Bath's beauties

Although I live in Bath I very rarely enjoy the tourist attractions that visitor's to the city do.

Thermae Bath Spa
Last weekend however I decided to explore a bit further. First stop was the Thermae Bath Spa which opened Winter 2006 after years of bad publicity and severe budget-blowing.

It was truly indulgent and I would recommend it to everyone. The design is beautiful, fragrances are heavenly and the atmosphere is soothing.

You can enjoy the spa for as little as £19 (with a discount for Bath residents), which will get you a two-hour spa session and allow you to use the steam rooms, lower floor pool and roof-top pool, which is indeed delightful.

If you had more to shell out more you could have any number of glorious treatments or longer spa sessions which would allow you to justify hanging out in the healthy-minded cafe in your dressing gown.

Dyrham Park
Next stop was Dyrham Park, a National Trust estate located just a few miles out of the city.

During our first few minutes there I was starting to wonder why we had bothered. We'd been asked by a grumpy old woman to cough up £7.60 and then been thrown daggers by said woman when I tried to pay with a card. Oh my god. Scandal.

We were then almost beaten up by another employee raming National Trust membership down our throats before finding ourselves sat on a bus behind a little girl who was starring at nothing but us (why do kids do that?).

It got better though as the bus wound down a valley of marshmallow-like mounds, past grazing deer, and towards the great house.

The 17th Century house is situated in elegant grounds and was the set for The Remains of the Day (1993). Although the grounds were indeed enjoyable I'm not sure they were worth the admission price. May be if that price had included entry to the house, but no such luck.

If you intend to spend a day picnicing and playing outside then it is indeed worth coughing up the admission fee. If you're more interested in just having an afternoon stroll then just park up at the near-by Dyrham tea rooms, and walk from there, or just head on into the Cotswolds, to which Bath is the gateway.

And beware the National Trust staff.

If you have any questions about these attractions post here or email me direct at laura.barnhouse@gmail.com.

Bath Spa photo by evilnick
Dyrham Park photo by Olly Boyo