If you’ve followed Suitcase Monkey over the last couple of years, you’ve seen us
travel far and wide around the globe.
Well we thought it was about time, that we welcome you properly, to our home country,
The United Kingdom.
On this trip, my wife and I will be leaving the frantic London life behind for the calming
city of Bath.
Located in the South West of England, Bath is home to the UKs only natural hot springs,
where you can bathe just like the Romans did, albeit in a slightly more elegant surrounding.
We will be navigating its numerous streets, sampling some local must-eat cuisine and trekking
along one of its many countryside walks.
This is Suitcase Monkey, having a weekend away in the old Roman city of Bath.
(SLOW RELAXING MUSIC)
We began with an early morning wake up.
We’d booked the 9am train from London Paddington, returning the next day in the late afternoon.
Taking only 90 minutes from London, it’s an easy direct service and whether you’re
a local wanting a weekend away or a foreign visitor wanting to see more than the capital,
Bath is well worth the journey.
You could skim over it in one very long day but we wanted to get the most out of the city,
Upon arrival into the Bath Spa station, we took a meandering beeline towards our hotel.
Greeted by buskers and markets traders, things already fell nicely into a slower pace.
After dropping off our bags at our hotel, we headed straight
back into the streets.
One of the nicest things about Bath, is that its incredibly walkable, with pretty much
everything being within 10 or 15 minutes of each other.
(UPBEAT, STEADY, OPTIMISTIC MUSIC)
Our first point of call was the Roman Baths themselves, which is THE must do attraction
in the city.
It can get quite busy at peak times but I’m told the queue rarely goes beyond 30 minutes.
You can pre book your tickets online but for us, things moved pretty quickly and we were
inside before we knew it.
There are only 2 Roman baths in the world that still have natural hot mineral water
flowing into them and this is one of them.
Included in the price of admission, are handy audio guides which make the Roman remains
come to life even more.
Hearing the stories behind these relics, some 2000 years old, do a great job of connecting
you to the reality of the Roman world.
But the Sistine Chapel here is obviously the baths themselves.
Walking on the same exact pavement as the Romans did 2 Millennium ago is something in
itself.
This was once a place for public bathing, entertainment, healing and of course, cleanliness.
Nowadays, its purpose may have shifted somewhat, but it is still as essential to Bath, as it
ever was.
(GENTLE GUITAR PICKING)
There are certainly no shortage of cafes, tea rooms and brunch stops in Bath.
Around almost every corner are quaint ex residential buildings, all vying for your attention.
I’d definitely recommend picking up some fudge whilst in Bath with many locations citing
themselves as the best fudge in England.
One of the most popular stops in the area is the famous Sally Lunn Eating House.
Since we walked passed at the peak of lunch, people were queueing out the door to experience
a quintessentially English tradition.
This is one of the oldest houses in Bath and believed to the the birth place of the
Sally Lunn Bun.
For eating, we found Sunday to be a lot quieter in Bath for food overall so bear that in mind
when deciding on somewhere with a long wait.
We did however find ourselves very lucky to grab the last free table at The Bath Bun Tea
Shoppe, which was like stepping back into history.
And it was here that I had my first Bath Bun.
Dating back to the 18th century, even Jane Austin was a fan.
The Bath Bun, is laced with sugar and fruit and is certainly not to be confused with the
Sally Lunn Bun.
Now, I never thought I would say the following sentence but, there does seem to be a bit
of a rivalry going on between the Bath Bun and the Sally Lunn Bun.
Sally Lunn obviously say that they were the first and The Bath Chronicle does a fierce
head to head with each.
The Sally Lunn is more similar to a brioche, being buttery and light whereas the Bath Bun
is more sweet.
Having only had the Bath Bun it wouldn’t be fair to compare but please comment below
if you want to weigh in on this subject.
Nevertheless, The Bath Bun Tea Shoppe was a tasty experience and we were now reenergised
to burn off some extra calories.
(CALM MUSIC BUILDING SLOWLY)
(MUSIC BUILDS)
(MUSIC ENDS ABRUPTLY)
In need of a welcomed rest, we made a pit stop at our hotel.
