The Daisybutter Travel Guide to Bath, Somerset
It’s here! My inaugural, post-pandemic travel guide has landed and it feels so lovely to be writing about my adventures again. While international travel has already been back on the cards for me for a few months, I haven’t had my ‘travel and make mental notes for posts’ cap on. So, with the First Trip of 2023™ on the horizon, I decided I wanted to do just that.
As I get gratefully older, gifts are less about objects and things to place in a home and more about experiences and making memories. So, I booked a January weekend trip in Bath as part of my boyfriend’s Christmas present! Now that travel restrictions are mostly a thing of the past and our calendars are quickly filling up with fun things, I didn’t want to completely forget about exploring more of the UK.
Bath is a picturesque – seriously, postcard picture-worthy – city in Somerset, England. It’s easily accessible by train and there’s plenty to pack in for a weekend away. The city has been on my travel bucket list for years and it was the perfect way to kick-start 2023. Once the home of Jane Austen, Bath became a World Heritage Site in 1987 and it’s not hard to see why. The Georgian architecture is charming, the people are so friendly, and it is full of theatres, restaurants, museums and, of course, its famous Roman Baths. It truly felt like the sort of place where there’s something new to discover at every turn.
See & Do
Pulteney Bridge
Completed in 1774, Pulteney Bridge is a bridge over the River Avon – one of just three in the world that is lined with shops. It’s one of the most admired structures in Bath and is truly beautiful. It is also famed for its weir, a small dam, but ironically we couldn’t see this when we visited due to high rainfall and local flooding.
The Roman Baths
Of course you don’t need little ol’ me to recommend you visit the Roman Baths. Tickets can be booked online – there’s entry every 15 minutes – and you’ll also get a guided audio tour, which I recommend listening in on throughout your visit. It’s really well done and so informative. Our visit took around an hour and a half, which gave us plenty of time to head elsewhere afterwards.
Topping & Co.
Bath is a book lover’s paradise. Not only was the city once home to Jane Austen – there’s plenty of related attractions! – but there are some gorgeous bookshops to visit as well.
We were a little early to our Roman Baths scheduled tour, so we popped into nearby Topping & Co. for a peruse. Topping & Co. is nothing short of glorious, paved ceiling to floor with books and installed with rolling library ladders. You’ll find beautiful signed editions and first editions amongst standard releases, and there is the most wonderful selection. Also on my list was Persephone Books, but I didn’t manage to visit this time.
Bath Skyline
Something that we like to do at weekends – and on trips! – is go on a big walk or hike. We spotted that there was a super easy National Trust family walking route for the Bath Skyline, and headed out after a dessert-for-lunch, which was some much-needed fuel. The view is expectedly breath-taking, as the Georgian buildings of Bath are surrounded by the River Avon and rolling hills. Continue further and you’ll be able to explore Prior Park and Palladian Bridge, although we managed to miss the winter park entry time.
Eat & Drink
If you’re anything like us, then you’re incredibly food-motivated. And, thankfully, Bath has plenty of incredible independents to sample. We arrived on Friday and stayed until late morning on Sunday, so got to try several restaurants – many that weren’t even on our list, thanks to the fact I’d only made one reservation!
Robun
Our singular dinner reservation in Bath was for Robun, a modern Japanese restaurant that specialises in ‘Yakiniku – the art of grilling meat, seafood and vegetables over a traditional robata charcoal fire’. We LOVE Japanese food, so it was a no-brainer to visit Robun and we were not disappointed. The interiors are gorgeous and there’s a fun ambience that’d be perfect for a celebration or special evening out.
We enjoyed cocktails and ordered a selection of small plates – chicken karaage, soft shell crab and salmon hosomaki for him; nasu dengaku (SO GOOD I CAN’T EVEN), agedashi tofu and vegetable hosomaki for me. The vegan selection is admittedly limited, but three dishes is plenty for one person. Weeks later, we both rave about this meal!
Discover Robun’s website, menu and ethos.
Landrace Bakery
Many of our friends recommended that we visit Landrace Bakery, situated at the top of the city centre. A café, bakery and shop all in one, there’s a lovely nook upstairs where you can feast on their menu.
As the menu is seasonal, there’s no guarantee what you may find so, sadly, there was no vegan option available. The team were more than happy to accommodate me with some sourdough and house-made jam – delicious! Their chai latte is equally tasty, and my boyfriend chose their sausage roll with tomato and walnut sauce and infamous cinnamon roll. A worthy visit, even if just for coffee.
Learn more about Landrace Bakery online and on Instagram.
Heavenly Desserts
Often I can’t eat dessert after a meal, so when we wandered by Heavenly Desserts, I instantly said: “Let’s have dessert for lunch!”
I know, I’m a genius.
This dessert parlour is all millennial pink and emerald green velvet seating, with an extensive menu for vegans and non-vegans. From American waffles to milk cakes, indulgent mylkshakes to cookie dough, there’s something for everyone. I can’t stop thinking about their Dark Chocolate & Pistachio Vegan Shake.
Charm Thai
Our Saturday night dinner took us to Charm Thai, a small Thai restaurant on popular George Street. The menu is, again, extensive with plenty of vegan options and vegetarian dishes that can be made vegan. The décor is charming with little nooks for a more private setting, and it seemed incredibly popular for walk-ins, reservations and deliveries, so I’d definitely recommend booking ahead of time – we rang ahead that afternoon.
I chose their Massaman Curry which was super tasty, while my boyfriend chose the Pad Gaprao Moo Krab – a crispy pork belly stir-fry. A lovely little independent to support for a cosy date night.
Explore Charm Thai’s menu online.
NOOK
For delicious smoothie bowls, poké and milkshakes, we’d recommend visiting NOOK.
There are plenty of vegan and non-vegan options on the menu and the tiny ‘nook’ upstairs makes a sweet place to wile away a morning. We picked up breakfast here on Sunday morning, and it was a great way to set-up our day! I ordered their pea and courgette fritters and a chai latte, while my boyfriend opted for their greens greens greens bowl. And, they played a pretty great K-pop playlist, which instantly raises the bar!
Find NOOK online and on Instagram.
Dough
Finally, we stumbled across Dough, nestled in The Corridor In Between Pulteney Bridge & Thermae Bath Spa, on our first afternoon. We were getting hungry – and cold! – and you can’t go wrong with pizza, right?
Dough has a classic sourdough pizza base, but also several other unique and superfood pizza base options. There aren’t a whole lot of vegan options, but the ones they do have are great. The location itself is cosy and the staff are super friendly – we had such a lovely first-lunch here!
And, of course, I wanted to share a few of the spots that we didn’t quite manage to visit but were on our list and heavily recommended: Oak – a vegetarian small plates restaurant; Noya’s Kitchen – a very popular independent Vietnamese restaurant; Society Café – a coffee shop that was constantly packed; Quiet Street Coffee – whose hot chocolate sounded incredible; Sotto Sotto – a family-run Italian restaurant; Sally Lunn’s – one of Bath’s oldest houses and home of the Sally Lunn bun.
Have you ever visited Bath? Which destinations would you recommend to the Daisybutter community?
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