Bath tours and excursions

Bath tours

Bus tours

Bath Bus Company operates the City Sightseeing Tour, a hop-on, hop-off tour that takes in the main sights and attractions of the city, including the sweeping Royal Crescent and the famous Roman Baths. The bus tour lasts 45 minutes, and sightseers can either opt for recorded commentary (available in 10 languages) or a live guide.

Tel: +44 1225 330 444.
Website: http://www.bathbuscompany.com

Walking tours

The Mayor's Guides' free walking tours offer a general historical and architectural introduction to the city. Lasting around two hours, they depart daily from the 'Free walking tours here' board in the Abbey Church yard. MP3 walking tours are available from the Bath Tourist Information Centre or online at Tourist Tracks (www.tourist-tracks.com). Jane Austen Walking Tours start from outside KC Change in the Abbey Churchyard and allow visitors to dress up in Austenian costume and promenade around Bath.

Tel: +44 1225 477 411; +44 1225 443 000.
Website: http://www.bathguides.org.uk

Bath excursions

Cotswolds

Gentle hillsides ('wolds'), cosy cottages and picture-perfect towns with twisted streets built from the local honey-coloured limestone characterise this bucolic paradise. The area stretches out to the northeast of Bath and offers what for many is the quintessentially English rural landscape, with picturesque villages such as Bourton-on-the-Water, Moreton-in-Marsh and Stow-on-the-Wold. If you've got a car, the best way to take it all in is to drive the Romantic Road.

Tel: +44 1242 264 118.
Website: http://www.the-cotswolds.org

Stonehenge

Located only 57km (35 miles) from Bath, off the A344 road in Amesbury, Wiltshire, Stonehenge is undoubtedly the world's most famous megalithic stone monument. Nobody knows for certain what its purpose was: some have suggested that it was a temple made for the worship of ancient earth deities, others have speculated that it was a sacred site for the burial of the dead from the societies of long ago. In any case, it is one of Britain's great national icons, a UNESCO site and well worth a visit.

Tel: +44 370 333 1181.
Website: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge

A digital image at https://illuminoto.com

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Featured Hotels

The Royal Hotel

Housed in a property designed by Brunel, The Royal Hotel has been around since 1846. The present owners took over in 1995 and initiated a refurbishment programme that has transformed the hotel into a modern, attractive and comfortable establishment. The hotel has two bars and a restaurant with steaks as its speciality.

The Queensberry Hotel

The Queensberry is a boutique town house hotel that is both intimate and stylish. Located in a residential street near the Circus, it is an elegant hotel with many of the original Georgian architectural and decorative features intact. The service is superb, and so is the hotel's Olive Tree restaurant, which offers contemporary British cuisine.

The Royal Crescent Hotel

It is hard to beat The Royal Crescent Hotel and Bath House Spa in terms of location, which is situated in the very middle of what is perhaps Europe's most elegant crescent. The hotel occupies two of the Royal Crescent's buildings, both of which were built by John Wood the Younger. The hotel is one of Bath's very best and has beautiful gardens and an excellent restaurant.

The Pulteney Hotel

The Pulteney Hotel is a large, elegant Victorian house set in its own picturesque south-facing gardens, with fine views of Bath Abbey. There are 17 rooms, all with en-suite facilities, colour television, tea- and coffee-making facilities, hairdryer and central heating. All rooms are tastefully decorated.

Lucknam Park

15 minutes' drive outside of Bath, 5-star Lucknam Park has established itself as the destination for those seeking a weekend immersion in luxurious hospitality. Set in a 17th-century Palladian mansion marooned in 202 hectares (500 acres) of listed parkland, the hotel boasts a Michelin-starred restaurant, an equestrian centre, and a cookery school.

Duke’s Hotel

Boutique Duke's, located on Bath's grandest street, somehow manages to make grand Georgian proportions homely as well as chic. Vivid décor, four-poster beds, delicious breakfasts that linger in the memory, and personable hosts that genuinely seem to care – Duke's is the complete package.

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