The city of Bath is England's second most popular visitor destination after London.
Bath is a town of supreme harmony constructed mostly during the 18th century with beautiful
cream-colored limestone in the Georgian style of architecture.
Along with the urban beauty there are numerous historic sites and many quiet lanes containing
hundreds of little shops that produces an awesome combination that'll keep you happy
for several days.
The town center has a human scale with lowrise buildings and quiet streets lined with shops
and galleries ideal for strolling, all contained in a relatively small area only about 1000
meters in one direction and 500 meters in the other.
A nice place to start walking is the small Abbey Green, a peaceful courtyard with a large
tree in the middle and historic old buildings all around.
This courtyard is quite central.
It's just one block over from the Bath Abbey and yet is easily missed because it's really
not very conspicuous.
The adjacent lane of North Parade has some great little restaurants including Sally Lunn
in the oldest building in town.
Typical of our walking tours we like to take you out of the way along with bringing you
to the main highlights.
It's very easy to navigate when you're walking around in Bath because there is one main street
-- it's about a kilometer long.
It changes names a few times variously called Milsom, Union, Stall and Southgate streets,
and it has different characters you go from one end to the other, but throughout this
one street is a fascinating and fun place to walk.
You are guaranteed to see quite a few street performers as you walk along in the lanes
of Bath.
There are jugglers, there’s clowns, musicians, there's bubble blowers and all sorts of activities
to keep you entertained, and if you are amused they will accept your tips.
The southern end of this main pedestrian street is an excellent example of urban redevelopment.
It's Southgate Street, which is kind of like a shopping mall in the middle of the historic
center.
It blends in very nicely with the pedestrian lanes around it and is anchored by department
stores and a nice variety of clothing stores and eateries in a very well organized and
clean place.
The street itself was actually purchased by the private developers who have transformed
it into a new town center.
It's marvelous how the Southgate Mall blends seamlessly into its extension further north
on Stall Street and into Union Street, which is really the busiest part of town filled
with locals and tourists alike.
Most of the other street surrounding this main lane are also fascinating to walk along.
The best strategy for the savvy traveler is stroll up one direction and then back down
another street, crisscrossing the sidestreets in a semi-organized way until all the possibilities
are covered.
Perhaps you'll be drawn into Bath Street lured by the colonnades on both sides and tempting
shops along the way.
Bath Street is only one block long, ending in a small curved intersection called Cross
Bath with more columns.
Take a look through the archway to the tranquil courtyard of St. John's Hospital and then
look up to see the rooftop pool of the Therme Spa where you can get a full treatment in
naturally heated mineral rich waters.
Walk a block over through St. Michael's Place to Westgate Street another attractive lane
with more shops on both sides.
It's called Cheap Street on the east end, but this side seems more for locals than for
tourists.
This leads to Kingsmead Square, another local gathering place, nicknamed Seven Dials due
to the converging streets around it – recently renovated with wide sidewalks outdoor cafés
and bike lanes.
It's a very popular place to hang out and a great example of urban preservation and
reuse located only three blocks from the tourist center, but most visitors never get here.
A block north brings you to Theater Royale, the main venue for plays and live musicals
in town.
They usually have something going on most evenings ranging from comedies to concerts
to drama.
The theater has its own restaurant and in the side lane, Garrick's Head Pub, another
cozy neighborhood with quiet streets and more restaurants.
Then turn around and walk back towards where you started in the center by the Abbey into
a lovely tangle of small pedestrian alleys lined with shops.
Between High and Union streets there are several little pedestrian malls with more shops including
the Corridor, Northumberland Place and Union Passage.
You could easily miss them but they're worth looking for.
Too often in life we stay on the main road when the real treats are just nearby on those
side alleys.
One could spend several fun hours shopping and exploring these small lanes that wind
through the commercial heart of town.
These little malls are easy to find, so close to the Abbey, but their entrances are sometimes
inconspicuous.
The Guildhall was built in 1776 as the Town Hall and it still used today as Council Chambers
and for special events like weddings and concerts.
Adjacent you'll find the Guildhall Market, an old covered arcade with 25 small shops
and food stalls open from 9:00 to 5:30 every day except Sunday.
The market has some craft people such as for knitting supplies and for having a custom
leather belt cut.
"What's the price range of an average belt?"
"They go from 30 up to about 45 depending on how wide they are really."
"And how long does it take to cut one and fit it?"
"Well if it's already made it's a five minute job to cut it."
Guildhall Market the oldest shopping venue in Bath.
It's been in action for the last 800 years on the same location.
