Pulteney (sp?) Bridge in Bath
 

What are your impressions of this bridge and the accompanying shopping? Just viewed a picture and it looks pretty, but is it a destination in itself? What are the shops like? Thanks.

We walked across this bridge a few times last summer, crossing from our B&B (Sydney Gardens Hotel) to the city of Bath. It was charming, and there were a couple of cute stores, I remember one that focused on high-quality British souvenirs, but certainly it's not a destination per se. <BR><BR>IMHO, a shopping destination in Bath would be Walcot Street, especially the trendy stores, Walcot Reclamation, and the glassblowing place near it. <BR>

It's mostly something to walk across and back and then look at when you are on the river. I don't remember anything special about the shops on the bridge.<BR><BR>We ate lunch at Cafe Uno, which, I THINK, had a view of the bridge, but certainly the river.

The bridge provides a pictureseque background for photos of the riverside but is not a destination like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, for example. Tiny little antique shop, a sandwich shop and an Orvis clothing store come to mind from our visit last week

BATH is a destination in itself - but each specific place is just a part of the whole (with the exception of the Roman Baths which IS a "destination".)<BR><BR>Everything is walking distance from each other including the bridge so you wouldn't think of it as a separate visit. the best view of the bridge is from the downstream riverside park.<BR><BR>The Cafe Uno mentioned above is in the Pavillions shopping Arcade just up river from the bridge and it offers a unique view.<BR><BR>On the bridge itself you will actually not be aware that you are on a bridge since both sides of the roadway are lined with shops.

As the other posters have said, Putlney Bridge is part of Bath. There's mostly souvenir shops on one side and on the other side there's more souvenir shops.<BR>However, never one to pass up an opportunity, you can see a photo of the other side of the Pultney Bridge on my website http://www.iconnect.net/home/rsumners<BR>I'm sure the next time we're in Bath we'll wander through the shops on the bridge again, but there are other things in Bath we would visit also.

I saw the bridge but didn't make it to the shopping there, there was too much shopping everywhere else! Don't miss Sally Lunn's it's a great little cafe and tea shop famous for their buns! Also, you have to see the Roman Baths. Bath is definitely worth a trip.

Unlike the other inhabited bridges in Europe (3 in total???), it is easy to cross Pulteney Bridge without realising that it is a bridge at all. If you like, that's what's distinctive about it - its undramatic nature.