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Explore Jane Austen’s world, Roman ruins, and Bridgerton’s filming locations when you spend at least a day in Bath, England.

As a huge fan of Jane Austin’s novels since high school, visiting Bath, England, has long been a dream of mine. The fact that the town also contains the ruins of Roman baths and hosted the filming of many scenes of Bridgerton turned it into the perfect destination. Although three days there was not enough for me to feel satisfied, even if you can only do a day trip from London, it is well worth the trip.

Bath is located just over 100 miles west of London. A train ride of one and a quarter hours brings you from Paddington Station to the Bath Spa station. Walk north out of the station, and you are quickly in the center of town, surrounded by stunning Georgian architecture.

One-Day Trip to Bath Itinerary

Spending one day in Bath will leave you wanting to return and spend more time there. However, heading out early from London, you can spend the morning gazing at the architecture and hunting down iconic buildings. Stop in the Bath Abbey, then grab a healthy lunch at The Abbey Deli before a tour of the Roman Baths. Enjoy an afternoon tea service after visiting the shops or exploring the Jane Austen Center. Before heading back to the hubbub of London, hang out in the Parade Gardens along the River Avon or stroll through the Sydney Gardens.

Bath Walking Tour

A good part of my three days in Bath consisted of walking up and down streets, marveling at the buildings, and trying to find the places where Jane Austen lived or visited. Even with a destination in mind, the journey there should be leisurely to take in the views.

Many walking tour options exist if you want to learn more about Bath’s history or find Austen and Bridgerton locations. On my first afternoon in town, I chose a Bridgerton tour I found on Trip Advisor and reserved ahead of time. The Visit Bath website also showcases many tour options.

Bridgerton Filming Locations in Bath

While the characters in Bridgerton live and do most of their activities in London, much of the filming of the series takes advantage of the historic beauty of Bath. After you stand in front of all the locations, you cannot rewatch the series without constantly exclaiming, “Hey, that is in Bath!” Well, at least I couldn’t.

While watching Bridgerton before going on the tour is not required, I would strongly recommend it. If you haven’t seen it, you can’t laugh at the thought of Penelope Featherington gazing out her window to catch Colin Bridgerton leaving his home across the street. The filming site of her home was No. 1 Royal Crescent, which is 100 miles from London, the site of Colin’s home.

The Royal Crescent

The gem of any tour of Bath is the Royal Crescent. You can see it when invitations or the latest Lady Whistledown pamphlets are brought door to door. Daphne also races past it on horseback while trying to stop Simon’s duel. Other occasional scenes of carriages also use the building as a backdrop.

This 500-foot-long curving building comprises 30 terrace homes overlooking an expansive lawn sloping to Royal Victoria Park. The design by John Wood, the Younger, in the 1770s, included two-story-tall columns between each set of windows. The honey-colored stone glows in the sunlight, providing the perfect background for a picnic on the grass.

The Holburne Museum

As ball attendees arrive at Lady Danbury’s lavish home, they are outside the Holburne Museum. Since the late 18th century, the neoclassical portico has dominated the view of Great Pulteney Street. In a couple of Bridgerton scenes, as Lady Danbury disembarked from her carriage, the long row of townhouses lining the street stretched out behind her.

The museum houses an art collection begun by Sir William Holburne, fifth baronet of Menstrie, and increased by the city of Bath. The building started as the Sydney Hotel as an entryway to the Sydney Pleasure Gardens.

Abbey Green

While entering and departing the Eight Inn, where I stayed in Bath, I enjoyed walking through a small square lined with shops and dominated by an immense plane tree. Through a Roman-like arch stood the bar where Simon had to be rescued after drinking too much.

Across the plaza, The Abbey Deli became home to the Modiste, often visited by all the well-dressed female characters. Next door to this, a defiant Siena quickly gives in to a desperate Anthony.

