I had been to Bath before on a guided tour and had already visited the Roman Baths, but I remember feeling like our time in the city was too short. This time, I wanted to come back independently and explore more of Bath at our own pace.
Central Bath is very walkable, and most of the places in this route can easily be reached on foot. You may only want to use a bus if you’re adding places farther out like Prior Park, or if you want to save some walking going toward Royal Crescent.
Transportation
There are several ways to get from London to Bath:
- Train
- Direct: GWR to and from London Paddington, takes 1hour 20mins. This is the best if you can find cheap tickets.
- 1 Change: London Waterloo via Salisbury.
- Journey time: 2hrs 30mins at least
- Check that you have enough time during the change to find the next platform. I saw some that only has 5mins so you may miss the next train if you take that.
- Make sure to use a railcard if you have one.
- Bus: National Express from Victoria Coach Station
- Prices start from around £10
- Journey time is 3hrs++ (make sure not to book the 4hrs+!)
- I actually think we should’ve booked this than taking the train from Waterloo since we were staying near Victoria.
What we booked:
- Outbound: 10:20 AM London Waterloo → Bath Spa
- South Western Railway (SWR) to Salisbury, then GWR to Bath
- Around 24 minutes to change at Salisbury
- Arrived 1:10 PM; around 2 hours 50 minutes total
- Return: 7:43 PM Bath Spa → London Paddington
- Direct GWR
- Arrived 9:08 PM; around 1 hour 25 minutes
We used a Two Together Railcard for the train tickets.
I used Trainline to compare the available journeys, then bought the tickets through the Southern app, which sells tickets for GB rail journeys without a booking fee.
Our Bath Walking Route
1. Pulteney Bridge
We walked from Bath Spa toward Pulteney Bridge first.
What: An 18th-century bridge over the River Avon with shops built across both sides.
When: Designed by Robert Adam and completed in the 1770s.
Why it matters: It was built to connect central Bath with the new Georgian development planned on the other side of the river.
2. Great Pulteney Street
From Pulteney Bridge, we continued through Laura Place onto Great Pulteney Street.
What: One of Bath’s grandest Georgian streets.
When: Completed in 1789.
Why it matters: The wide street and uniform Bath-stone façades are a good example of the Georgian town planning Bath is famous for.
It is also a good period-drama location. The street has been used for productions including Vanity Fair and Seven Dials. The Holburne Museum is directly at the far end, so the route is very straightforward.
3. Jane Austen’s House – 4 Sydney Place
Before going to the Holburne Museum, we stopped at 4 Sydney Place.
What: One of Jane Austen’s actual former homes in Bath.
When: Jane Austen lived here with her family from 1801 to 1805.
Why it matters: Bath appears prominently in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, and this was one of the places where Austen genuinely lived while in the city.
It is a private residence, so there is nothing to enter. Look for the Jane Austen plaque outside the house.
I preferred adding this to our route rather than going out of our way for the Jane Austen Centre because this is an actual Austen residence.
4. Holburne Museum
The Holburne Museum is at the end of Great Pulteney Street. We only looked at the exterior.
What: An art museum housed in a grand building at the entrance to Sydney Gardens.
Why it matters: The building began as the Sydney Hotel, connected with the pleasure gardens where Georgian visitors came to walk and socialise. It is also used as Lady Danbury’s house in Bridgerton.
5. Pulteney Bridge from Below
We then walked back toward the centre along Great Pulteney Street.
This time, instead of only crossing Pulteney Bridge, we went down toward the River Avon to see the bridge and weir from below. This was one of the things I specifically wanted to see because we did not get this view at all during my previous guided tour. Definitely do not leave Pulteney Bridge after only seeing it from the road above.
6. Bath City Centre
From the bridge, we walked into central Bath. Alot of building immediately come to attention as we admire the intricate details on them.
Bath Guildhall
What: Bath’s town hall and centre of local government.
When: The main Guildhall was built between 1775 and 1778 by architect Thomas Baldwin, one of the architects responsible for much of Georgian Bath. The large side wings were added in the 1890s as the city expanded its municipal buildings.
Why it matters: A guildhall has stood around this site since the medieval period. The present building was used not only for city government but also for public events, balls and entertainment during Bath’s fashionable Georgian era.
The part in our photo is one of the later curved wings. Look closely at the façade for the Corinthian columns and sculpted classical figures, which were added during the 19th-century expansion. The Guildhall is Grade I listed, the highest level of protection for historic buildings in England, reserved for buildings considered to be of exceptional architectural or historical importance.
7. The Circus
What: A circular Georgian development made up of three curved rows of townhouses.
When: Construction began in 1754. It was designed by John Wood the Elder and completed by his son after his death.
Why it matters: It is one of Bath’s best-known examples of Georgian architecture. If you look closely at the stone decoration above the columns. There are carvings of acorns, serpents and various symbols rather than just plain stonework.
