Long weekend in Bath

[Navykitchen]

We are off to Bath on a Friday until a Monday with another couple.
Staying in an Airbnb in Henrietta Street.
None of us have been before so looking for recommendations for:

Activities/must see/do/sightseeing - the only thing we don't want is theatre - one of the party doesn't fancy it

A nice place for breakfast/brunch - nothing fancy necessarily

Restaurant recommendations - we have a steak lover who isn't very adventurous so nothing too 'fine dining/taster menu' type
We quite fancy Italian one night and a steak place or traditional English/nice pub food another night
We don't mind it being a little more pricey than usual if it's worth it

We'll have a long drive, arriving early evening on the Friday so we'd like a takeaway recommendation - fish and chips would do!

Any help with any or all of this would appreciated

The obvious ones are the cathedral and the Roman Baths, the Baths now have a spa, I believe on the rooftop, which has great views especially at dusk.

Also there are some lovely lanes with small independent shops, Sally Lunns tea rooms (gets very busy).

Bath is my home town so i will try my best
Eating. You are spoilt for choice, you have lots of chains as well as indepents. Sightseeing, roman baths, jane austen museum, costume museum , holborn, american museum, the circus, royal cresent , sightseeing bus. To name a few
Take aways a plenty to, however if you like a good burger go to schWartz brothers. If you narrow down your likes i can help a bit better x

Also the Royal Crescent has to be seen, you will probably recognise it from television.

There is also a new museum - the Frankenstein museum but I haven't been so don't know what it's like. I did enjoy the Fashion museum but haven't been for about 15 years so I don't know what it's like now

The Scallop Shell on Monmouth Place does amazing fish and chips if you fancy that for lunch. I'd advise you to book. Marco Pierre White reckons it's the best restaurant in the West Country. Very casual, cafe atmosphere

Rosarios is good for breakfast, it's a lovely little Italian cafe. Walking distance from Henrietta street.

Sotto Sotto and Hudson Steakhouse for a fancy meal.

Real Italian pizza for less fancy but very good.

Try and catch a rugby game at the Rec. amazing atmosphere

Marlborough tavern is great for pub food

Graze is good for a steak but generally having a wonder and taking in the sights is great in Bath. The beautiful thing about Bath is it’s all in walking distance so just explore. Although a sightseeing bus is good to get out of town and look in if you see what I mean, you get wonderful views from Bathwick Hill / North Road etc.

The Castle Farm is quirky and does a lovely brunch, but it's a bit outside of the city and needs a car.

Thank you! Some good suggestions to research
@Imonlydoingwhatican three of us are quite happy to try anywhere food-wise but the fourth will probably have steak wherever we go🙄
I'll put the suggestions you've made for activities to the others and see what we all fancy. Thank you :-)

The bizarre bath comedy walk is excellent if it’s still running.

sotto sotto used to be lovely , little Italian place in some sort of underground arches...
And the roof top spa in the evening is lovely too

@mamaes

Rosarios is good for breakfast, it's a lovely little Italian cafe. Walking distance from Henrietta street.

Sotto Sotto and Hudson Steakhouse for a fancy meal.

Real Italian pizza for less fancy but very good.

Try and catch a rugby game at the Rec. amazing atmosphere

I sent both SottoSotto and Hudson Steakhouse links to my friend earlier so good to know they're recommended

I can't really recommend Sally Lunns. It's a bit of a cynical tourist trap and the service can leave a lot to be desired.

A trip to the spa, especially the rooftop pool - I think it's best in the evening personally.

There's a lovely wood fired pizza restaurant just round the corner from the abbey.

Must-sees:

• Bath Abbey. The tower tour is fun.
• Roman Baths. Beautiful and interesting.
• The big red bus tour. See everything!
• The walk from the top of Prior Park (get the big red bus there) back into the city centre.

And yes to the rooftop spa!

@RishiRich

And yes to the rooftop spa!

Is that the Thermae Spa or somewhere else?

Yes the therme spa ( not the Roman baths)

Oh we had a weekend there just before lockdown, it was brilliant!

Definitely go to the costume museum, you get to see the assembly rooms that feature in Persuasion. Also definitely go to the Royal Crescent, you can go round no 1 with a guided tour, it was great, so interesting.

The Baths were also fantastic. Brilliant museum, and the baths themselves were wonderful. I was so excited just seeing all the streets and places in the novels. We parked in Laura Place where the Dalrymples lived! Take time to just walk about, we were there in that big storm the half term before lockdown started, so it was pretty wild, but really worth it.

Not much help on food as we are veggie.

If you're bookish, Mr B's Emporium is amazing, and the staff are wonderful. Topping's is also good.

If you like French food, Bar Breton is a good wee brasserie.

If you can’t get a table at Sotto Sotto (I had to book in Nov for a table in March) try Joya. It’s near Pulteney Bridge and is fab. It is Italian and has steaks but you can cook them yourself on a hot stone that they bring to the table. For Pizza Go to Dough in The Corridor. It’s our favourite place to eat pizza and go there far too much.
For breakfast Cafe au lait opposite the station does a great breakfast. The Good Day Cafe and Society Cafe are all great too.

Oh and if you want nice pub food Ring O Bells or The white Hart in Widcombe. Just a small walk from the city centre.

If you like wine and food Corkage is great.

Ooo I'm excited now! I think I've got some planning to do!

If you want a steak restaurant Hudson is amazing.