Two day trip to Bath - recommendations, please

mandragora_2

Hi there, I'm hoping there may be a Bath expert or two who can help me plan a trip to bath I've booked for my mum and myself in the beginning of April. I've looked on Tripadvisor, but am overwhelmed with information and don't really know where to begin, so I'd really appreciate any pointers from someone who knows the city well and can make a couple of suggestions.

Getting an overview
My mum is in her 70's, but fit. She loves a good old wander around, so I think she'll like that aspect of the city anyway. Is there a walking tour you'd recommend? A bus tour which hits the main points but doesn't last longer than an hour or two (and preferably one which 'Isn't all churches, kings and history!' Her point of view, not mine!)?

Attractions
She has some strong views on paying to get into churches (she won't!). She likes relatively recent history WW2 in particular, as that is her childhood; WW1 due to family interest; Roman history is of some interest, so I'm thinking the baths themselves will be worth a visit, a but I think that a lot of the Georgian/Jane Austen side of it won't excite her.

Shops and food
She likes little back streets with interesting shops and houses; loves a rummage about in a market; will wander for hours around parks, riversides and likes a poke about in an up-market department store or a flea market. She likes simple, good quality cafes and restaurants, though if she can find an M&S to buy a ciabatta and a banana, that's lunch sorted!

Anything else you can suggest would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to book and pay ahead for things which look as if they'll do the job - I just want her to have a good time, as it's a place she's always wanted to go, so these couple of days are her birthday and Christmas treats combined.

Many thanks

marmitepotato

There's a bus tour you can take round Bath which we really enjoyed. Just hop on and pay the driver, you get headphones to plug in which points out places of interest and the tour goes right out of Bath to some gardens ( sorry I've forgotten the name of the gardens), the driver stops and lets you know where to go and the time of the next bus back.

We also visited the Fashion Museum, the Roman Baths and The Pump Room. Bath is a good city to just wander around, the are loads and loads of shops selling blue glass and all the touristy stuff you could ever need. There's also a museum/house on The Crescent ( the tour bus will drop you off if you want to visit it).

We only had two days, we spent on in Bath and one in Bristol. Loved every minute of it.

paddyrg

Bath is a lovely city, and very suitable for older visitors.

The Roman Baths cost about £12 but all the bits they discovered run underground and it's a good historical visit. Price includes audioguides.

The Abbey is right beside the baths, suggested donation is £2, but it's not a charge and you can pay as you choose once inside.

Pulteney Bridge and Great Pulteney Street are pretty, and at either end of GPS is an exhibiting art gallery - The Victoria Gallery near the bridge and the Holborne Art Museum at the other. Both have some interesting and important works.

LOADS of places to eat, so decide when you get here what you fancy.

Not the cheapest city, but anywhere you can walk as a tourist will be lovely and perfectly safe, so no need not to explore. The bus will get you oriented so you can decide what to go back to and what to see on the hop-on-hop-off tour.

Trophy_Wife

The Thermae Bath Spa is lovely if you want to 'take the waters'. It's central (near the shops and quite near the Abbey) and you can take a dip in the warm outdoor pool with a view as well as the indoor ones.

lemontart

defo do the bus tours , there are two. also would advise using the park and ride as parking is very pricy in the city, there is an indoor market with a decent good value cafe inside too

mandragora_2

Thanks for all the suggestions - really appreciated and very useful.

shown73

There is also a Jane Austin museum if you are stuck.