As most of our readers surely know, United Kingdom in not the sunniest place on the planet. Amount and frequency of rainfall differs greatly between areas, ranging from an unimpressive 580mm of average annual precipitation in London (with a little over 100 rainy days per year on average) to 3500mm (and more than 220 wet days) in a small village in Lake District. To put that in context, Rome gets on average 800mm of rainfall per year, for New York it’s over 1100mm, Paris is 640mm, Berlin - 590mm, and finally, Barcelona - 640mm. Sure, European cities with lower annual rainfall than London do exist, take Madrid (436mm) or Athens (365mm!) as examples, but, on the whole, the numbers don’t exactly fit the rainy reputation most of us hold of London.

Is it a stereotype then? Probably. The truth, however, lies somewhere in the middle. Thing is, rain in London, and more generally, in the whole of UK, is almost always very weak. Rarely anything more than a drizzle, really. What this means in practice is that it takes a lot of rain-hours to fill the yearly 580mm. Especially between October and March, there aren’t many days without rain. However, it’s also rare that it would pour all day. Typically, it’s a mixture of overcast, rain and sporadical sunny periods, and switching between these states may occur multiple times on a given day. Forget a cold and crisp winter day, snow blanket covering the ground, sun shining low on the horizon. Instead, bring a raincoat and wellies and brace for a gloomy, cloudy day. Having said that, summers are usually quite dry and the temperatures very pleasant (at least in London).

Alright, this post was supposed be about Bath, so why do we begin with this ‘Climate of Britian 101’? Well, we are attempting to give you an idea of what a rarity it is to get a winter weekend full of sunshine, barely a cloud in the sky for two consecutive days. And that’s exactly what happened on 18th and 19th of January in the year of 2020 AD. We took it as a sign from the universe - time for the first trip of 2020. Why Bath? Well, it’s not too far from Windsor (2h drive), it’s UNESCO listed, it’s got the Roman Baths and a few architectural landmarks. And, it was sunny.

A brief history of Bath

The earliest evidence of human presence in and around Bath dates to Mesolithic period (roughly 10000 years ago). It is thought that the main hot spring (more about that later) had been discovered a while before the arrival of the Romans, and treated as a shrine by the Britons. It was only after the Roman conquest, however, that the site gained in significance. To celebrate the presence of miraculous hot springs, Romans built a temple, resulting in an influx of people and a development of a small settlement. Called Aquae Sulis back then, with the erection of thermae (Greek for large imperial bath complex) it soon became a spa town, where rich Romans would come to bath in 40+°C water.

The science behind Geothermal springs

Anyway, enough about the ancient history. It’s time to address the elephant in the room - how come 45°C water comes out of the ground in this random spot in Britian? And no, it has nothing to do with volcanic activity (In fact, there’s no active volcanoes anywhere in the UK). So how is the water heated up, you may ask. Well, it turns out that the deeper underground you go, the warmer the rocks get. This intuitively makes sense, given that the Earth’s centre is about 6000°C, but the pace of change might be surprising. Let’s see, Earth’s radius is 6371km, so we could expect an increase of 1°C/km, right? Now, how deep underground can water travel? 5km? 10? Earth’s crust is about 20km deep, so that should be an upper bound. It turns out that the geothermal gradient - a fancy name for the rate of temperature increase with depth on Earth - is about 25-30°C/km. As we know from high school physics, heat is a form of energy, so where does this energy come from? One source is radioactive material stored inside the Earth, which releases constant stream of energy. Another is pressure from the rock above (with respect to gravitational force) - the deeper you go, the more of the earth is on top of you, and that pressure converts to energy.

So the basic mechanism is this - water falls as rain on the neighbouring hills, seeps slowly 3-4km underground through a sort of sponge-like rock, absorbs energy as it comes in contact with warm rock and then, once it finds a fissure or a fault leading back towards Earth’s surface, rapidly shoots upwards, driven by pressure, to finally emerge above the ground. It’s a slow process - based on its chemical content, scientists have established that the water coming out of the ground today has fallen thousands of years ago. Any geologists out there, feel free to point out any inaccuracies in the above description. But that’s roughly how it works.