For those unaware, the Travelodge is an affordable chain in the UK who also just happen to have
the greatest catchphrase around.
Since they are a no nonsense, budget, lets just give you what you need kind of place,
their motto is simply this.
(SINGING)
And as we discovered in our room, this was certainly true.
One piece of advise I would definitely give, is to prebook if you have somewhere specific
in mind for dinner.
For us on a Saturday night, it took 3 attempts to find a vacant table.
Fortunately for us, after a 30 minute wait, Pintxo still turned out to be a really tasty
tapas restaurant.
After this, we wondered back, and rested our head onto some very well placed pillows.
After an early morning wake up, the first thing we did was head to our other must do
attraction here.
The Thermae Bath Spa is the only place in Britain where you can bathe in naturally warm,
mineral-rich waters.
You obviously can’t take in any photo beyond the changing rooms so I just want to thank
Thermae for letting me use some of their footage here.
First, you get given a smart band which doubles up as your locker key, and allows any further
charges such as food to be loaded onto them to pay later.
You start in the Minerva Bath, the largest of all baths here, complete with massage jets
and whirlpools.
We then made our way to the Wellness Suite which was probably the most sophisticated
one I have been in.
They have Steam Rooms, infra red rooms, and an Ice Chamber which is as cold as it sounds,
and ended in the Celestial Relaxation Room.
Here, you lie in a darkened space room as if you were a naughty Neil Armstrong on his
day off.
All of which makes this entire floor a completely unique experience.
Similar to the original Roman Baths just a stones throw away, the main attraction here
is the open air Pool.
Situated on the rooftop with an overlooking Bath Abbey, this is as about as close a Roman
Bathing experience as you get.
Enhanced by air seats and bubbling jets, it was probably my weekend highlight and a must
visit.
It can get very busy here, especially on the weekends, but it never felt overcrowded since
they manage how many people are in the space at one time.
We walked passed the day before to see long wait times, which is why we came back the
next day.
Joining the queue at 9am, we were in about 45 minutes later.
If you’re interested, I would recommend checking their website for more details which
again, I have linked to in the description below.
After all of that floating, our stomachs needed some brunch.
We ended up at the Boston Tea Party which was exactly what the doctor ordered for a
Sunday morning.
Oh and also, everyone, at some point in their life, needs to sample a Full English Breakfast.
Lovely!
We still had around 4 and a half hours to explore this compact city with 3 things remaining
on our to-do list.
We decided to drop our bags off at a left luggage spot right in front of Bath Spa Station.
This only cost a few pounds and made things much easier for our eventual return to London.
As mentioned, Bath is a perfect place for walking.
The fact that the city itself is a World Heritage Site gives weight to the places you will undoubtedly
bump into on foot.
Pulteney Bridge was built in the 1700s crossing the River Avon.
It is one of only 4 bridges in the world that houses shops for its full span on either side.
The 3 other bridges are in Erfurt, Germany, Venice and Florence.
Which also provides me a great opportunity to say if you’re enjoying this vlog, please
also check out our Tuscany video to see that bridge in action.
The shops lining the bridge themselves are very narrow, which even span 2 floors, giving
you a unique view looking out onto the river.
(LIVELY UPBEAT MUSIC)
As our hours in Bath counted down, we headed north west.
Here you will find some of Baths best examples of Georgian architecture including the Circus
as well as the impressively large Royal Crescent.
With 2 and a half hours to go, we had two things on our mind.
Shopping and food.
Bath has many stand out streets you should make time for with Milsom Street and Milsom
Place taking a lot of our browsing time
(UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES)
And finally to stock up before our journey home, we ended up at the Georgian Tearoom.
And what better way to end our time here than with a classic toasted tea cake and cup of
english breakfast tea.
If you’ve enjoyed this video, then please give it a thumbs up below, it really helps
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I will be making more UK travel vlogs soon so subscribe to be notified on their release.
In the meantime, check out our day at Kew Gardens, along with our best cafes and restaurants
in London.
Thanks for watching Suitcase Monkey.
Thanks for reading 😉