Things to Do in Bath: 15 Days Out, Prices Checked

Bath is one of only two cities in the world listed twice by UNESCO, and it shows in the entry prices: the headline attractions are not cheap, and the prices quoted around the web are often a season out of date. Every time and price on this page was checked against the venue’s own website in August 2026, with a link so you can confirm before you go. Two local rules worth knowing first: B&NES residents with a Discovery Card get into the Roman Baths and Bath Abbey free, and the famous Assembly Rooms are closed for renovation until 2027, so don’t build a day around them.

The big three

1. The Roman Baths

The one unmissable. Britain’s best-preserved Roman religious spa, walkways above the steaming Great Bath, and a museum built around the temple of Sulis Minerva. In summer 2026 an adult ticket is £29 on weekdays and £33 at weekends, with children (6 to 18) £22 and £26; booking in advance online saves £2 a head on those on-the-day prices, and a family ticket runs £77 to £88 (Roman Baths tickets). Through the Summer Lates season, to 31 August, it opens 9am to 10pm daily (last entry 9pm), and the torch-lit evening visit is the quietest way in (opening times). Bath and North East Somerset residents go free with a Discovery Card, as do local university students with ID.

2. Thermae Bath Spa

You cannot swim in the Roman Baths, but you can bathe in the same thermal waters a street away. The standard Thermae Welcome two-hour session is £44 on weekdays, £49 at weekends, including towel and robe, the open-air rooftop pool, the Minerva Bath and the Wellness Suite (Thermae Bath Spa). Open daily 9am to 9.30pm (pools close 9pm); minimum age 16. Pre-bookable slots are limited, with a daily walk-in virtual queue for the rest.

3. Bath Abbey

The last great medieval church built in England, with its fan vault and angels climbing the west front. Entry is adult £9, child £5, and the Tower Tour is £18 (child £12), which now includes Abbey entry and the Discovery Museum, so it is the better-value ticket if legs allow (Bath Abbey). Open Monday to Friday 10am to 5.30pm, Saturday to 6pm, Sunday afternoons 1pm to 4.30pm, and it closes early for events often enough that the website check is genuinely worth it. Free for Discovery Card holders and BA1/BA2 residents with proof of address.

Georgian Bath

4. No.1 Royal Crescent

The first house of the Crescent, restored room by room as it was in the 1770s. Adult £16, and children go free with an accompanying adult, up to four per adult; the ticket converts into a 12-month annual pass (No.1 Royal Crescent). Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5.30pm (last entry 4.30pm), plus Mondays in the school holidays, so it is open seven days in August.

5. The Holburne Museum

Gainsboroughs and Georgian silver in the palladian villa at the end of Great Pulteney Street, with a serious exhibition programme. Adult £16.50, under-19s free, £8 for 19-to-25s and Art Fund members, £2 on Universal Credit, and free entry to the collection on Wednesdays after 3pm (Holburne Museum). Daily 10am to 5pm, Sundays from 11am. One quirk: this is the rare Bath venue with no Discovery Card discount.

6. Victoria Art Gallery

The city’s own collection, beside Pulteney Bridge. The permanent collection upstairs is free; the temporary exhibition is adult £9, child £4 (Victoria Art Gallery), free to Discovery Card holders. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10.30am to 5pm.

7. Herschel Museum of Astronomy

The small terraced house on New King Street where William Herschel discovered Uranus from the back garden in 1781. Adult £12.50, under-18s free with an adult (Herschel Museum). Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm, last entry 4pm; it occasionally closes for group bookings, so check the day before travelling for this one specifically.

Green Bath

8. Prior Park Landscape Garden

Capability Brown-era valley garden with one of only four Palladian bridges in the world, looking back over the city. Adult £12, child £6, family £30, National Trust members free (National Trust). Open 10am to 4pm daily in August. There is no parking at all: arrive by bus, on foot, or via the park and ride.

