Bath – One of Europe’s best
The Sunday Times Travel Magazine Reader Awards recently voted Bath as the 6th ‘Best European City’; the Royal Crescent Hotel as the ‘Best UK Hotel’; and Thermae Bath Spa as the ‘Best UK Spa’. These awards follow Bath’s success in a recent TripAdvisor survey where the city appeared at 4th place in the ‘Top 25 Europe Destinations’ and 14th in the 'Top 100 World Destinations' categories. And it’s easy to see why Bath has been so successful; with its sweeping honey-coloured Georgian crescents, intriguing history, top attractions and a unique spa culture, all set in the rolling hills of the picturesque Somerset countryside, Bath is a very special place.
Situated in the centre of one of Europe's finest 18th Century architectural masterpieces, The Royal Crescent, a 5 star Relais & Chateaux hotel, won the title of ‘Best UK Hotel’ in the Sunday Times Awards and was described by one reader as “Not so much a hotel, more like spending the weekend with Mr Darcy”. The hotel has 45 luxurious, individually designed bedrooms as well as a spa and an award winning restaurant.
In addition, Bath and the surrounding area offers an excellent range of high quality accommodation from 5 star spa hotels such as the Macdonald Bath Spa to luxurious hotels with fine dining and Michelin starred restaurants including the Bath Priory and Lucknam Park in nearby Colerne. The city also boasts beautiful boutique townhouses, quality B&Bs and comfortable self catering apartments and houses.
Bath also has plenty to offer visitors as well as its excellent accommodation, with iconic architecture such as The Circus and Pulteney Bridge - one of the only bridges in the world with shops built into it - a huge variety of restaurants serving food from around the globe, an impressive selection of boutique and independent shops - including Milsom Place housing 26 exclusive shops and four restaurants currently being re-developed - and top attractions including the American Museum, The Jane Austen Centre and the Fashion Museum, to name a few.
Bath is famous for its natural thermal springs and the city’s spa history can be explored at the Roman Baths, one of the UK’s top visitor attractions, where you can walk where Romans walked on ancient stone paths, see Roman drains still in action today and explore the original baths that attracted people to the city from far and wide. And now it’s possible to experience the waters yourself at the Thermae Bath Spa which opened in August 2006 and has since welcomed over 250,000 visitors.
Thermae also appeared in the Sunday Times Travel Awards and beat many other spas to the top spot of ‘Best UK Spa’. It offers the unique experience of bathing in the only natural thermal waters in the country and includes the Minerva pool, a spectacular roof top pool with beautiful views over the city and four aromatic steam rooms. Treatments such as hot stone therapy, dry flotation and watsu are also available.
Bath is a popular destination and has been successful in attracting visitors for over 2000 years. The official tourism website - visitbath.co.uk gives all the information needed to arrange a trip to Bath.
