Bath UK: Hotel, rental car, dining
 

Just found out hubby has business trip to London end of June... would like to bring two kids also to Bath for 3 days. We are flying in and out of Gatwick... Need help with:

Do we need to get rental car or just take train?

What's a nice hotel (for 4) in center of town... good location?

Other restaurants besides Pump Room?

THANKS!!!

I had excellent food at a fairly new restaurant in Bath--Blackstone's. Its decor is modern and bright, no "oldy worldy" quaintness/kitsch. Friendly, knowledgeable staff. If I lived in the area, I'd eat here a lot. Very well reviewed in several newspapers. Their web site (below) includes a sample menu. It's also right next to an attractive pub and across the street from an aparthotel that might be well suited to a family. But it's in the central area that I don't find particularly car friendly. http://www.blackstonefood.co.uk/restaurant.aspx

Forgot to add, the couple who own the place have excellent credentials: the husband has worked at and/or managed places like La Tante Claire, Chez Bruce and The Square. His wife, the chef, trained at Leith's and was a food stylist for Delia Smith.

As it is fairly new, it hasn't made it into most guidebooks yet (a good thing).

Hi Lisa - One of my favourite restaurants in Bath is Thai (- 'Mai Thai').

2 mins from Sally Lunn's ...

Steve

Another very nice restaurant is Raphael in Upper Borough Walk. We had a nice 2 course lunch with a glass of wine each for 26 GBP at Raphael. (I went there because I thought Blackstones menu was quite expensive!)

You'll also find lots of useful information on...

www.visitbath.co.uk and

www.bath.co.uk

Have a great time in Bath!

Getting from London to Bath by train is painless, as it is from Gatwick, though you need to spend a bit of time at www.nationalrail.co.uk getting the best price. So is driving to the Bath city boundary - at least if you collect the car at one of the airports.

But Bath's a bloody nuisance to drive or park in, though. In that sense it's a typical medium-sized English town, and I'm not 100% sure there's that much to keep the children amused there for three days. Bus trips out of Bath aren't that thick on the ground, so if you were thinking of taking them out to the countryside you probably need a car.

Others may disagree, but unless you're sure you've found several days' suitable car-free diversion, you're probably best getting a car.

I agree with Flanner. If you're planning any trips outside Bath it'll certainly be cheaper to hire a car from London and drive down.

There are day- and half-day excursions from Bath (- e.g Stonehenge, Cotswolds ...) - but these work out much more expensive for 4 than having a car.

Steve

In May I'm staying in Mecure Francis hotel in the historic centre of Bath , on the south side of Queen Square for 4 nights.
www.mercure.com It sounds nice so I hope it is!
moonrise

moonrise: If you posted to help lisamarc w/ her hotel choice, did you notice the thread is three years old??

oops, no I didn't :)