteenth century.
11.05 11.45 Visit the Assembly Rooms and the Fashion Museum.
The Ball Room, Octagon, Tea Room and Card Room of the magnificent Assembly Rooms were used in the eighteenth century for dancing, music and card playing, tea drinking and conversation.
The story of fashion over the last 400 years is brought alive at the Fashion Museum, the finest museum of fashionable garments in the world. The displays include 200 dressed figures to illustrate the changing styles in fashionable clothes from the late 16th century to the present day.
11.50 12.20 Visit the Jane Austen Centre.
The Jane Austen Centre celebrates Bath's most famous resident with a permanent exhibition with knowledgeable guides; displays of her life and family; Georgian Bath; contemporary maps and unique photographic enlargements; elegant costumes; a specially made film.
12.30 13.30 Lunch at the Pump Rooms.
13.45 15.30 Visit the Roman Baths.
Around Britain's only hot spring, the Romans built a magnificent temple and bathing complex that still flows with natural hot water. See the water's source and walk where Romans walked on the ancient stone pavements. The extensive ruins and treasures from the spring are beautifully preserved and presented using the best of modern interpretation.
15.30 16.15 Afternoon tea at Sally Lunns.
Sally Lunn's is the oldest house in Bath (c.1482).Sally Lunn, a French refugee, arrived 1680 and established her bakery. Today Sally Lunn's serve a menu based on the world famous Sally Lunn Bun during the day and are open for fine English food in the evening. Museum open daily, showing the original kitchen she used.
16.15 17.00 Short tour with the guide around the Abbey / Roman Baths / Pulteney Bridge
Full Day Visit surrounding areas;
Day tour in a minibus / coach
Full day tour of Stonehenge, Avebury Stone Circles, Lacock National Trust Village & the Cotswold village of Castle Combe.
Or
Full day tour discovering the Cotswolds. Highlights include Bibury, Stow on the Wold or Bourton on the Water, Stanton & Tetbury.
Or
Full day tour of Salisbury, Stonehenge, Avebury & Bradford on Avon.
Day tour in a minibus / coach
Full day tour of Stonehenge, Avebury Stone Circles, Lacock National Trust Village & the Cotswold village of Castle Combe.
Or
Full day tour discovering the Cotswolds. Highlights include Bibury, Stow on the Wold or Bourton on the Water, Stanton & Tetbury.
Or
Full day tour of Salisbury, Stonehenge, Avebury & Bradford on Avon.
Day three - A day shopping and being pampered at a spa;
Shopping
Bath is famous for its shops since Georgian times, Bath continues to draw crowds of shoppers all year round, to delight in the range of independent shops clustered in the heart of the city, and to dally in the shopping quarters that have developed over time.
Thermae Bath Spa
Throughout the generations Bath has been seen as the UK's premier spa resort, being the only place in the country where naturally hot mineral water exists. This position has led to this unique city leading the UK spa revival with the opening of Thermae Bath Spa. Britain's original and most remarkable Spa - the only place in the UK where you can bathe in natural hot waters. Thermae Bath Spa is a combination of the best of the historic Spa with a state of the art building offering modern comforts and facilities including four thermal baths and complementary therapies.
Shopping
Bath is famous for its shops since Georgian times, Bath continues to draw crowds of shoppers all year round, to delight in the range of independent shops clustered in the heart of the city, and to dally in the shopping quarters that have developed over time.
Thermae Bath Spa
Throughout the generations Bath has been seen as the UK's premier spa resort, being the only place in the country where naturally hot mineral water exists. This position has led to this unique city leading the UK spa revival with the opening of Thermae Bath Spa. Britain's original and most remarkable Spa - the only place in the UK where you can bathe in natural hot waters. Thermae Bath Spa is a combination of the best of the historic Spa with a state of the art building offering modern comforts and facilities including four thermal baths and complementary therapies.
Other places that you can visit:
Longleat and Stourhead
Longleat House is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of high Elizabethan architecture in Britain, set within 900 acres of 'Capability' Brown landscaped grounds, lakes and formal gardens. Longleat also offers a wide variety of other attractions including the famous Safari Park, the Longleat Hedge Maze and the Longleat Railway.
Stourhead is an outstanding example of English landscape style. The garden was designed by Henry Hoare II and laid out between 1741 and 1780. Classical temples are set around the central lake at the end of a series of vistas. The gardens also include magnificent woodland with exotic trees. The house, begun in 1721, contains furniture by the younger Chippendale and fine paintings.
Prior Park, Bath, and the Peto Garden at Iford Manor.
The first garden on the tour this morning is the beautiful and intimate 18th century landscape garden at Prior Park, owned by the National Trust.
Prior Park Landscape Garden was created by local entrepreneur Ralph Allen with advice from the poet Alexander Pope and Capability Brown, and is set is a sweeping valley. The many interesting features include a Palladian Bridge and a series of three lakes.
The Peto Garden at Iford Manor. This beautiful Grade I Italian-style garden was the home of Harold Peto, the architect and landscape gardener who taught Lutyens, from 1899 to 1933. This romantic garden is characterised by pools, terraces, sculptures and magnificent views.
Longleat and Stourhead
Longleat House is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of high Elizabethan architecture in Britain, set within 900 acres of 'Capability' Brown landscaped grounds, lakes and formal gardens. Longleat also offers a wide variety of other attractions including the famous Safari Park, the Longleat Hedge Maze and the Longleat Railway.
Stourhead is an outstanding example of English landscape style. The garden was designed by Henry Hoare II and laid out between 1741 and 1780. Classical temples are set around the central lake at the end of a series of vistas. The gardens also include magnificent woodland with exotic trees. The house, begun in 1721, contains furniture by the younger Chippendale and fine paintings.
Prior Park, Bath, and the Peto Garden at Iford Manor.
The first garden on the tour this morning is the beautiful and intimate 18th century landscape garden at Prior Park, owned by the National Trust.
Prior Park Landscape Garden was created by local entrepreneur Ralph Allen with advice from the poet Alexander Pope and Capability Brown, and is set is a sweeping valley. The many interesting features include a Palladian Bridge and a series of three lakes.
The Peto Garden at Iford Manor. This beautiful Grade I Italian-style garden was the home of Harold Peto, the architect and landscape gardener who taught Lutyens, from 1899 to 1933. This romantic garden is characterised by pools, terraces, sculptures and magnificent views.