We considered continuing to Royal Crescent but decided not to. From The Circus, we went back down toward Bath Abbey instead.
8. Bath Abbey
What: The large Gothic church in the centre of Bath.
When: Christian buildings have occupied this area for more than a thousand years. King Edgar was crowned here in 973, while the present Abbey was largely built from the late medieval period onward.
Why it matters: Edgar’s coronation ceremony became an important influence on later English coronation ceremonies. If you look closely at the front façade. There are unusual carvings of angels climbing ladders toward heaven.
9. Bath World Heritage Centre
Admission: Free
What: A small centre explaining the history of Bath and its World Heritage status.
It is free and does not take very long, so it worked well as a quick indoor stop. Once you see this arch it’s right beside it.
10. Bath Street
Next was Bath Street, close to the Roman Baths.
What: A short Georgian street with matching colonnades on both sides.
Why it matters: It is one of the easiest places to see Bath’s Georgian symmetry and has also been used as a filming location for Persuasion.
11. Roman Baths
Only my mum went inside the Roman Baths this time. I had already visited during my previous Bath tour, so I did not feel the need to pay for another ticket.
What: The remains of the Roman bathing and religious complex built around Bath’s natural hot springs.
I booked the Senior ticket for her the day before and she spent around 2 hours inside. The admission ticket already includes an audio guide, so you can explore at your own pace. While she was inside, I wandered around the city centre on my own.
12. Topping & Company Booksellers
While waiting for my mum, I went into Topping & Company Booksellers on York Street. The interior turned out to be worth seeing on its own.
What: An independent bookshop inside a historic former meeting hall.
The building was previously used as a Quaker meeting house and before that as a Masonic Hall.
Outside the bookshop is a sign about Ralph Allen’s Town House.
Ralph Allen was an important figure in Georgian Bath who made his fortune through the postal system and also owned local Bath-stone quarries. I read the sign but did not realise there was actually a place inside the bookshop where you could see the hidden townhouse façade. If you visit, ask the staff where the Ralph Allen Town House viewing point is before leaving.
13. Abbey Green and Sally Lunn’s
After my mum finished the Roman Baths, we walked around the small streets behind Bath Abbey.
Abbey Green is a very photogenic little square with:
- a huge tree in the centre
- cobbled streets
- old Bath-stone buildings
- narrow passages
- cafés and small shops
Sally Lunn’s
What: A historic eating house inside one of Bath’s oldest surviving buildings.
It is famous for the large Sally Lunn bun. We mainly saw the exterior while wandering around Abbey Green.
The Bridgerton Modiste We Missed
We were literally in the correct area and still missed this. This building was used as Madame Delacroix’s Modiste in Bridgerton.
Returning to London
After Abbey Green, we started walking back toward Bath Spa. We bought food to eat on the train back.
Paddington Bear at London Paddington
Our train arrived at London Paddington, so we made one final stop before going home. The bronze Paddington Bear statue is at Platform 1, near the station clock. There’s also Paddington bear painted on the chair near it, which I actually think looks better on photos.
Attraction Prices
Prices during our August 2026 visit:
| Attraction | Price | What We Did |
|---|---|---|
| Roman Baths | £29 Adult / £28 Senior 65+ advance weekday | One person entered |
| Bath World Heritage Centre | Free | Entered |
| Bath Abbey | £9 Adult | Exterior only |
| Holburne Museum | £16.50 Adult | Exterior only |
| Jane Austen Centre | £17 Adult / £15.50 over 60 | Exterior only |
| No. 1 Royal Crescent | £16 Adult / £14.50 concession | Skipped |
| Prior Park Landscape Garden | £12 Adult without Gift Aid | Skipped |
Total Expenses for Two
| Expense | Total |
|---|---|
| London Waterloo → Bath train | £35.10 |
| Bath → London Paddington train | £33.30 |
| Roman Baths – 1 Senior ticket | £28.00 |
| Total | £96.40 |
Our train booking cost £68.40 for two adults using a Two Together Railcard.
The total above excludes food and our London transport to and from the railway stations.
Notes for Future Reference
- Book the train only if there’s a cheap direct ticket for the London Paddington to/from Bath (1 hour 20 minutes). Else, consider the coach.
- As always when booking the train, use a railcard if you have one, and book direct on the company websites instead of marketplace apps when possible to avoid booking fees.
- If I wanted to include No. 1 Royal Crescent next time, consider taking a bus there first, then doing the route in reverse and walking downhill from Royal Crescent → The Circus → Bath city centre. That would be easier than walking uphill from the centre.
- At Topping & Company, ask where to see Ralph Allen’s Town House. I found the information board but missed the actual viewing point.
- At Abbey Green, make sure to check all the sites there.
Prices are as of August 2026 and may change.
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