I was lucky enough to be able to fill last year with a number of different visits to some cool destinations – Barcelona, Amsterdam, Stockholm and closer to home, Lincolnshire and Shropshire. This year? Aside from a trip to London to visit friends a couple of months ago, I feel like we have barely left the house, never mind go anywhere that involved passports.
You may recall from my post about my new coffee table back in January that we’d originally planned on going to the gorgeous historic city of Bath for my birthday but apocalyptic forecasts of rain, hail, storm clouds and 50mph winds meant we had to cancel. We bought a coffee table instead so it wasn’t all bad but I still really wanted to go.
Well, last week, we finally made the journey and the weather was just perfect for Autumn! Hurrah! A balmy 17-19 degrees C, sunny and lovely. The perfect season to see this absolutely stunning city.
I’ll apologise now for the many many photos that lay ahead but it’s just so damn picturesque a city, it was difficult to keep our phones in our pockets (and yes all photos are from my phone so apologies if the quality could be better.)
If you haven’t been to Bath before or you are visiting England for the first time, then do make sure it’s on your list of cities to see. Yes, I know that everyone has to go to London but it is well worth it to see some of the most gorgeous Georgian architecture you have ever seen.
We stayed at Villa Magdala, a 5* Luxury B&B in the heart of the city. Yes, that’s my little yellow Mini you see below marked out front! It’s a rather beautiful building with Victorian architecture and as you can see they had a car park which in this city is a rarity! This meant, we could park up on Sunday evening upon our arrival and not have to worry about the car again for the duration of the stay.
The rooms, while small, are nicely decorated and spotlessly clean. To be totally honest, I was expecting a little more in terms of room quality for the price (bigger? more luxurious?) but then, Bath is not an inexpensive city so it’s probably relative. The staff were wonderfully attentive, however, really friendly and helpful and the common areas were beautiful. The bathroom had Missoni soaps which was a nice touch. (Pic below was of our room but from their website).
On Sunday evening, we had dinner and drinks at a nearby restaurant/bar called The Boater. We ended up back at the Boater every night of our stay because it was on the way back from town to the B&B and I liked the industrial look of the place. They also had a rather gorgeous Chenin Blanc from New Zealand that I loved and quite a few independent beers on tap for Wayne. I’d recommend it for quiet after dinner drinks.
On Monday, we decided it would be the day to explore the city by foot.
We walked everywhere around the city itself and ventured as far as the beautiful Victoria Park which was just stunning. The sun was shining and we took lots of pictures!
On Monday night, we had dinner at Cafe du Globe, a Moroccan restaurant in town. We both had different dishes served in a tagine and both were absolutely phenomenal. Highly recommended if you like your food with lots of flavour.
On Tuesday, it was our ‘Tourist Day’ so we decided to hit the Roman Baths first, then the Abbey, then the Victoria Art Museum and finally we took a boat trip down the River Avon.
As the biggest tourist attraction in Bath, I have to admit the Roman Baths are a must-see and there’s an audio tour to follow for all the historic background. It’s amazing what is underground and it appears to just go on and on with various rooms to explore.
If you missed it on Instagram, this is us doing our ‘Gangsta’ pose at the Roman Baths. Yes, posing inappropriately at history landmarks is funny to us. Also we are as far from ‘gangsta’ as you can possibly get. Which we find even funnier.
The Abbey is an amazing building. I mean, just look at it! I will shut up and just let the pictures do the talking.
We stopped for a quick drink at The Pig and Fiddle but despite friendly bar staff, it was pretty much a dive in comparison to the stunning surroundings. If you head to Bath, this is not on my recommended list of establishments to visit ;)
The Victoria Art Gallery Museum was also a little disappointing. It wasn’t bad and it was nice way to kill an hour (it’s rather small) but if you are only visiting Bath for a very short time, then you won’t really lose anything skipping this one out. I’ve been to much better in other cities. There are actually a whole host of museums in Bath and I kind of wish we had time to explore a couple of others.
The little boat tour, however was a lovely jaunt. An hour heading down the Avon was just a lovely way to relax and enjoy the scenery float by.
After our leisurely float, we stopped off for cocktails after a recommendation from the hotel staff to The Porter, a stunning little bar on the 2nd floor gazing on to the streets below. The interior is quite pretty and the drinks were lovely. (Image directly below is courtesy of The Porter’s website.)