The Roman Baths

If you do decide to go to Bath, one of the decisions you’ll surely have to make will be whether to spend upwards of £15 (and ~2h of your time) to enter the Roman Baths? Chances are, you’re reading this post just to get our opinion on that matter. So here it is: Unless you’re on a very tight budget or have very little time in Bath, you should.

First of all, the baths are very well-preserved - not just a bunch of ruins, as is often the case when it comes to Roman remains. Of course, not everything you’ll see is original; in fact, everything above the level of bases of pillars surrounding the Great Bath (the main pool, seen in the background below) is a reconstruction. But, along with an audioguide, a small museum and an optional free tour (starts every hour, on the hour, from the Great Bath), it gives you an good insight into Romans’ life, their customs and traditions.

Audioguide included in the price

There are plenty of rooms to visit

Now for the practicalities. Upon entry, you’ll be offered an audioguide and then you’ll set off on a tour. You will be following a route which starts on a terrace above the Great Bath, then goes inside into the museum, leads through some ruins (including carved stones from a pediment of a temple to the goddess Sulis Minerva) and finally emerges by the Great Bath, from where you can visit chambers of various dedication, ranging from changing rooms, through massaging rooms, all the way to a waxing room. Towards the end, we recommend trying some mineral-rich (and safe to drink) water before exiting the complex. Now, given this one way structure of the baths, it’s important to manage your time well. We advise not to spend too long in the museum and try to get to the Great Bath within an hour, if not quicker, and explore this most interesting part of the complex.

That’s how underfloor heating worked in Roman times

What surprised us most is a certain sophistication in some aspects of the Roman society - fancy tools for maintaining personal hygiene, compulsory waxing of one’s whole body before immersing in the baths or underfloor heating (a hypocaust). In the museum, look out for curse tablets, a collection of Denari coins, a carving of “Gorgon” head in stone and a bronze head of Sulis Minerva. In the rooms surrounding the Great Bath, see if you can find… fried eggs.

Remember to stay until sunset!

The Roman Baths in the night brings you a different mood; a beautiful filter appears as the lights illuminate at the mercy of the reflection of water. Also, the crowds start to disappear and you get to enjoy the beautiful architecture in a more quiet environment. If you can, schedule your visit to start shortly before dusk, so it ends in style! And buy your tickets online to avoid queuing.

Plus, you get a beautiful view of the cathedral

No swimming at the Roman Baths

Before you set your hopes too high, we must warn you - there’s no swimming in the Roman Baths - the water contains harmful bacteria. However, it wasn’t always that way. Bathing was allowed up until October 1978, when a young girl died of meningitis following immersion in the main pool.

The water is literally steaming

Today, bathing enthusiasts head to Thermae Bath Spa, a fancy spa complex that re-opened in 2006 after a major refurbishment. It will cost you an arm and a leg, but then, it’s the only natural hot spring in Britain. And the rooftop pool with views over the city looked delightful (We didn’t go).

Take the Mayor tour to discover much more than just the Roman Baths

Roman Baths is by far the most popular attraction of the city, but what else can you do? One idea is a free walking tour. And it’s actually free - not the kind of ’leave a £10 tip at the end’ free, but free free. It’s run by local volunteers and they literally won’t accept your money. They have a big knowledge of the city and its history, and can share that knowledge in an engaging way. Our recommendation: do it as the first thing of the day, to inform your future exploration and motivate you to an early start. And make sure you get the right tour to avoid disappointment; googling ‘Mayor guides’ should do the trick.

The tour will take you for a short walk around Bath, featuring all its main architectural attractions.

The Circus

The Circus

Our personal favourite, designed by a prominent Bath architect John Wood, the Elder in mid-18th century, The Circus is a set of three, almost identical, arc-shaped buildings, with a lawn and some very old trees in the middle. Look out for decorative emblems, sculpted in a horizontal belt above ground floor windows.

