Life is a bath. All paddle about in its great pool. —Seneca, 1st Century AD.
Whoever said "getting there is half the fun" had probably just come from Bath.
We stayed the night before at Monkshill Guest House, perched above a river valley and the village of Monkton Coombe. (The view, pictured to the left, kept me riveted to the window of my room. In the distance is a viaduct bridge; the red trees are copper beeches.)
Monkton Coombe is about six miles from the city of Bath in southwest England. The vistas from the surrounding countryside induce gasps at every turn. My little '94 Mercedes, which now dreams of being a 4x4, chugged up the steep hills of Somerset and Wiltshire, heading in the wrong direction more than once. All roads apparently lead to Bath, which isn't a bad idea.
Bath, pronounced "Bah-th" by those in the know, and "Bath" by Americans with a keen dread of sounding pretentious, is a World Heritage Site, and the setting for many of Jane Austen's novels. Her characters "took the waters" at Bath during its heyday (seemingly not minding the many idiosyncrasies of British plumbing).
The Romans had the same idea, building the Temple of Solis Minerva at the site of the warm springs. (Interestingly, until the 1880s the existence below of the Roman baths and temple was unknown, which is probably why they avoided the fate of many Roman relics.) Today the Roman Baths Museum is chock-full of Roman artifacts, including the curses thrown into the baths. It's worth spending an hour or two there, and since most of it is indoors, it's the perfect spot to wait out a rainstorm.
Bath Abbey is nearby, a fine example of Perpendicular architecture. It's said to rival Westminster Abbey and was called "The Lantern of the West" by Elizabeth I. That didn't stop the Germans from bombing it during World War II, but the abbey, as well as the rest of the city, was restored.
Don't forget to stop and pay a visit to Jane Austen at the Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street. Currently at the Museum of Costume nearby there's an exhibit of Jane Austen film costumes. While Jane is said to not have enjoyed her time in Bath, she did use it as a setting for many of the novels she wrote later, which were full of snark about Bath residents.
There's food aplenty in Bath, but why not take in some history at the same time at Sally Lunn's House? The food is typical British food, which rivals the plumbing in more ways than one, but here they know their tea. There's also a museum in the kitchens.
Transportation is especially easy in the compact city of Bath. Red bus hop-on hop-off tours normally cost £6.50 for a day pass, but when we said we were Americans they took pity on us and let us have the tour for £5. (With the exchange rate, that's $10, but well worth it.)
Trains go to Bath from London Waterloo and Paddington stations. Go here for details.
If you drive, parking is available near the cricket grounds on North Parade Road, a short walk across the River Avon bridge into town. As James Boswell pointed out, "Bath is the finest place on earth, for you may enjoy its society and its walks without effort or fatigue."
