Museums · Bath · United Kingdom
4 best museums in Bath
The collections worth your time, how long each takes and how to fit them together.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Agadant, CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answer
Start with Holburne Museum, Jane Austen Centre and Victoria Art Gallery. Together the 4 picks below take roughly 4–5 hours across 4 areas; all charge for entry.
Key facts
- Places in this guide
- 4
- Free entry
- 0
- Time to see them all
- 4–5 hours
- Areas
- Bathwick, Upper Town and City Centre
Museums in Bath
Museum · Bathwick
1.Holburne Museum
At the end of Great Pulteney Street, this museum in a former Georgian hotel holds Sir William Holburne's collection of paintings, porcelain, silver and miniatures, including works by Gainsborough and Stubbs, with a modern glass extension overlooking Sydney Gardens.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Museum · Upper Town
2.Jane Austen Centre
A Georgian townhouse on Gay Street, close to where Austen lived in 1805, tells the story of the author's Bath years and the city's role in Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, with costumed guides and a Regency tearoom upstairs.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Rainy day
Gallery · City Centre
3.Victoria Art Gallery
Next to Pulteney Bridge, the city's public art gallery has a domed upper gallery hung with British paintings from the 17th century onwards, including Gainsborough and Sickert, and changing exhibitions on the ground floor.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- Rainy day
Museum · Kingsmead
4.Herschel Museum of Astronomy
The Georgian townhouse at 19 New King Street where William Herschel, a musician turned astronomer, discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 with a telescope he built himself.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
Grouped by area
| Area | Places | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Bathwick | Holburne Museum | 1–1.5 hours |
| Upper Town | Jane Austen Centre | 1 hour |
| City Centre | Victoria Art Gallery | 1 hour |
| Kingsmead | Herschel Museum of Astronomy | 1 hour |
Booking and timing
Of these 4, 3 low cost, 1 mid-priced. None needs booking far in advance. The longest visit is Holburne Museum; group the rest by area to save travel time.
How to fit them into 1 half-day
Grouped by area and kept to about four hours each, so you walk more than you ride.
- Half-day 1 (Bathwick, Upper Town, City Centre and Kingsmead): Holburne Museum → Jane Austen Centre → Victoria Art Gallery → Herschel Museum of Astronomy, at least 4 hours.
The quietest months for queues
- January: highs of 8°C (46°F), about 13 rainy days, very quiet crowds. Cold and damp but quiet, with short queues at the Roman Baths and Thermae Bath Spa at its most atmospheric in steam.
- February: highs of 9°C (48°F), about 10 rainy days, quiet crowds. Chilly with the first snowdrops; half-term week brings families.
- March: highs of 11°C (52°F), about 11 rainy days, quiet crowds. Daffodils and lengthening days; one of the quieter months for sightseeing.
The neighbourhoods they are in
- City Centre — Abbey Churchyard, the Roman Baths and pedestrian shopping lanes
- Bathwick and Great Pulteney Street — A wide Georgian boulevard across Pulteney Bridge, ending at the Holburne Museum
More of Bath
Questions travellers ask
+Where should I start in Bath?
Holburne Museum. At the end of Great Pulteney Street, this museum in a former Georgian hotel holds Sir William Holburne's collection of paintings, porcelain, silver and miniatures, including works by Gainsborough and Stubbs, with a modern glass extension overlooking Sydney Gardens.