DREAM ESCAPES
Visitors have loved this Somerset city – home to the UK’s only hot springs – since the time of the Romans, and it’s easy to see why…
Bath
STAY
Tucked away in a little pedestrianised passage behind the imposing Bath Abbey, Eight (3) is a suitably stylish boutique stay. Spread across two character-laden buildings, the bedrooms combine the very best of modern luxury with delicious hints of the past, and the windows frame charming vignettes of the city’s Unesco World Heritage streets. TASTE
Preface meals at the hotel’s restaurant with a trip down the stairs to the medieval cellar, where the bar now sits. Or venture over the road to The Hideaway, a drinking spot with lashings of character and a whisky list of big-city standard. Eight’s dinner menu offers a superb line-up of small plates (1) and for lunch, snag a sought-after table at Beckford Bottle Shop’s bistro, where dishes span Cornish sea bass escabeche to padrón peppers with smoked salt. Alternatively, try local ice cream from David Thayer’s or head over Pulteney Bridge (2) to the French ambience of Chez Dominique. INDULGE
You can’t go to Bath without a rejuvenating stint in the thermal springs, first exploited by the Romans when the city was Aquae Sulis and every centurion worth his salt liked nothing better than a steam and a massage. At Thermae Bath Spa the ritual has been brought bang up to date: along with four natural thermal baths you’ll find a rooftop pool. EXPLORE
Bath is a city of many museums – check out the Fashion Museum for one – and a stunning architectural heritage from its Georgian heyday. Follow in the footsteps of Jane Austen’s heroines as you go gown shopping through the maze of storied streets, passages and arcades with their clusters of independent stores. Or pedal along the disused railways that stretch out of town into rolling countryside and can take you as far as buzzing neighbour Bristol to the north-west.
› Rooms at Eight begin at £110 per night for a cosy double; visit eightinbath.co.uk. Trainline sells rail tickets from all over the UK to Bath; visit thetrainline.com. For up-to-date travel advice, visit gov.uk/coronavirus.