EXPLORING BATH: VISIT BATH

gdpr note; #ad #giftedpartnership - bath trip with visit bath is a gifted collaboration (blog post was not required/paid for) 





I absolutely love Bath, it's one of my favourite cities, and I was lucky enough to be invited to explore it with Visit Bath...

It was a wonderful two day trip, with lots of fun activities and lots of yummy treats. I also got to spend the two days with seven other blogger and instagram gals - and that was a real treat (though challenging for photo ops as we didn't have enormous amounts of time to shoot!)


Day One 
Our first day began with a meet and greet at Visit Bath HQ, where one by one we arrived and gathered ...and chatted about the Fyre Festival (what else?!). Once all together, our 'feel good' adventure quickly began with a visit to The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa. If you're familiar with Bath, you may have heard of the Royal Crescent. It's a dreamy row of beautiful stone houses that has a unique twist... the houses are set in a fabulous crescent moon shape. It really makes for a wonderful view - and great for photo ops! The architecture in Bath is mesmerising, and it's like this all throughout the city ...but more on that later.

Tucked away amongst the stately row of homes, The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa resides. It is pretty fancy, and it's as full of character on the inside as it is on the outside - with lots of older features being highlighted and maintained. We very sadly didn't see much of the interior, just the reception and the library, but we did get to stroll down their very pretty garden path to view their enchanting little spa. The interior of the spa is clean, fresh, and modern, but the pool area itself keeps a few of the older vibes with fabulous church-style windows and stone.

Sadly we had pure moments to find our cameras and take snaps, but we did all get one or two for the gram. We quickly made the short walk over to our next stop... the wonderful Comptoir & Cuisine. This lovely little spot is tucked away, but inside you'll find floor after floor of fun interior, with a champagne room in the basement and a restaurant area higher up.

Immediately we loved this quirky little French-inspired spot, and the food was amazing. Comptoir & Cuisine is predominately a cheese, meats, and champagne bar, but there are seafood options (and amazing bread and spreads!). Being a veggie and non-dairy eater, there was a little moment where I sobbed whilst watching the other gals tucking in to all the cheesy and meaty goodies, but then the seafood dishes emerged, and all was well again in the world. The endless champagne was an absolute treat too! I would absolutely recommend this spot to anybody visiting Bath who loves a little quirky spot... or good champers.



A short taxi ride later and we were at our next stop of the day, Julia Davey Ceramics. Julia is absolutely lovely, and has the cutest little store front - with a fabulous workshop space that is just a hope and a skip away from the main shop floor. This little workshop caters for pottery classes, flower crown workshops, macrame workshops ...there are so so many more fabulous options.

We walked into her lovely little workshop and everything was already fabulously laid out for us... the clay had already been rolled, and the tools and necessities were presented for us to utilise. Julia was so clear and helpful, and each of us absolutely loved creating our pretty coasters and tea-light holders. She walked us through the process, from cutting the clay to decorating and finishing the clay. Julia has also been kind enough to pop all of our pieces into her kiln, and will be posting them out to us when they're ready. I would absolutely love to go back for a flower crown workshop!



Our long day of activities wasn't over yet, we headed to our accommodation to get our first peek at the bedrooms. You wouldn't know the house was there unless you'd booked, but we were pleasantly surprised as we opened the front door and were immediately greeted by the first bedroom - it was beautiful. A quick right turn and there was a perfect little instagrammable flower wall spot. Downstairs in the basement area we found a fabulous, though dim, lounge area, and my favourite (en-suite) bedroom of the house. Another floor up and you'll find a small bathroom and two very large bedrooms, keep going and you'll find a beautiful, large, country-style kitchen and another large bedroom, on the final attic-style floor (where I was living) you'll find two more bedrooms and the dreamiest bathroom of the house.

I have to be entirely honest, there were ups and downs to this accommodation. It was cold, so cold. All of us realised we'd simultaneously woken up at around 4am because it was that cold. Also, not all of the rooms are decorated to the same fabulous form as the bedrooms on the lower floors, and so I had one of the least decorated rooms. Now I am absolutely not one to turn away less attractive accommodation, but when you've seen the best rooms in the house... ya know? The bathroom on my floor also didn't have a lock, so I had to announce an 'I'll prop the door open when I'm not in there' rule haha - a shame as the bathroom was seriously dreamy.



I would however say that the accommodation is ideal for a large family getaway, where you can pop the kids in the attic area, and the adults can bag the best rooms. Or a girl's trip, and you can even share rooms if you wanted to as all the rooms have two to three beds. It's also only a quick walk, or taxi ride, back into Bath's centre - where we headed to the fabulous Abbey Hotel for dinner.

