Bath’s hot springs, golden Georgian architecture and beautiful Cotswolds backdrop have been drawing in the crowds for centuries. A vibrant culture and new developments that tastefully complement the city’s historic background promise to make Bath an even greater international tourist destination in the years ahead.
UNESCO World Heritage
Surrounded by parkland and rolling hills, situated on a bend of the River Avon and graced by some of the most beautiful architecture in Europe, Bath has the unique distinction of being Britain’s only city with UNESCO World Heritage site status. It is also the site of Britain’s only hot springs, around which the Romans built a magnificent temple and bathing complex that gave the city its name and still flows with natural hot water. Bath has some of Britain’s finest Georgian architecture, and around 5,000 buildings are listed for their architectural merit. The Royal Crescent, the Circus, the Pump Room, the Assembly Rooms and the Pulteney Bridge are all must-see Georgian masterpieces.
Modern Bath
The city is far more than museums and old buildings. It has a lively cultural scene with several festivals, and all kinds of shows, concerts and exhibitions fill up the events calendar. Being a university town, it also has a vibrant nightlife, and the dining scene equals that of almost any other British city. After a long period of gestation and many delays, the city’s long-awaited new bath and spa facilities, which use natural thermal water from the same springs that gave rise to the Roman baths nearly two millennia ago, opened in August 2006. This modern therapeutic spa complex has made the city’s thermal waters available to its residents and visitors for the first time in 28 years, bringing the modern city back in touch with its historical origins.
The Cotswolds
Adding to the attractiveness of Bath is its lovely surrounding countryside and the Cotswolds area with its gentle hillsides and pretty towns and villages, and the ubiquitous local golden sandstone (found in the most stately city building and the tiniest cottage) is a visual reflection of the city’s links with its environs.