9. American Museum & Gardens

Claverton Manor, above the valley east of the city, holds the only museum of American decorative arts outside the United States, plus 30 acres of gardens and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Through the summer holidays it opens seven days, gardens 10am to 5pm and the house 11am to 4pm. Pricing is the one catch: reduced summer prices apply until 1 September and only show in the booking flow; the standard tariff from 2 September is adult £17, child £10 (American Museum). Discovery Card holders get 25% off, and unlike Prior Park it has free parking.

10. The Bath Skyline walk

The National Trust’s six-mile circuit through the meadows and woods above the city, with the classic postcard views down onto the crescents. Free, open dawn to dusk every day, with a downloadable route map (National Trust). Cattle graze the route, so dogs go on leads through the stock fields.

11. Royal Victoria Park and the Botanical Gardens

Fifty-seven acres below the Royal Crescent: the big lawns, one of the best playgrounds in the West Country, a skate park and the Victorian Botanical Gardens. Free and open at all times (B&NES Council).

On and off the water

12. Pulteney Cruisers river trip

The hour-long round trip on the Avon from Pulteney Weir. Adult £15, child (5 to 15) £5, under-5s free, pay on the boat, no booking; six sailings on weekdays and twelve at weekends in season (Pulteney Cruisers). Note the boats no longer call at Bathampton, whatever older guides say.

13. Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein

Bath is where Mary Shelley finished writing Frankenstein, and this Gay Street attraction leans into it across four Gothic floors. Museum tickets are from £10.94 this summer under its advertised summer price cut, with a combined walking-tour-and-museum ticket at £21 (House of Frankenstein). Open daily, 11am to 5.30pm most days.

Free Bath, done properly

14. The Mayor’s Guides free walking tours

The best free thing in the city, run since the 1930s: two-hour walking tours by the Mayor of Bath’s Corps of Honorary Guides, who take no payment and no tips. Daily at 10.30am and 2pm (10.30am only on Saturdays), meeting outside the Pump Room, plus 6pm evening walks on summer Tuesdays and Thursdays (Mayor’s Guides). No booking, just turn up ten minutes early.

15. Pulteney Bridge and the Weir

No ticket, no hours: the shop-lined bridge, one of a handful in the world, and the horseshoe weir below it. Best photographed from Grand Parade or from the riverside path opposite, and free to everyone at all times.

What a day costs

Frequently asked questions

What is the number one thing to do in Bath?

The Roman Baths. In summer 2026 adult entry is £29 on weekdays and £33 at weekends, £2 cheaper booked in advance online, and the Summer Lates evening opening (to 10pm until 31 August) is the quietest time to go.

What can you do in Bath for free?

A lot: the Mayor’s Guides run genuinely free two-hour walking tours daily, the Bath Skyline gives you six miles of views for nothing, Royal Victoria Park and the Botanical Gardens are free and always open, the Victoria Art Gallery’s permanent collection is free, and the Holburne collection is free on Wednesdays after 3pm.

Do Bath residents get free entry to the Roman Baths?

Yes. Bath and North East Somerset residents get free entry to the Roman Baths with a Discovery Card, and Bath Abbey is free for Discovery Card holders and BA1/BA2 residents with proof of address.

Is the Fashion Museum in Bath open?

No. The Assembly Rooms are closed for renovation, with the National Trust planning to reopen them in 2027, and the Fashion Museum collection is off display until its new home is ready. Plan around both.

Can you swim in the Roman Baths?

No, the Roman pools are closed to bathers. Thermae Bath Spa uses the same thermal waters: a two-hour session is £44 on weekdays and £49 at weekends, minimum age 16.

How do I get to Prior Park?

Without a car. The garden has no visitor parking; the National Trust directs visitors to buses, walking routes and the park and ride. The roadworks and travel page covers the park-and-ride options.

Sources

Every price and opening time above was checked against the venue’s own website on 9 August 2026: Roman Baths, Thermae Bath Spa, Bath Abbey, No.1 Royal Crescent, Holburne Museum, Victoria Art Gallery, American Museum & Gardens, Prior Park and Bath Skyline (National Trust), Herschel Museum, House of Frankenstein, Pulteney Cruisers, Royal Victoria Park (B&NES) and the Mayor’s Guides.

Prices and hours change with the seasons; the venue link beside each entry is the authority. Last updated August 2026.