On Tuesday night, we had dinner at Turtle Bay, which we later realised was a chain restaurant that serves Caribbean food (and there’s actually one in Manchester – whoops). To be honest, the food was great and the Island Ice Teas went down rather nicely (this may have played a part in why we loved the food so much so take that on board).
And then of course, we finished our night at our ‘local’ – The Boater.
Charming, isn’t he?
In the morning, we made our way back home! It was a really lovely couple of days in a beautiful historic city.
Have you been to Bath? Is it in your list of places to visit?
Don’t miss a thing!
Despite living within day-trip distance for many years, I never took advantage of it – which I now regret. Great photos for a phone – especially the selfies! x
Aww such a shame! It's definitely worth a trip, beautiful city!! xx
Sure looks like a place I'd love to visit one day. Love all the photos
Definitely worth a trip! Such a beautiful city, not sure why it took me so long to visit :) xx
Looks like a great few days away! Bath is such a lovely city, and you were lucky with the weather, makes all the difference. Love your gangsta picture too!<br />I'm mentioned you on my blog (again) – yes, I'm a weird creepy stalker! Just thought you'd want to know where your name is being taken in vain ;)<br /><br />http://dinkidots.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/console-table-styling.html
We really were lucky with the weather – I am so glad now we didn't go in January ;) Thanks so much for the mention, Maria, it's so sweet of you! xxx
Such a gorgeous city. The BF and I were going to go for our anniversary this year (two years!) but instead he surprised me with a trip to Marrakech! I still want to go to Bath too! (no pleasing me lol)<br /><br />Katie <3
Haha! I still wanted to go to Bath despite receiving my coffee table in January! ;) Definitely worth a trip if you can make it. Would also love to go to Marrakesh! Too many places I want to visit… xxx
I just watched a travel documentary on Bath (seriously, that kind of think is my jam)! it looks so gorgeous. I would love to visit, and I'm sure I would love that Chenin Blanc! Looks amazing, friend xoxo
I watch travel documentaries too! Ha! It's really stunning and YES to the Chenin Blanc – one of my favourites! xx
Bath is on my list of things to do, and seeing those photos makes me want to go even more. We've just come back from the cotswolds, and thats a beautiful part of the counrty, well worth a visit. Xxx
Oh the Cotswolds ARE stunning – I think people forget how beautiful England really is! Bath is definitely worth a visit too! xxx
That's a good time. What a beautiful place.
It is a stunning place! Good time had by all :D xxx
Wayne looks NOTHING like I imagined. I've read/stalked your about page before but for some reason did not remember what he looks like. Although I also can't remember what I'd imagined him to look like, so that probably doesn't help….<br /><br />Anyway, Bath is lovely- and your "local" looks awesome. xxx
Hahaha!! I do wonder what you imagined him to look like now?! Our 'local' was so cool, I wish we had something like that near to us back home (although I fear we would be there all the time so maybe not) ;) xxx
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your trip. The windows were amazing and the ceilings… well, basically all of them.
The city is so picturesque, so many stunning buildings! xxx
I grew up about an hour from Bath and would always opt for it for shopping trips instead of the nearer Bristol (which is however, an incredible city). <br /><br />Bath is just so stunning and steeped in history and you picked a good time to visit. It can be so busy and therefore pretty ghastly in the summer…..all those American tourists doing gansta poses. ;-)
I actually really want to visit Bristol at some point too (I've heard very good things!) but can't blame you! First port of call was a visit to Anthropologie and MAC ;) They have some excellent shops! <br /><br />Hahaha!! God there were SO MANY Americans there, I was cringing the entire time – why do we have to be so loud?! LOL!<br /><br />xxx
We spent several days in Bath when we visited England, and we LOVED it. Gorgeous & peaceful.
Ahh so glad you were able to visit! It's a stunning location! xxx
This post has made my day, I am off to bath the week before Christmas as a 10th anniversary treat. I am sooo excited now, I have been before and recommend the thermae spa, expensive but worth it.
Oh that's wonderful! So pleased the post was helpful! We didn't make it to the spa but I heard good things about it – saving that for next visit I think ;) xxx
What. What. What. What. What. This is in ENGLAND? I've heard of Bath before, but I never realised it was so insanely beautiful!!! Just, everything. It's surreal. I couldn't put it more perfectly than Liz Lemon – <br /><br />"<b>I want to go to there</b>."<br /><br />Just stunning. Seriously, I need to go.