Jane Austen Sites

For those of us who fell in love with 18th-century Bath through Austen’s novels long before the Bridgerton craze, more sites await. Bath features prominently in the novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, and Austen lived there from 1801 to 1806 when it was a thriving spa resort.

When the Austen family moved to 4 Sydney Place in 1801, Jane was excited to live directly across from the Sydney Gardens. After her father, Rev. George Austen, died, she, Cassandra, and their mother moved to 25 Gay Street in the middle of Bath. This location is currently a dental surgeon’s office, but the Jane Austen Center is a few doors down.

Less than a half-mile walk from here is St. Swithin’s Church, where her parents were married. I found her father’s tombstone through the courtyard’s iron fence. On the way there, I passed No. 1 The Paragon, where Jane stayed with the Leigh-Perrots, her aunt and uncle, before her family relocated to town.

Assembly Rooms and Pump Room

Catherine, the heroine of Northanger Abbey, was initially overwhelmed by the crush of high society members in the Assembly Rooms. These, along with the Pump Room, were where people went to see and be seen while visiting Bath for the summer.

The Assembly Rooms are currently only open for limited tours, but the National Trust is working to renovate them and provide a new experience, scheduled to start in 2026. At the Pump Room, you can still enjoy brunch or afternoon tea in the same elegance as its 18th-century patrons.

More Walking Destinations

You could spend all morning searching out the Bridgerton or Austen locations, but there is plenty to see if you are not a fan of either.

Royal Victoria Park

Walking through Royal Victoria Park provided a natural contrast to Bath’s historic stone buildings. I also toured the Botanical Gardens, with its mossy pond, soaring trees, and typical English roses alongside many other colorful flowers.

The park offers many spaces for picnics and games, a lively playground, and a miniature golf course. As I was leaving, people flocked into the park for a food festival, one of many Bath events during the year.

The Circus and Queen Square

On your way back to the center of town, you can pass through two lovely areas that provide more reasons why Bath was such a popular town in which to live. When you step under the large trees at the center of the Circus, three sections of curving townhomes encircle you. John Wood designed the stone buildings to have three tiers of paired columns with flourishes in between. The original name was the King’s Circus, and many famous people have called it home.

Queen Square was also designed by John Wood, the Elder, early in the 18th century. It surrounds a park lined with trees that shade many benches. In the center stands an obelisk commemorating Frederick, the Prince of Wales’s visit.

Parade Gardens

If you want to emulate the fashionable society of Austen’s day, stroll through the Parade Gardens overlooking the River Avon and Pulteney Bridge. There is a small fee to enter the park, and then you can enjoy the flowers and statues or a concert at the bandstand. If you cross Pulteney or North Parade Bridge, you can descend to a shaded path along the river with great views of the Parade Gardens, the Empire Hotel, and the Pulteney weir and bridge.

Sydney Gardens

Created as public pleasure grounds in 1795, the Sydney Gardens offered a place for Bath residents and visitors to take a walk or see concerts and fireworks. I couldn’t miss spending a little time where Jane Austen had strolled with her sister. I appreciated the view of the town through the trees and the curving broad paths to the stone bridge.

At the far end of the park, I went down a few steps to the Kennet and Avon Canal. A paved sidewalk followed the tranquil canal under bridges and alongside houses. Long, low houseboats in various colors and a few tour boats were moored to the side of the water.

Historic Sights in Bath

Roman Baths

After imagining life in 18th-century Bath, drop down 4 meters and back 1800 years to visit the start of it all, the Roman Baths. The Romans established the baths in 70 AD, and people from all over Britain visited to worship the goddess Sulis Minerva and bathe in the thermal springs. The adjoining museum contains models to show the various temples and bathing areas and how the Romans used them. You can also see offerings that people would leave in the waters and complaints that they engraved into tiny metal scraps.

I enjoyed the guided tour that explained how the ruins were rebuilt in the 18th century to use the mineral hot springs that still bubble up today. The King’s Bath, built in the 12th century, and the hot water reservoirs built by the Romans remain today.

