Visiting Bath for our wedding

Hello, and first off, if you’ve not been here before then welcome to our blog! We share updates here about our gardening projects, and the huge amount we’re learning (and getting wrong!) along the way. Feel free to have a nose around and leave any comments or advice for us!

So, anyway, we thought that seeing as so many of you are travelling a long way to Bath for our wedding, and are likely to make a weekend of your visit, we’d share some ideas for great things to see and do locally with you.

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You’re lucky in that the Great Bath Feast is taking place throughout October with events including a tasting at the Michelin starred Bath Priory, a celebration of local game at one of Bath’s oldest pubs the Garrick’s Head and Chianti tasting at our friend Alan’s Great Western Wine shop. Bath is a fantastic city for food lovers – we are really lucky in that we still have a lot of family owned, small independent restaurants and producers, and we have highlighted a few of our very favourites below. The Great Bath Feast celebrates all of this, so it is a fantastic chance to sample the best of Bath’s culinary treats.

And to counter any preconceptions you might have that Bath is full of posh boring old people, the city is also hosting ‘Glow in the Park‘ on Saturday 11 October. This is a 5k run during which you get sprayed with ultraviolet glow paint before heading through UV light, strobe and fog zones… not for the light hearted or those who like to keep clean…

Of course if you’ve not been to Bath before we definitely recommend seeing the sights – you can easily see the Roman Baths, the Assembly Rooms, the Circus, Number 1 at the Royal Crescent, the Abbey (do take a rooftop tour) and Queen’s Square in a day, and still find time to bathe in the hot spring waters at Thermae Bath Spa to unwind. Evening entertainment, with or without children, is plentiful – but we definitely recommend the ‘Bizarre Bath’ comedy walk which leaves the Huntsman Inn at 8pm.

If you like gardens as much as we do and want to get out of the centre then either head to Prior Park (a National Trust property, Capability Brown gardens), to Victoria park and botanical gardens, to Sydney Gardens or to Corsham Court. Further out again, but ideal for easy day trips, you have Longleat safari park, Wells City and Cathedral, Glastonbury Tor, Stonehenge (although we prefer Avebury, also nearby…) or picturesque Lacock.

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If you’re planning to eat out please do take a look at Bistro La Barrique, a fantastic ‘petit plat’ style French bistro owned by our friend Michel who guarantees you true French service – brusque! The place doesn’t look much from the outside, and Michele is terrible at answering the phone so you just have to turn up and try your luck for a table, but we assure you that the food and wine are fantastic and make this our very favourite restaurant in town. Other good options include the Brewhouse (ale and meat), the Raven (pub with pies), or the Mint Rooms (great curry). If you’re staying outside the city near our wedding venue and want to treat yourselves then the Wheatsheaf is popular, but you’ll have to book well in advance.

Obviously we’re on the border between the Cotswolds and the Mendips, so there are fantastic walks between picture perfect villages all around. If you want to find a good local walk have a look at ‘Walking in Somerset‘ or give us a shout and we’ll send you some of our favourite routes.

These are just some of our favourite things to see and do and we hope we’ve whet your appetite for your visit to Bath. There is plenty more to explore which you can find info about on the Visit Bath website. We hope you have as much fun visiting our city as we do living here!