Tourism in Bath

Bath’s principal industry is tourism and it is the most visited city outside of London for tourists travelling to the UK, whose visits mainly fall into the categories of heritage and cultural tourism. The history of Bath, stretching back to pre-ancient times, is a large part of the reason for its popularity – more importantly, however, is the architectural manifestation of this history. All significant stages of the history of England are identifiable as physically present within the city—from the Roman Baths (including their significant Celtic presence), to the Bath Abbey, to the Royal Crescent. Similarly, the cohesion of all of these historical stages and archtictural styles through the medium of the unique Bath stone, renders the city aesthetically beautiful.

Bath is notable for the fact that it has been a city based upon tourism since the 18th century (with brief decline during the 19th century)—the input of money by tourists, and the mere fact they were visiting, allowed the building of many architectural projects. This was historically expressed in projects such as the Royal Crescent, but has recently encouraged projects such as Thermae Bath Spa.

The true size of this industry is reflected in the almost 300 places of accommodation—including over 80 hotels, and over 180 Bed and Breakfasts—many of which are located in Georgian buildings and have five-star ratings. Some of the most famous include The Royal Crescent Hotel which may be found, as guessed, in the Royal Crescent. The city also contains approximately 100 restaurants, and a similar number of public houses and bars. Several companies offer open-top bus tours around the city (despised by many locals for the pollution they cause), as well as tours on foot and on the river.

The tourist season is located during the summer—though there is a year-round presence of tourists—both national and international. Though many come for general reasons—some are attracted to particular aspects such as Jane Austen, or the Roman Baths

Places of interest in Bath
Roman Baths
Bath Abbey
Lansdown Crescent
The Royal Crescent
The Circus (Bath)
Great Pulteney Street
Pulteney Bridge
American Museum
Prior Park
Thermae Bath Spa
Solsbury Hill
Kennet and Avon Canal
River Avon
St. Catherine’s Court
William Herschel Museum
Beckford’s Tower
Claverton Pumping Station
Bath Postal Museum

The recent remake of the film Vanity Fair was shot in Great Pulteney Street, and in August 2003 the Three Tenors sang at a special concert to mark the opening of the Thermae Bath Spa, a new hot water spring spa, in Bath City Centre; however as of this writing (June 2004) the spa itself is not yet open.

The city has several public parks – the main one being Royal Victoria Park in the centre of the city. Several events are held in the park every year including the International Music Festival and a one-off Three Tenors concert in 2003, and is a favoured site for hot air balloon companies to take off. It was opened in 1830 and has an area of 20 hectares5. The park features a botanical garden, large childrens play park and sports facilities including crazy golf and lawn tennis. It mostly consists of acres of lawn, one of which is overlooked by the Royal Crescent. Other parks in Bath include Alexandra Park, which crowns a hill and overlooks the city; Sydney Gardens, another small park in the centre which was developed for pleasure in the 18th century; Henrietta Park, Hedgemead Park and Alice Park. Jane Austen said that ‘it would be pleasant to be near the Sydney Gardens. We could go into the Labyrinth everyday.’ Alexandra, Alice and Henrietta parks were built into the growing city among the housing developments6.