Thermae Bath Spa
About
The modern answer to the obvious question the Roman Baths raise: where can you actually get in the water? Thermae Bath Spa, a Nicholas Grimshaw-designed stone-and-glass cube a few streets from the Abbey, feeds Bath's natural thermal water into the indoor Minerva Bath, steam rooms and, famously, an open-air rooftop pool with the city's roofscape and hills all around, at its best at dusk or in cold weather when the steam hangs over the water. It is adults only (16 and over, 18 for treatments) and sessions regularly sell out at weekends, so book ahead on the spa's site. Towels, robes and slippers are part of the standard packages; check current session prices and offers before travelling.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓The open-air rooftop pool above the city's roofs
- ✓Natural mineral-rich thermal water, the only place in Britain to bathe in it
- ✓The Wellness Suite's steam rooms
- ✓Dusk sessions with the city lit below
Tips
- →Cold, clear evenings are the magic slot: steam off the rooftop pool and the city lit below.
- →Minimum age 16, and proof of age can be asked for.
- →Weekends sell out; book on the official site rather than turning up.
- →The separate Cross Bath, over the road, is a smaller open-air thermal pool run by the same operator.
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.
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.
No.1 Royal Crescent
The first and finest house of the Royal Crescent, restored room by room as it was in the 1770s-90s. The Crescent and the Circus themselves are free.