10 facts about Bath that aren't in the guidebooks

# 10 facts about Bath that aren't in the guidebooks

Bath is not a city to rush: it is walked slowly, stop by stop. These ten facts are what a local guide would tell you along the way, between the baths and the bridge.

  1. The water comes out of the ground warm. In Bath, hot water rises from the ground every day. No boiler, no machines. The Romans saw it 2,000 years ago and built their baths here. The city still revolves around that spring.
  1. One spring, over a million visitors. The Roman Baths and Pump Room welcomed 1,061,240 visitors in 2023. It is the second most visited destination in England outside London. Only Stonehenge draws more people (ALVA data, 2023).
  1. The whole city is a World Heritage Site. Bath has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, with inscription number 428. No other complete city in the United Kingdom has that status. Not one monument is protected: the whole city is.
  1. A circle and a crescent of houses. The Georgians built the Circus, a circle of houses, and the Royal Crescent, a curved row. All of it in Bath stone, the golden stone that colours the whole city. The walking tour covers both at an easy pace.
  1. A bridge with shops on it. Pulteney Bridge crosses the river with shops over the water. Here, crossing a bridge means window-shopping. And for a good stretch of the walk, you barely touch solid ground.
  1. Jane Austen lived here for five years. From 1801 to 1806, Jane Austen lived in Bath. The Austen tour starts on Gay Street, in front of the Jane Austen Centre. The city inspired *Persuasion* and *Northanger Abbey*.
  1. The path where they meet again. The lovers of *Persuasion*, Anne and Captain Wentworth, meet again on a path in Bath. That path is real, and the tour walks it. Here, Austen's literature is something you walk.
  1. Bath is Bridgerton. 28% of day-trippers associate the city with the show. Alongside *Bridgerton*, Bath has been a set for *The Duchess*, *Vanity Fair* and *Wonka*. The tour walks through the show's real locations.
  1. Two buns and one old house. The oldest house in Bath is Sally Lunn's, home of the Sally Lunn bun. The other famous bun is the Bath bun. Yes — in Bath, the rivalry is between buns. 😊 On the tour you may taste, and you may always say no.
  1. The water was drunk too. In the Pump Room, people drank the warm water that rises from the ground. The Georgians also danced and took tea in rooms like it. The Georgian table tour visits both.

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