I stayed at the Abbey Hotel the last time I was in Bath, but they have now overhauled the restaurant and reopened it as Koffman & Mr White's - a beautiful standalone restaurant. The restaurant is perfectly lit with a great and busy atmosphere, it's chic and simple in it's design, and the food is honestly flawless. There are great veggie options on the menu, as well has an array of fabulous meat dishes. I opted for the blackened sea bass as a main, and the poached pears for dessert. Everything was cooked to perfection, very happy ladies all round! I'll absolutely be back the next time I'm in Bath... I need those poached pears in my life.



...and that was a very busy day one over. Back to our accommodation for a good night's sleep, as day two began pretty early.


Day Two
Our second day started with a very quick cuppa before we donned swimsuits and jumped into taxis. Icy roads done, and we were walking toward the stop on the trip that I was most looking forward to... the Thermae Bath Spa. I've been to Bath a handful of times, but never to the Thermae Bath Spa, so was really excited to get in and take a peek around. After heading to Iceland in twenty-seventeen, I'm all about the geothermal pool.

We met the friendliest staff, who very kindly escorted us to the changing rooms and then onward to the elevators, but none of us were prepared for the magic... those elevator doors opened to a beautiful sunset rising over a dreamy and steamy rooftop pool. No other guests, just us and that colourful sky, with endless views of Bath. The sunrise definitely made the -1 degree weather far easier to take, and the naturally heated water was pretty great too. The spa actually have to cool the water to 33-35 degrees before it makes it to the pool! There's so much history to the spa, and you can read all about it and its natural thermal waters here on the Spa's website - it's genuinely interesting!



The Thermae Spa recently revamped their spa area, also known as the 'wellness suite', where you can find an array of beautiful saunas and steam rooms below the rooftop pool. There's a pure Roman theme throughout the spa, which fits perfectly with Bath and it's strong Roman heritage.



The lower floor has an indoor pool, and like the rooftop pool it's also filled with natural thermal waters. There are over 42 natural minerals in the water, which makes it a little difficult to swim around... but it's perfect for floating and relaxing. There's also a little jacuzzi area within this pool, with bubbles that intermittently appear. In between it all a final floor hosts the massage rooms and a café. After a relaxing and warm float in the indoor pool, tummies were rumbling and so we stopped for a quick croissant in the café, and it has great views of the streets below.

But here's where it gets even more exciting... peering out of the café's windows you may see another little pool hidden away behind even more Roman architecture. A quick hop and a step away from the main Thermae Bath Spa and you'll find a private pool area - the Cross Bath. It has its own bathroom and locker facilities, so no need to change in the main spa and run over in robes. I nipped back at the end of our press trip to find out a little more about the Cross Bath, and I was not disappointed! Not only is it a beautiful private pool area with oodles of history, but the Cross Bath is where you'll find the little hot spring responsible for heating all of the pools. This part of the spa can be rented out for private sessions, and hosts up to ten people - perfect for a girly trip away, birthdays, a hen do, or a more chilled stag do... anything really! I could definitely see myself and my gal pals basking in the warmth of the pool with a bottle of prosecco or two.



But back to the press trip... after our relaxing morning at the Thermae Bath Spa, we finally headed to the newly opened (October twenty-eighteen) Good Day Café for brunch - hurrah, food! Just a short walk from the spa, tucked away on the corner of a walkway, the Good Day Café has a great interior - it's so trendy, and absolutely instagrammable. Downstairs is a quick in/out order your drinks here area, and upstairs there are succulents, a breakfast bar, and a handful of tables.

There are plenty of veggie and vegan options, and of course plenty of meaty options. I opted for the veggie breakfast with poach eggs - yum yum. The food was great, the drinks were super cute... served on wooden boards and with milk in mini milk bottles. I will absolutely be back when I'm next adventuring around Bath, and I so wish it had been open when I last visited! It's the perfect spot to take your laptop and get on with some work whilst you enjoy a good cuppa or coffee.



We had a little free time after brunch, so we all went on mini adventures and explored a little more of chilly Bath. I visited the Roman Baths, which I have explored before but love. We also came across a few cute and trendy shops and pretty florists. Unfortunately most of the Abbey was blocked off for work to be done, but we had plenty of time to slowly explore, before heading off to taste gelato at our last stop on the trip - Swoon.

Swoon has a store in Bristol, but is fairly new to Bath. It is super chic on the outside and the inside, and even has a little seating area. They have a great variety of flavours, some change each month, and they also house a few vegan options. I tasted all of the peanut-free vegan options, and I can definitely recommend the chocolate gelato... yum!

They make all of their gelato themselves in the back of the store, with the majority of their ingredients sourced from Italy. They also create fabulous little gelato-based desserts, and offer a takeaway service with brilliantly branded bags.



...and that concludes my fabulous two days with Visit Bath. I loved all of the businesses we visited, and it was so lovely to meet so many hard working and friendly business owners and staff members. The amazing gals on my trip were also so kind, patient, and friendly. What a great first ever press trip to have been invited on. Bath, I will absolutely visit at any time.

Claudia xo




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