Bath, England (July 2016)

I had the idea of visiting Bath after I went to Bristol and realised it was down the road. If it wasn’t for lack of time, I probably would have nagged Ryan to drive us for the day but now I’m glad we dedicated a whole break to the place, because it’s bloody beautiful. 

We wanted to stay in a B&B for this break, but I didn’t know where to find good B&Bs so, like any normal person, I Googled ‘best B&Bs bath’ and was offered an array. Lord, there are a lot of B&Bs in Bath. Our stipulations were ‘parking’ and ‘near to city centre’ and ‘free WiFi’, obviously, and after much trawling I stumbled upon Pulteney House. 

Guys, they have pet rabbits. I was SOLD.

But, however much I want to be spontaneous and free-spirited (and I really am getting there), I’m still generally an anxious and obsessive mess, so I’m pretty anal (steady) about choosing accommodation. I need to trust it and thoroughly do my research. The place needs to have a good website, great communication, and top reviews on Trip Advisor. I’m an arsehole, I know. Thankfully Pulteney House had all three, and even exceeded itself by having 360 views of its rooms. Show offs.

I could not fault this place. It’s clean, classic, offers a great breakfast, and the family who run it are wonderful. We were given maps and a discount card when we arrived, tips on the best restaurants and routes around the city, and were really made to feel at home.

Did I mention the rabbits? 

Roman Baths

The B&B was just a five minute walk away from the city centre, and we were honoured with glorious weather that week so headed straight in when we arrived. Bath is very small so it’s not hard to find the tourist spots like the cathedral and Roman Baths. You do have to pay to get the full experience of the Baths but our discount card came in handy here with 10% off admission. 

Roman Baths

We spent the afternoon exploring the place before heading to find the Royal Crescent - somewhere my mum insisted we find - and finding somewhere to eat. We obviously took advantage of the discount card again and found Martini Restaurant, an Italian place. It. Was. GLORIOUS. Our discount card gave us a free glass of prosecco each and the food was beautiful. The dishes were different from your standard Prezzo or Strada, which I most definitely appreciated, and the waiters and waitresses were bloody lovely. Top meal, 10/10. 

Royal Crescent 

The following day took us to Longleat. I’ll be honest, yes I really wanted to visit Bath because Bath is beautiful… but LONGLEAT IS LIKE 20 MINUTES AWAY?! Obviously we were going to go, and obviously we were going to go on our third anniversary. The best celebration. We got to Longleat as the place opened so it was empty. The summer holidays hadn’t yet started to we pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was great. Yes, it’s a little expensive but for a one time trip I’m happy to pay. The only thing I was gutted about was not being able to hold a tarantula, something I’d been banging on about for weeks. I only got to hold a snake… but that was pretty cool too. 

The greatest part about Longleat is it having multiple attractions. You have the zoo, house, and the SAFARI, and we tackled the day in that order. The safari was obviously the best bit. MONKEYS ON THE CAR. Thrilling, even if they do rip parts of your car off (and they really do - we lost the plastic off our rear washer).

Longleat House

When we got back to Bath that evening we decided to try out Sally Lunn’s Historic Eating House for dinner (free glass of wine each with the discount card). Now, I’ll be honest, I thought this was going to be more of an experience but I think I’d just built it up in my head too much. Sally Lunn’s is famous for its no-one-knows-the-recipe buns and for being the most historic building in Bath. Their speciality is serving up your dinner on a Sally Lunn's bun. Sally Lunn's buns are massive. Although, it’s not really a bun as we know it. It’s part bun, part bread, part cake, but TOTALLY delicious. It all sounds a bit odd, but we both had the duck on this bun and it was a crackin’ meal. Highly recommend. Remember to make a reservation in advance because this historic house is terribly tiny. 

Leading on nicely from Longleat… the next day saw us at Wookey Hole. I know this place is mostly for children but fuck it, I like caves. 

That’s a massive lie, I’ve been terrified of caves since watching Sanctum (do not watch Sanctum) but Wookey Hole is a bucket list place and I knew it’d look great on my Insta so what’s a girl to do? Had to take one for the team. 

Thankfully Wookey Hole is quite cheap, and you get a guided tour and free crazy golf included so… that was nice. So very British, I really did feel on holiday. The caves really were fascinating to look around. They’re full of colour and CHEESE. They age their Cheddar cheese (as in literally from Cheddar which is nearby) in the caves, and they hand out free samples so quite frankly it was a dream and I forgot all about Sanctum. 

'mostly for children'

For two 20-something year old adults, we couldn’t spend a whole day at Wookey Hole so drove to Wells for the afternoon. Wells is the smallest city in the UK, so that was something, and they have a cathedral so I was happy. I like a good cathedral just like a like a good bridge. Wells is also the home of The Crown pub where they filmed part of Hot Fuzz, so that was… also something. 

Wells cathedral

That evening, back in Bath, we settled on Bill’s for dinner. Nothing special but you can’t beat the safety of Bill’s. 

We checked out the next morning and drove to a pub recommended by a friend, The Longs Arms, in South Wraxall (basically the middle of nowhere) for lunch. It was, of course, fabulous and worth the arguments trying to find it.

We decided to stop off in Bradford on Avon afterwards before heading home. This time it was Ryan’s place. Filled with canal boats. It kept him happy before the three hour drive home. 

I adored Bath. I would happily up sticks and settle in Bath. The place is beautiful and, although small, it packs a lot in. There’s heaps of history so you’re never bored, and it’s surrounded by other attractions, cities and towns if you just happen to get bored anyway… or want to hold a tarantula… or fight your fears for a good Insta.