The Jane Austen Centre
About
Jane Austen lived in Bath from 1801 to 1806 and set much of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion here, and the Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street tells that story in a Georgian townhouse a few doors from one of her family's own addresses. Costumed guides give an introductory talk on her Bath years, the exhibition covers the life and the novels with waxworks and Regency dress to try on, and the Regency Tea Room upstairs serves afternoon tea with suitable ceremony. It is open daily 09:45-18:00 with last entry an hour before closing. The Centre also organises the citywide Jane Austen Festival each September, whose Grand Regency Costumed Promenade fills the streets with around 2,000 people in costume in 2025.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Costumed guides and an introduction to Austen's five Bath years
- ✓Regency costume to try on, and the famous Mr Darcy waxwork
- ✓The Regency Tea Room's Jane Austen afternoon tea
- ✓Organisers of September's citywide Jane Austen Festival
Tips
- →Book online in September; festival fortnight fills the building.
- →Persuasion and Northanger Abbey are the two novels with Bath as a setting; reading either first doubles the fun.
- →Real Austen addresses nearby: 25 Gay Street and 4 Sydney Place both carry plaques.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
The Roman Baths
Britain's great Roman religious spa around the country's only hot spring, with the steaming Great Bath at its heart. Book ahead; you cannot bathe here.
Thermae Bath Spa
Bathe in Bath's real thermal water: indoor Minerva Bath, steam rooms and the famous open-air rooftop pool. Adults only; book ahead.
Bath Abbey
England's last great medieval church, with climbing stone angels on the west front, fan vaulting inside, and a Tower Tour overlooking the Great Bath.