Very cool trees in the middle of The Circus

The Royal Crescent

(Part of) The Royal Crescent and a boundary between private lawn and public lawn

Another great example of Georgian architecture in Bath is another arc-shaped building, a row of 30 terraced houses called The Royal Crescent. In the centre of it, there’s a fancy hotel (it’s not easy to tell, however, since no signs are allowed, to preserve the uniform look of this historical building) and the lawn in front of it is private. Fear not, though, in front of the private lawn, there’s another lawn, much bigger, where you can chill, picnic, play football, sunbathe, throw you birthday party or practice handstands.

The Bath Abbey

Bath abbey as seen from the south

An imposing parish church, founded in 7th century, rebuilt and restored a few times since then. Look out for sculptures on its west front (Jakob’s ladder in particular) and a fan vaulting inside.

Appreciating the vaulting of the ceiling

Queens Square

Along with the Circus and the Royal Crescent, Queens Square forms a triple jewel in Bath’s crown. Apart from elegant, Grade I listed (i.e., recognised and protected) classical buildings (designed by none other than John Wood, the Elder), Queens Square carries additional historical significance - it was a site of introduction of speculative development to Bath. The basic idea will be familiar: you decide to erect your building without having any buyers for it, speculating that investors will emerge. In this case, the speculator was John Wood - he leased the land from Robert Gay (for £137 per year) and designed the beautiful frontages seen below, hoping to sub-let smaller plots to individual builders, offering reduced rent for the first two years as an incentive.

The north side of Queens Square…(beautiful, ready to sell)

… and the same building from the back (ugly, after being sold)

At the time, Bath was expanding rapidly and accommodation was in need; people were willing to pay to reserve accommodation before the work was complete, providing the builders with necessary funds to continue development. Early days of capitalism…

Take a long stroll

By now, you probably get an idea that a big selling point of Bath is its architecture. The above structures are the finest examples, but there is much more to be seen. Walking around the city is a treat - you’re surrounded by uniform buildings constructed using creamy gold Bath stone, set in Georgian style. The emphasis is on symmetry, simplicity, proportion and balance - as seen in ancient Greece or Rome. Plus, the strict centre of the city is traffic-free, granting you peace of mind during your exploration.

Apparently, this is a part of Palladian design and has nothing to do with the window tax

The River Avon & Pulteney Bridge

Time for a couple of fun facts. During your stroll, you’ll surely come across a river. River Avon. Or, shall we say, River River. Since in an ancient Celtic language spoken in Britian a long time ago, avon stems from abona, meaning river. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that there are nine rivers of that name in the British Isles, the one in Bath being second longest.

Enjoying the sunshine

The second interesting fact is that you may find yourself crossing the river… without actually realising you’re crossing it. All thanks to the Pulteney Bridge, which is one of four bridges in the world to have buildings across its full span on both sides (others are in Venice, Florence and a small city in central Germany).

Yep! This is bridge

Food & Drink

Granted, you’ll get hungry at some point. Parade Gardens, a riverside park very closed to the city centre, is a good spot to consume your packed lunch or supermarket beer. For a pub/restaurant, your best bet is to check Google Maps your favourite restaurant rating app to suit your personal preferences. Having said that, check out Seafoods if you’re looking for a cheap, fish and chips lunch (we haven’t tried it though), or Chaiwalla (insta) if you’re after Indian street food/take away.

Entertainment

Recall that Bath has a strong tradition as a spa town, welcoming rich people from around Britain to enjoy the baths, perhaps hoping that it heals their illness. However, one would not spend the whole day bathing, and so plenty of nighttime forms of entertainment existed. Casinos, theatres, pubs, you name it. In fact, it remains this way up until today; various types of street performers (magicians, fire jugglers, dancers, singers) are to be found in the square in front of Roman Baths, along with stand-up comedy, cabaret (Krater Comedy Club), live jazz or acoustic folk, or just a pint in one of many of Bath’s pubs.

Conclusion

Bath is a very charming city, located in close proximity of London. It is small, but packs almost as many Grade I listed buildings as the capital. Make sure you go on a sunny day so that you can enjoy the river walk and appreciate the classical architecture. And when you look at those creamy gold buildings, be aware that it took some effort to keep them appealing to the eye (see below).

Bath limestone absorbs pollution produced by car exhaust like a sponge. Go Tesla!

That’s all for now folks. See you next time!

It was sunny but cold! As you can see from the cars.