Top 5 Family Friendly Things to do in Historic Bath, England

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(This trip was hosted by Visit Bath where we were given complimentary entry to various tours and museums in Bath to facilitate this post. The views and opinions expressed are entirely my own. Read my full disclosure here.)

Are you planning a Family Visit to Bath, England?

Being a fan of classic literature I long ago fell in love with England. I have dreamed of visiting and walking down the roads that my favorite writers and their beloved characters once strolled down. I have especially wanted to visit historic Bath (probably due to my love of Jane Austen). Recently my dreams came true and during our recent European Family adventure we were able to visit southern England and even spend 3 ½ days in Historic Bath! Eeek! Can I say it was Amazing?!? My husband and I agree it was one of our favorite destinations.  

Having never visited Bath before I had no ideas where to even start with our visit. Thankfully VisitBath was able to help with great suggestions, maps and even fun pamphlets showing all the great things Bath has to offer tourists. I seriously had no idea of all that's packed in the small city. I mean you can walk from one side to the other in less than an hour. If you are lucky enough to be able to visit Historic Bath this year as a family,  here are my top 5 suggestions for things to do and places to see with your kids:

Take advantage of the Tours

Armed with a Map of Bath as well as pamphlets for the places that looked the most interesting for our family we took the advice of the lady I spoke to at the Visit Bath Tourist Information Center and decided to start our exploration of Bath by taking the Bath Sightseeing hop on, hop off bus tour. as we got on board we were each given our own set of earbuds to plug in and listen to the tour info on bath as we drove. My youngest two opted to not do this which is totally fine. My oldest (who is 7), my husband and I all enjoyed listening as we drove. This tour gave us a good idea of where everything of note in Bath was as well as giving us fun info about this awesome city! The tour was about an hour long with 38 different stops where you could get off and then rejoin another bus (your ticket is good for 24 hours and buses leave at regular intervals. I think every 15 minutes or something like that) when done exploring.

On our second day, we decided it would be fun to take a boat tour up the river. We check out the times for the Pulteney Cruisers River tours and decided we wanted to go on the last trip up the river after exploring more. The kids were all excited to be going on a river boat tour. I loved the view from the river as we took the leisurely river tour. Really it was the perfect activity to break up our exploring giving our tired legs a break from all the walking. One of my kids took the opportunity to take a nap part way through. I like how they have seating up above (which gives the best views) but also in the cabin which has booths with a table near large windows. I ended up having to take two of my kids down below part way through the trip because they got cold and I am glad that they got to warm up and I didn't have to miss out on the view.

Visit Bath Spa and Bath Abby

You can't visit Bath and not go see the Ancient Roman Bath Spa and the majestic Bath Abbey. Originally built by the Romans to take advantage of the natural hot springs and high concentration of Minerals found in those hot springs. Bath Spa for centuries been a place to go for healing and recreation. You can easily see why Bath Spa is considered one of the greatest spas of the Ancient world. Did you know that 1,170,000 litres of steaming spring water reaching 46 °C still fill the bathing site every single day?

Our family loved going through this ancient spa and visualizing how it once looked. I loved the projections in each room that showed how that room was used by the Romans back in their day. Though in one room my 5-year-old son was slightly scandalized because as he puts it, " Mom there are naked women!" lol it was tastefully done but yes one of the projections showed people swimming in the bath waters and slowly rising out of the water and of course, they weren't wearing anything. Needless to say, I moved my kids promptly to the next room so my son would stop his scandalized exclamations.

After visiting the Bath Spa we went to explore the Bath Abbey that majestically rises above the city.  We oohed and awed over the arched ceiling, stained glass windows, many murals and overall beauty of this beautiful Abbey.

It was incredible to explore the Abby where the first Kind of England (King Edgar in 973) was crowned.  I loved the history, architecture, and beauty of what is said to be the last great medieval cathedral that was built in England. They even had a fun scavenger hunt for the kids to fill out as we explored.

Visit the various Bath Museums

Did you know there are a lot of Awesome Museums and Historic centers sprinkled throughout Bath? The Visit Bath Tourist Information Center you can get pamphlets for each of them to see which interest you and where to find them. There are over 14 museums and historic centers in Bath. We weren't able to visit them all in our 2 ½ days there but we made it to many. Of all the Museums and Historic centers in Bath, our three favorites were The Jane Austen Center, the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, and Sally Lunns House.

I was most interested in The Jane Austen Center. After all, she is one of my favorite Authors. My husband being the great sport that he is suggested that this be the first one we visit. My kids are sadly lacking in their knowledge of Jane Austen (after all my oldest is only 7) but they all enjoyed learning all about Jane, her life, and books as we went through the Center. My son's favorite part was when he got to sample Bath biscuits, and my daughter's favorite part was getting to try to write with a Quill pen. I loved dressing up with my daughter in period clothes for a picture together.

Our next favorite Museum was the William Herschel Museum of Astronomy which was in his actual home. We all loved exploring his home and laboratory and seeing some of his instruments (musical and Science). My daughter is mad about all things Science and Space so when she heard there was an astronomy museum in Bath she begged to go. We all loved learning about how though Herschel was a musician by trade he had a passion for science. It was fascinating to learn about how he created his own telescope and charted the stars with the help of his sister.

I think the reason my kids loved visiting the historic home of Sally Lunn is that we bought one of her famous Rolls that are still made there. I have to say it was delicious! This museum is under a restaurant and is small but it is fun to see the recreation of where Sally Lund created her famous rolls.

Enjoy the Local Foods

While Bath does feature major chain fast food places (like McDonnalds, Burger King, Dominoes, Subway, and KFC) I highly recommend trying out some of the local restaurants and shops. There are many yummy Restaurants like the Sally Lunn Restaurant (above the museum at the Sally Lunn House) and the Pump Room at the Famous Bath Spa. There are also a ton of small local eateries.  Our family particularly liked the meat Pasties at the Cornish Bakehouse that was around the corner from the SACO Apartments were we stayed while visiting Bath (read about our experience at the Saco Apartments).

The Royal Victoria Park

As we made our way into Bath our children couldn't help but notice an EPIC children's Playground which they begged us to take them to play at. We discovered that this Playground (which included several different playgrounds all in a safe enclosure) was actually a part of the Royal Victoria Park. In addition to this playground the park also included gorgeous landscaped grounds and even a miniature gold course.

Though there were multiple gorgeous parks throughout Bath we remembered our promise to our kids and on our last day in Bath we took our kids for hours of fun at the Royal Victoria Park. We went to both the playground followed by a walk through the park and grounds. We honestly could have spent several more house exploring this park (I think it would be fun to have a picnic there as a family.

All in all, we LOVED our visit to Historic Bath, England. We all agreed that we want to go back and next time spend more time there. It is such a lovely city with the old buildings melding with the new (due to 90% of the buildings being made with the same Bath stone.) If you are going for a longer stay you can also check out some of the nearby attractions in Wiltshire just miles away here.

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