The Roman Baths – one of the UK’s best-preserved Roman sites
Assembly Rooms
Guided walking tour
No 1 Royal Crescent – an architectural gem
Behind the scenes at the Theatre Royal
Join Jane Tapley, Bath resident, enthusiast and Theatre Royal veteran to explore England’s most architecturally complete city in detail. A series of walks, talks and visits will reveal the city’s history and culture over 2,000 years in an entertaining and informative short break.
Available Departures |
From |
|
26 - July - 2020 | £ 439.00 | Travel Info Book Now |
Provisional Timings |
||
26 - October - 2020 | £ 439.00 | Travel Info Book Now |
Provisional Timings |
Day 1: Arrive independently at the Best Western Leigh Park Country House Hotel from 15.00.
This evening there will be a welcome reception, private dinner with wine and a talk by Jane Tapley – ‘ Bath – A World Heritage City.’
Day 2: Roman Baths, Guided walking tour and the Assembly Rooms
We start our tour appropriately enough, where it all began, at the Roman Baths, one of England’s best-preserved and important Roman sites, that gives a fascinating insight into the refined way of life that the Romans enjoyed. A walking tour of the city centre with Jane follows before visiting the Assembly Rooms and Fashion Museum, which offer a glimpse into the Regency world of the city, when it was at the height of its appeal. The afternoon is free for personal exploration – perhaps visit the (free) Victoria Art Gallery, before returning to the hotel for a second talk from Jane – ‘It’ll Be All Right on the Night – a history of Georgian theatre’ and dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Day 3: No 1 Royal Crescent, Theatre Royal and Holburne Museum
Three of bath’s architectural gems explored today, starting with No. 1 Royal Crescent, one of the most beautiful terraces of houses anywhere in the UK (if not the world). Built in 1773 by acclaimed architect John Wood, the 30 houses form a gentle arc overlooking Royal Victoria Park and are all grade 1 listed and rank amongst the finest examples of Georgian architecture anywhere. It was originally dubbed “The Crescent”, but a series of illustrious visitors prompted the “Royal” prefix. A visit to No. 1 offers a glimpse into the privileged life of 18th century visitors to this fashionable city, with immaculately-restored interiors. The Theatre Royal is one of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture and has been entertaining residents and visitors since 1805. It is said that it is here that the term “box office” was invented with advance tickets only available for the most expensive seats in the boxes. Lunch will be included at a local restaurant/pub. This afternoon, another architectural gem, the Holburne Museum is located in Sydney Pleasure Gardens and was the city's first public art gallery, home to fine and decorative arts built around the collection of Sir William Holburne. More free time for personal exploration before returning to the hotel for approximately 1700.
NB: Exact order of excursions may vary according to local conditions and tour managers' discretion
Please note: Post tour extra nights are available at a supplement.
Please note the maximum group size on this tour is 35 passengers.
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
Best Western Leigh Park Country House Hotel & Vineyard
A small (38-bedroom), traditional three-star hotel, set in extensive grounds on the edge of Bradford-on-Avon, just 5 miles from Bath. Facilities here include a bar, restaurant and comfortable bedrooms with all modern amenities including free wifi. The hotel even has its own vineyard producing an attractive dry white wine, exclusive to the hotel.
Parking: complimentary
Please note that all our UK tours start and finish at the relevant hotel.
You can normally check in from 3pm onwards but hotels will always be happy to store your luggage if you arrive earlier in the day.
For full details of how to get to the hotel, directions and the nearest train station, please click on the hotel website or call our office for details. These will also be sent automatically with your confirmation.
The welcome reception and first evening dinner / talk will commence at about 7pm - full details will be sent with your joining instructions about 10 days prior to the arrival date.
how about an industrial heritage trip to the west riding of Yorkshire.
Review by Dyson who travelled 21-October-2019
Review by Anonymous who travelled 28-July-2019
An enjoyable visit. The hotel and the staff were pleasant and the latter very helpful. The visits to Bath were varied and interesting and the group we were with very pleasant. Apart from the traffic to and from our home all went well.
Review by Anonymous who travelled 28-July-2019
This questionnaire is not quite right. We travelled independently - not by flight/train/ferry. We were not passengers who travelled and there were 34 of us, I think. It was a very good holiday in a wonderfujl city. Our guide was excellent.
Review by Price who travelled 28-July-2019
Reviewing afterwards what we saw on the tours, leads me to conclude I wish I had done more homework in advance, or that the company had suggested sources of information to study beforehand.
Review by Harland who travelled 28-July-2019
Review by Anonymous who travelled 28-July-2019
Most enjoyable. Visit to the theatre the icing on the cake
Review by Anonymous who travelled 28-July-2019
An excellent trip overall. The private visit to the Theatre Royal was a real treat!
Review by Crowther who travelled 28-July-2019
Our tour guide Jane was excellent; with extremely interesting talks. The hotel, though a beautiful building , lovely gardens and well situated, was a little disappointing regarding the comforts and food . On the whole the staff ( with a couple of exceptions) were friendly and helpful. But all the members of my little party enjoyed the visit to see and admire the wonders of Bath.
Review by Anonymous who travelled 28-July-2019
It was a very interesting tour, with the number of unique sites to see-both days were well balanced and it was well planned to give us a whole afternoon in Bath to explore what we wished to see. We felt there was not enough time in the Roman Baths. We would have liked 1 1/2 hours to enjoy the exhibition and then spend time near the water. Our tour at Number one grand Terrace was much too short. We were kept waiting for half an hour which meant we only had half an hour to enjoy the house. We were a large group and they could not allow us to go around the house together, but did not seem organised in filtering the groups through. The hotel is good and the staff were very helpful, attentive and friendly. We did not have soap or shower gel in rooms-I would expect one or the other for hand washing at least. The evening meal was disappointing, in quality rather than quantity. Particularly in cooking of meat which was tough and overdone. I have sent my comments to the hotel via the Best Western site.. I know this is one of your new tours so I thought you would want some constructive feedback.
Review by Edwards who travelled 28-July-2019