Why Bath?



Well, for a starter it's one of England's most beautiful cities. In fact, it is also one of the country's oldest tourist destinations. Nearly 2000 years ago the Romans were drawn to this area by the hot natural springs. Aquae Sulis, as the Romans called Bath, soon became a prosperous Roman Spa town, attracting visitors from all over the colony and beyond.

Since Roman times, Bath has grown and developed considerably, becoming a magnet for the wealthy, who during the 18th Century practically rebuilt the city, embellishing it with elegant neoclassical architecture, inspired by Greece, Rome and Florence. No trip would be complete without visiting the Circus, built by John Wood the Elder in the 1750s, Holburn Museum, built-in 1796, and the Pump Room, again from the same year, to name just a few.

The city has been called England's Florence, and indeed Pultney Bridge over the River Avon was inspired by the Ponte Vecchio spanning the river Arno in Florence.

Pultney Bridge

The Circus

Holburne Museum

                                                           The Pump Room

There is much to see here and numerous museums to visit (13) The city is also associated with many famous people who over the years have made it their home: the famous Georgian architect Beau Nash (1674-1762), who designed many of Bath's most prominent buildings, the explorer David Livingstone, Empire builder Clive of India, the artist Thomas Gainsborough, and perhaps the city's most famous daughter: the novelist Jane Austen, to whom a museum is dedicated in Gay Street.

The Museums and their links:

1) Fashion Museum

2) Beckford's Tower

3) Museum of Bath at Work

4) Museum of Bath Architecture

5) Victoria Art Gallery

6) Holburne Museum

7) American Museum in Britain

8) Bath Postal Museum

9) Roman Baths

10) Herschel Museum of Astronomy

12) No. 1 Royal Crescent

13) Museum of East Asian Art

14) Jane Austen Centre