Swell Apartments, Bath

Best picnics

Pop a blanket in a bag and make for the grass in front of the Royal Crescent. Just two minutes away, this stretch of Victoria Park is a saunter down Brock Street as you walk away from the Circus.

Best walks

You’re in the most picturesque part of town already, so take advantage of doorstep delights and head to the Royal Crescent, then through Victoria Park and on towards the immaculate Botanical Gardens.

Shopping

Mangia Bene deli (5–6 St James’ Street, +44 (0)1225 336106), just a five minute’s walk away, offers a whole host of tasty morsels – as does Chandos Deli (12 George Street, +44 (0)1225 314418), which is located just off Gay Street (turn right out of the house).

Activities

The Thermae Bath Spa (+44 (0)1225 331234; www.thermaebathspa.com) has a natural hot spa pool on a rooftop overlooking Bath and the surrounding countryside. You can get treatments here – including aromatherapy cocoons and Moroccan mud wraps as well as shiatsu and reiki – or you can just laze about enjoying the waters and the views. For more great views of the city, go hot-air ballooning. With Bailey Balloons (+44 (0)1275 375300; www.baileyballoons.co.uk), you can take off from Royal Victoria Park, cruise over Bath and land at the Cadbury’s chocolate factory in nearby Keynsham. The Roman Baths (+44 (0)1225 477785; www.romanbaths.co.uk), a World Heritage site, are the city’s most famous landmark. Still flowing with natural hot water, this beautiful Roman temple and bathhouses are built around the only hot spring in the UK. Jane Austen is Bath’s other great cultural icon. The Austen Centre at Queen Square (+44 (0)1225 443000; www.janeausten.co.uk) is pretty diverting and has a great shop. The best thing about it, though, is the Regency tearoom, where you can devour particularly good cakes while enjoying great rooftops views.

Restaurants

Olive Tree

+44 (0)1225 447928

Situated in a Bath townhouse just a few roads away from the Circus, the Queensberry Hotel is a 29-room boutique property that oozes Regency elegance. Its restaurant, Olive Tree, is an equally stylish combination of crisp white linen and plush chocolate leather. The unpretentious modern, Med-tinged English cuisine it serves up – pot-roasted guinea fowl, pan-fried Cornish sea bass – is very good and reasonably priced.
Queensberry Hotel, Russel Street, Bath BA1 2QF

The Marlborough Tavern

+44 (0)1225 423731

You’ll need to book well in advance at this gastro pub just the other side of the Royal Crescent. Apricot and brandy bread and butter pudding a go-go.
35 Marlborough Buildings, Bath BA1 2LY

The Circus

+44 (0)1225 466020

Mr & Mrs Smith didn’t manage to reserve a table at this busy new little eaterie, but thought you might like to know that it’s only about five paces across the road from your apartment, so definitely worth a try.
34 Brock Street, Bath BA1 2LN

Cafes

Chandos Deli

+44 (0)1225 314418

An award-winning Mediterranean deli just a few streets away, stocked with fantastic cheeses, handmade cakes, antipasti, oils and olives. Tasting is heartily encouraged, so pull up a chair at the counter and munch through charcuterie- and fromage-filled sandwiches (www.chandosdeli.com).
12 George Street, Bath BA1 2EH

The Pump Room

+44 (0)1225 444477

When in Bath, an afternoon visit to the Pump Room in the Roman Baths is obligatory. To complete the Jane Austen experience of live strings, chandeliers, foxgloves and imperial columns, order the three tiers of afternoon tea for two. (Bookings are only taken Monday–Friday).
Roman Baths, Stall Street, Bath BA1 1LZ

For a full list of eating and drinking recommendations in Bath, check out our Bath restaurant guide

For a full list of recommended activities in Bath, check out our Bath destination guide

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