8 Holland Street Bath Townhouse

Worth getting out of bed for

Bath is inescapably Georgian — architect John Wood the Elder, who designed 8 Holland Street Townhouse, was also behind The Circus, Royal Crescent and Prior Park, giving shape to the city’s elegant Palladian form. And, of course, its geothermal baths show history’s reach to back before the Romans. However, the way your digs have been dressed and the owner’s exquisite gallery and shop next door show that the modern is appreciated too.

Culture goes contemporary at the Francis Gallery, 44AD and Beaux Arts. The Holburne Museum holds exhibitions across all disciplines alongside its decorative objets; and wabi-sabi ceramics and esoteric design books are sold in the Museum of East Asian Art’s shop. Less than an hour’s drive away is on-the-art-map market town Bruton, home to Bo Lee Gallery and Hauser & Wirth’s country outpost (with glorious gardens). But if the old-school appeals, rummage in Bath Vintage and Antiques Market (first and last Sunday of the month) and homewares haven Berdoulat. For tailored reading recs at Mr B’s Emporium’s immensely popular ‘reading spa’, book your session well in advance of your stay. 

Local restaurants

Close by, in a former Georgian greenhouse, chef Joe Lacey shows his expertise from cooking worldwide via Beckford Canteen’s tightly edited menu. Dishes might be crab with blood orange and chilli or venison with quince, depending on the season; and sister venue, The Beckford Bottle Shop, has fine wines, smaller plates for stomach-lining and a superb range of desserts (affogato with caramel rum, anyone?). Cute French bistro Comptoir + Cuisine has sublime savoury pastries, from Comté gougères to a Paris-Brest filled with duck pâté and a flower filled with crab, mustard and apple. 

Local cafés

You’ll hear locals reverently speak of Landrace Bakery, which has well earnt its reputation for delicious bakes, peddling country baguettes with hand-milled Somerset grains, crémeux with candied chestnuts and many more must-eats. For coffee to wash down those pastries, hit Colonna & Smalls, where the barista is award-winning, the roastery operates sustainably and they’re serious about their beans. The fact that it’s a stylish haunt too is a dusting of sweetness on top. 

Local bars

Bath’s social scene is still as active as in 18th-century Master of Ceremonies Beau Nash’s day. There are fewer cotillions, but come summer, those with a nose for excellent vintages pour onto Corkage’s terrace for a glass or two in the sunshine (its food is also worth popping a cork for). And cosy-pub lovers will fall for The Marlborough Tavern, whose 200-year-old history is etched into its warm interiors, even if it’s had some Quaker-style refining over the years; a welcoming fireplace and hearty fare give it an authentic edge.