I love exploring Roman ruins, but you usually must imagine the completed buildings. Roman stonework forms the main bath and the base of the columns and walls in these baths. As your eye travels upward, however, the golden hue of the typical Bath architecture then finishes off the structure.

Bath Abbey

On my second night in Bath, a Monday evening, I sat in my room listening to the bells of the Abbey playing off and on for a half hour. Apparently, this was when the bell ringers practiced. This provided one more reason to love this unique and impressive church.

The Bath Abbey functioned as a monastery from 675 until 1539, when King Henry VIII dissolved all such orders to confiscate their money. The structure underwent three rebuildings to arrive at the stunning building we can visit today. In 973, the Archbishop of Canterbury crowned Edgar, the first King of All England, at the Abbey.

Along the church’s nave, narrow columns run up the walls to burst into elegant stone fans at the ceiling. Tall, arched stained glass windows fill the upper parts of the walls and create an airy atmosphere.

The walls and floor of the Abbey are filled with more than 1500 monuments of various sizes and decorations, more than any other church in England. There is a small fee to enter the Abbey and the adjoining museum.

Jane Austen Center

Of course, I couldn’t pass up the museum celebrating my favorite novelist. The Jane Austen Centre occupies a townhome just down Gay Street from where Austen once lived. An enthusiastic guide gave a brief introduction describing her family and life, not much of which is known.

Our small tour group was then set free inside the museum, which began with a timeline of her writing and significant events in her life. Memorabilia from the movies based on the Austen novels included scripts, costumes, and photos from the filming. You can also dress up in period clothing, pose with Darcy, and write a letter with a quill.

The only portrait of Jane is one her sister Cassandra drew but was considered not a good likeness. Melissa Dring, a police forensic artist, created a portrait based on contemporary descriptions. One of my favorite photos of my trip to Bath is my selfie with the life-size figure based on this portrait.

No. 1 Royal Crescent

While touring No. 1 Royal Crescent, it was easy to imagine life in Georgian Bath for a well-to-do family. During the self-guided tour, I saw and heard depictions of the family members conversing over issues and events in each room. The dining room was set for a meal and the drawing room appeared to be in the middle of entertaining. Period furnishings and decorations filled the home, first inhabited by Mr. Henry Sandford in the 1770s.

You can wander throughout the house, up the elegant staircase to the bedrooms, and down the back steps to the servants’ quarters and workspaces. I enjoy visiting historic homes; this was the most elaborately laid out kitchen and pantry I have seen. I almost expected the cooks to step back in from taking a break and start preparing a meal.

Where to Dine and Shop in Bath

You must experience afternoon tea in England; being in Bath is no exception. I chose a spa day at the Royal Crescent Hotel, culminating in their tea service. The French doors next to my table in the tearoom overlooked a beautiful garden and terrace. I enjoyed the Royal Crescent Hotel green tea with my finger sandwiches, scones, and pastries and finished with the Classic Rooibos tea.

The Abbey Deli is perfect for a healthy lunch and extravagant dessert, including gluten-free and vegan options. The staff was welcoming, and the décor was like hanging out at your cool grandmother’s home.

The Huntsman sits across from the Parade Grounds. It offers pub food and a lively atmosphere in a historic building.

Pulteney Bridge spans the River Avon, with small shops lining both sides. The area in and around Abbey Green also contains many small shops and cafes that are fun to explore. I also spent quite a bit gathering souvenirs at the Jane Austen Center gift shop.

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When You Visit Bath, England

Bath, England, is a wonderful place to immerse yourself in gorgeous Georgian architecture and the 18th-century history of Jane Austen’s time. A morning train from London sets up visitors for a perfect day of walking among the historic buildings and tranquil parks of this compact town. Stay longer to fully explore all the Bridgerton and Austen sights and the Roman Baths that started it all.

We invite you to explore Wander With Wonder to see more of our favorite places in Great Britain.