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Bath is the perfect base to explore the West Country.
Travelling to and around Bath
Bath is the perfect base to explore the West Country. Bath is less than a 2 hour train trip direct from London and can save you lots of time and money by joining a tour from Bath rather than London. Located in the South West of England, Bath is easy to get to – only 90 minutes from London Paddington by train and a short drive from the M4/M5 motorways. Bath is 120 miles west of London and just 20 miles from Bristol Airport.
The train station is in the heart of the city centre and there are plenty of car parking spaces available. Bath is a compact city making it easy to walk around during your visit.
Download the Visit Bath Bath Travel Guide to help you plan your travelling to Bath
Bath. Royal Crescent.
Travelling by Train
There are regular train services direct from London Paddington and London Waterloo to Bath Spa, with an average journey time of around 90 minutes.
Bristol Temple Meads is just 15 minutes away by train. It is a major hub for travel to all other parts of the country. A number of services to Bath Spa will change at Bristol Temple Meads including services from northern England, Scotland, Devon and Cornwall.
You can get direct trains to Bath Spa from a number of destinations in the UK including Cardiff. Regular train services run from Cardiff Central train station to Bath Spa, with an average journey time of around 65 minutes.
Travel discounts are also available for groups with First Great Western’s GroupSave offer, allowing groups of three or four adults and children to travel off-peak for the price of two adults. Also, if you travel to Bath by train you can take advantage of First Great Western’s 2 for 1 offers at top Bath attractions and restaurants.
If you are staying in Bath for a few days you can easily take a day trip by train to a number of nearby destinations including Bradford on Avon and Bristol
Sightseeing Tours out of Bath
The small group touring experts (Welcome2Britain) offer half and full day tours from Bath include The Cotswold’s, Stonehenge, King Arthur Country, Avebury, Lacock, Castle Combe, Salisburt Cathedral, ancient stone circles / burial mounds and even mysterious crop circles in the summer months. We have a range of tours to the surrounding area, rich in history.
Private Guided Tours from Bath
You can join one of our organised tours or let us help you organise a private guided tour from Bath. A tailor-made tour from Bath is the ideal travel solution for small groups of friends, families, local groups or clubs looking to travel in the West Country. Our dedicated charter team are able to organise every aspect of your private tour, from your hotel accommodation to pre-booking delicious meals in local restaurants, offering local advise and organising entrances to important places of interest. We can tailor the tour to your specific budget
Accommodation in Bath
Bath is host to a whole range of accommodation from your traditional bed and breakfasts where you should be able to find a bed with breakfast included for 60 GBP per person per night, to the luxurious hotels which can charge up to 200 GBP a night. A good option in Bath is one of the smaller, often family run, bed and breakfast or guest house hotels.
Enjoy your stay in Bath and we hope to see you on board one of our award winning tours
Travel Team
www,Wecome2Britain.com
The Small Group Tour Experts
Happy 200th birthday, Pride and Prejudice
It’s 200 years this month since literary classic Pride and Prejudice was published. To celebrate, here’s a roundup of the top five most beautiful Jane Austen settings
Bath. Royal Crescent
A little about Austen
Jane Austen grew up in the beautiful village of Steventon, Hampshire, from 1775-1800. It was in this delightful chocolate box village that Jane Austen wrote three of her most famous novels: Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility.
In the summer of 1783, when Jane was 12 years old, she was sent to Oxford to be taught with her sister Cassandra; later they studied in Southampton before their schooling was curtailed due to constraints on the family finances. Jane returned to the family home at Steventon Rectory in 1787, where she remained for adolescence and discovered her passion for writing. Jane moved with her family to Bath at the age of 26, where they lived for five years (1801-1806) in a beautiful town house. It was through friends that she met Harris Bigg-Wither, an intellectual educated in Oxford, who proposed to her but whom she eventually turned down.
Austen Adventure
Bath
Bath is a beautiful and historical city holding a romantic and captivating charm. Bath is designated as one of only three ‘world heritage cities’ in England. Jane Austen is Bath’s most famous resident. The city plays host to a delightful museum in memory of Jane herself, with exhibitions and a delightful regency tearoom to enhance your Jane Austen experience! There is also the change to go on a walking tour of the city and explore them through the eyes of Jane Austen. Bath holds a yearly Jane Austen Festival spanning over 9 days. This year the festival lasts from 13th to 21st September 2013.
Stourhead Gardens
Stourhead is already renowned for its beautiful landscaped gardens, heightened when it featured as a setting for the recent film Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett. Elizabeth stands in the Apollo Temple, a romantic setting in Stourhead (where many people are married nowadays) rejects Mr. Darcy and she runs along the famous Palladian bridge across the lake. Taking a walk round Stourhead is just like stepping into a beautiful Jane Austen novel. The gardens were designed to look beautiful all year round, showing off the colours of spring, summer autumn and winter. This makes them a perfect visiting place anytime of year.
Lacock
Set in rural Wiltshire, Lacock is an untouched treasure dating back to the 12th century. The picturesque village is delightful to walk around, with surrounding countryside on the doorstep and plenty of regular events, there will always be something to do. The streets of Lacock were the background to a scene in the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Lacock for a short while was turned into the village of Meryton, featured in Pride and Prejudice. Don’t miss the beautiful Abbey while you’re there, a filming location for the Harry Potter films, and also home to the late William Henry Fox Talbot – a contributor to the invention of photography.
Hampshire
The county of Austen’s birth and the place where she is buried, Hampshire gave Austen inspiration for some of her best novels. Hampshire offers museums, homes and the church Austen spent most of her time in. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral, where she has three memorials. She wrote many of her most famous novels here, gathering inspiration from many of the friends and places in the area she grew to love. After a visit to Hampshire you might start to notice how aspects of her books are based on this beautiful county.
London
Jane Austen visited London many times during her lifetime. The most important visits were during her late 30s. Austen was becoming a celebrated author and had to visit her publishers and correct proofs of her work
Conveniently she stayed with her brother Henry, who also helped her in the negotiations to sell her books. On a visit to London searching for Austen – stop by 10 Henrietta Street, only 100 yards from the market at Covent Garden. Jane Austen stayed here (her brothers house) twice between 1814-1815 and there is a clear plaque upon the wall so you can’t miss it.
Words by Lucy Blackall: http://www.countryfile.com
We operate daily ‘small group’ tours visiting Bath and Lacock Village.
Jane Austin Tours: http://www.welcome2britain.com/uk_day_tours.htm
Welcome2Britain: The Small Group Tour Experts
Welcome2Britain 