One block over continuing on Bridge Street you arrive at Pultney Bridge across the River
Avon but you never realize it's a bridge because it's completely lined with shops that block
any view of the river down below.
It's one of only three major bridges in Europe covered in shops along with the Ponte Vecchio
in Florence and the Rialto in Venice.
The River Avon flows through the center of town creating a delightful watery ambience
with parks along both sides and boat rides on offer.
Also along the river you'll find a rugby stadium which can hold nearly 14,000 people, and then
during the summer when the rugby season is over they remove some of the stands and it
becomes a cricket pitch and an open recreation ground for the people of Bath, used for hockey,
croquet, football, volleyball, lacrosse, tennis and drama.
However a conflict has developed because the rugby club wants to expand the stadium and
many in the public want to expand the park grounds.
At the next block on Northgate Street you'll come across a modern shopping complex The
Podium, a small multilevel indoor mall.
New Bond Street will tempt you until it intersects with Old Bond Street, another short pedestrian
mall.
This is the very center of Bath's shopping district with main roads, little alleys and
small indoor malls providing lots of temptations, so take your time wandering about in a major
shopping break.
It really helps when they remove cars and convert streets to pedestrian areas.
More traditional scenarios of traffic and wide sidewalks lined with shops also works
well such as here a long Milsom Street with historic architecture retaining character
from previous centuries.
For many years Milsom was the main shopping venue in Bath, but in recent decades the development
along Southgate, further south along Union Street has really shifted the center of gravity
and balanced things out nicely, so that they're all doing very well.
Quick views of Milsom from our bus tour that we will show you more of in a later movie.
At the top you come to George Street, with raised paving that elevated patrons above
the mud and horse splatter of past centuries.
It's another fine shopping and café venue.
We're very close to the city center, just 500 meters from Bath Abbey, so it's very easy
to reach, and around the corner is Gay Street that lead you to one of the main highlights
of town The Circus.
This circle of 33 elegant townhouses is an ideal example of town planning with beautifully
designed buildings that efficiently use the land yet also provide open green space for
the residents with private yards in the back and a circular park in the middle.
The circus was designed with back in 1750 by John Wood the Elder and completed by his
son.
It's just two short blocks further to the Royal Crescent, one of Bath's most famous
sites.
The Royal Crescent is the crowning achievement of the city and has become the symbol of Bath.
For a pleasant route back towards the town center that will get you off the city streets
for a while, enter the leaf the Gravel Walk and stroll through Royal Victoria Park, which
then becomes the Georgian Garden, lushly landscaped with many flowerbeds and towering trees.
Perhaps like yourself, this old doggie was feeling tired and just didn't want to get
up and walk.
You'll exit through the garden gates at Queens Parade which is connected to Queen Square.
This green park occupies one block in the heart of town surrounded by elegant homes
and a fine hotel, The Francis, part of the luxurious Sofitel M Gallery collection.
The park and a obelisk in the center date back to the early 18th century, as do the
buildings along the north side designed by John Wood the Elder.
Stroll a few blocks over and you'll reach the Assembly Rooms, a prime social gathering
place for the 18th-century music and dance gatherings of high society.
That completes the main highlights of a Bath walking tour, and from here you can just stroll
back towards the city center soon arriving at the intersection of John, Wood, Quiet and
Queen streets.
There is a famous vegetarian restaurant here, the Acorn Vegetarian Kitchen.
It's been around over 20 years and they're fully booked every weekend dinner so you have
to either reserve or come at lunch time – featuring local fresh ingredients and excellent service.
You've got a pine nut risotto, with pepper and lemon on the top, then you got wild garlic
and pepper sprouts and broccoli.
Brilliant, so you've got the Wie Valley asparagus with hazelnut gnocchi and savignon scoop.
Thank you very much.
Then you've got the confit onions and carrots, you've got two different styles of carrots
there, you've got purple and orange.
And that's puy lentils and an onion cider cream And then you got the smoke-filled mushrooms,
with walnut and mushroom pate, salt baked celaria and the potato gallete.
And then you've got the calabrese broccoli with the almond salt-grain emulsion and the
confit Jersey royals.
You've got a sweet onion and garlic dahl with a cauliflower heart on top and then some pickled
cauliflower around, risotto on the side, and some purée on the side.
Of course you don't have to be a vegetarian to appreciate a delicious meal like this.Too
often vegetables are just the neglected side dish but here they come to front and center.
A chocolate tart with peanut butter sorbet.
We left feeling very happy and satisfied.
If you have any questions or comments about Bath type it in down below and I'll be happy
to answer and respond.
All travel suggestions questions and comments are very welcome.
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