With kids · Bath · United Kingdom
Bath with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Mimihitam, CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answer
Bath works for families on a short visit: the Roman Baths have good children's audio guides, there is a big adventure playground in Royal Victoria Park and the flat canal towpath suits scooters. Note that Thermae Bath Spa does not admit children to the main spa. Top picks: Roman Baths, Royal Victoria Park and Kennet and Avon Canal towpath. Families usually base themselves in Kingsmead and Southgate.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 5
- Best area for families
- Kingsmead and Southgate
- Rainy-day options
- 1
- Busiest months
- July–August
Best things to do with kids
Historic site · City Centre
1.Roman Baths
The Romans built a bathing complex and a temple to Sulis Minerva over the city's hot springs, where about a million litres of water at around 46°C still rise each day. A walkway leads around the green Great Bath, lined with Victorian statues, and down to the remains of the temple, the steaming Sacred Spring and the gilt bronze head of Minerva. Bathing is not allowed.
Arrive at opening or come in the late afternoon in summer to avoid the midday tour groups, and use the free audio guide.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Book a timed ticket online for weekends and school holidays, when walk-up queues are long.
- Iconic
- History
- Rainy day
- Kids
Park · Upper Town
2.Royal Victoria Park
Opened by the young Princess Victoria in 1830, this large park below the Royal Crescent has a botanical garden, a big adventure playground, open lawns and a pond. Hot-air balloons often take off from the park on calm summer mornings and evenings.
Bring children to the adventure playground at the western end after the Royal Crescent.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Nature
Waterfront · Bathwick
3.Kennet and Avon Canal towpath
The canal joins the Avon at Widcombe through a flight of locks, then climbs past Sydney Gardens towards Bathampton and the Dundas Aqueduct. The flat towpath is good for walking or cycling, with narrowboats moored along the way and pubs at Bathampton.
Walk or cycle about 4 km to the George pub at Bathampton for lunch by the water.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Kids
- Active
- Nature
Architecture · Upper Town
4.Royal Crescent and No. 1 Royal Crescent
John Wood the Younger's sweeping half-ellipse of 30 terraced houses, completed in 1774, looks over the lawns of Royal Victoria Park and is the defining image of Georgian Bath. No. 1 Royal Crescent is a house museum furnished as it would have been in the late 18th century, from the drawing rooms to the servants' kitchen.
View the crescent from the lawn below for the best photograph, then see the servants' quarters in No. 1.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Iconic
- Architecture
- History
- Photo spot
Landmark · City Centre
5.Pulteney Bridge and weir
Robert Adam's Palladian bridge of 1774 is one of only a handful of bridges in the world lined with shops on both sides. Just below, the curved, stepped Pulteney Weir spills the Avon in a horseshoe, best seen from Grand Parade or the riverside path.
Walk down to the riverside below Grand Parade for the classic view of the bridge and weir together.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Iconic
- Architecture
- Photo spot
- Couples
Rainy-day ideas
- Roman Baths — Arrive at opening or come in the late afternoon in summer to avoid the midday tour groups, and use the free audio guide.
Where families should stay
$$ · Best for first-timers, families, budget and shopping
Kingsmead and Southgate
The streets around Southgate shopping centre, Kingsmead Square and James Street West have the city's larger chain hotels and many restaurants. They are flat, close to the station and the Theatre Royal, and usually better value than the Upper Town.
- Good
- Flat and central; Larger family rooms; Near the station
- Watch out
- Less Georgian character; Some traffic noise
- Nearby
- Southgate, Theatre Royal, Bath Spa station, Kingsmead Square
Family travel tips
- Use the children's audio guide at the Roman Baths, which tells the story in a child-friendly way.
- Royal Victoria Park's adventure playground is one of the largest in the area and free.
- Buggies are fine on the flat centre but hard work uphill to the Royal Crescent; consider a carrier.
- Bristol's science centre and SS Great Britain make an easy rainy-day trip by train.
- Book family rooms early for summer and the Christmas Market weekends.
Day trips for families
- Bristol (About 12–15 minutes by train) — Bristol's harbourside has Brunel's SS Great Britain, the M Shed museum, street art by Banksy and others, and the Clifton Suspension Bridge high above the Avon Gorge.
- Lacock (About 30–40 minutes by car or bus) — A National Trust village of half-timbered and stone cottages largely unchanged since the 18th century, with Lacock Abbey, where William Henry Fox Talbot made one of the earliest photographic negatives, and many film and TV locations.
- Stonehenge (About 1 hour by car or coach tour) — The prehistoric stone circle on Salisbury Plain, begun around 5,000 years ago, with a visitor centre and reconstructed Neolithic houses.
- Cheddar Gorge (About 50 minutes by car) — Britain's largest gorge cuts about 120 metres deep through the Mendip Hills, with a clifftop walk, show caves such as Gough's Cave where Cheddar Man was found, and cheese shops in the village.
When to go with children
The best months overall are May–June and September. July–August are the busiest, so book the big sights early. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Bath good for kids?
Bath works for families on a short visit: the Roman Baths have good children's audio guides, there is a big adventure playground in Royal Victoria Park and the flat canal towpath suits scooters. Note that Thermae Bath Spa does not admit children to the main spa.
+What can kids do in Bath?
Roman Baths, Royal Victoria Park, Kennet and Avon Canal towpath, Royal Crescent and No. 1 Royal Crescent and Pulteney Bridge and weir.
+Where should families stay in Bath?
Kingsmead and Southgate: Modern shopping streets and chain hotels between the station and the centre.