Bath’s UNESCO World Heritage Site status covers the entire city – a very rare honour that reflects Bath having a number of distinct special features. The first – and the reason why Bath exists – is the city’s unusually hot springs. By wallowing in the thermal waters at Thermae Bath Spa, you will be following the habits of visitors over the past two thousand years. Second notable attribute is the very substantial remains of the Roman Baths, which, along with its associated temple complex, form one of the most important Roman sites in the country.
For more reasons for Bath’s World Heritage status, fast forward to the 1700s, when Bath blossomed into an elegant resort, with harmonious Georgian terraces, squares and groundbreaking crescents built out of the soft-hued local Bath Stone. This urban landscape provides the perfect backdrop for scenic wanders, and you can visit places such as the Assembly Rooms and Pump Room, just as Jane Austen did when she lived in Bath in the early 1800s. Not surprisingly, the city is often used as a scenic backdrop for period costume dramas. Lots of the Netflix Regency romp Bridgerton was filmed in Bath – including for upcoming Season 3, to be released in early summer 2024.
The city’s beautiful setting, in a bowl surrounded by seven green hills, is a further attribute that UNESCO highlights. Bath is wonderfully compact: you can walk out from the centre into lovely countryside within 10 or 15 minutes.
Bath’s heritage was given a further big boost in summer 2021 when it was awarded a second World Heritage Site listing as part of The Great Spa Towns of Europe, a “transnational” inscription covering 11 historic spa towns in seven countries.
In terms of major news for 2024, the Cleveland Pools, Britain’s oldest lido, is due to open fully, with heated water in the summer months. Beckford’s Tower, a fascinating neo-classical folly on a hill just north of the city, is reopening after a top-to-toe renovation. Also reopening is The Museum of Bath Architecture, which provides a depth of understanding to the Georgian buildings and streets.
If all this is not reason enough to come, be drawn by the city’s other digestible galleries and museums, the excellent shopping – Bath has done better at retaining independent shops than most city centres – and the wide choice of individual cafés, cosy pubs, sophisticated cocktail bars and gourmet restaurants.
Source link : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/somerset/bath/articles/bath-travel-guide/
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Publish date : 2024-03-27 03:00:00
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