Bath, England — Activities
Bath Culture
Bath has a rich cultural life and a wide variety of venues for drama, music, dance and performance. The Assembly Rooms, the Pump Room and the Guildhall (tel: (01225) 477 782; www.bathvenues.co.uk) host many concerts each year, including numerous recitals as part of the annual Bath International Festival in May/June and Bath Mozartfest in November. The Assembly Rooms can seat one of the largest audiences in Bath and the acoustics in the Guildhall are amongst the best in Europe, especially for recitals and chamber music.
The Bath Pavilion (tel: (01225) 486 902) and The Forum (tel: (01225) 443 114; www.bath.co.uk/theforum), a beautiful art deco auditorium with a capacity of 1,700, are also used for concerts. There are also frequent musical events in Bath Abbey (tel: (01225) 422 462; www.bathabbey.org).
Bath Festivals Box Office, 2 Church Street (tel: (01225) 463 362; www.bathfestivals.org.uk), is a good place to get tickets for many cultural events. A comprehensive listing of events can be found online at www.visitbath.co.uk.
For live popular music, Moles Club (tel: (01225) 404 445; www.moles.co.uk) is very good, with a great bar and restaurant serving vegetarian food at very reasonable prices.
The Theater Royal (tel: (01225) 448 844; www.theaterroyal.org.uk), Sawclose, is the main theater in Bath and among the oldest working theaters in England. It includes the Ustinov Studio, with a program of innovative, cutting-edge drama, dance and music, and the egg, a theater for children and young people. The Rondo Theater (tel: (01225) 463 362; www.rondotheater.co.uk), St Saviour's Road, Larkhall, is a highly regarded small theater attracting a great number of artists in drama, music and performance every year. Also the Arts Center at the university campus has frequent shows in music, theater, dance or performance, most of them staged by the Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts (tel: (01225) 386 777; www.bath.ac.uk/icia).
The Little Theater Cinema (tel: 0871 704 2061; www.picturehouses.co.uk), St Michael's Place, shows art films and foreign films and has retained the charm of a 1930s cinema, including a balcony in the main auditorium. The Odeon (tel: 0871 224 4007; www.odeon.co.uk), James Street West, has eight screens and mainly shows mainstream film.
Bath Tours
The Mayor's Guides' free walking tours (tel: (01225) 477 411; www.bathguides.org.uk) offer a general historical and architectural introduction to the city. The tours last around 2 hours and depart from the ‘Free walking tours here' board in the Abbey Church Yard, near the entrance to the Roman Baths, Monday to Sunday at 1030 and Sunday to Friday at 1400 all year (apart from Christmas day) and also at 1900 on Tuesdays and Fridays from May to September.
MP3 walking tours are available to hire from the Bath Tourist Information Center or to download from Tourist Tracks (www.tourist-tracks.com). ‘Jane Austen Walking Tours' (tel: (01225) 443 000; www.janeausten.co.uk) start at 1100 every Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday from outside KC Change in the Abbey Churchyard. In July and August, extra tours are laid on, at 1600 every Friday and Saturday. You can also dress up in Austenian costume and promenade around Bath!
The ‘City Sightseeing Tour' is operated by the Bath Bus Company (tel: (01225) 330 444; www.bathbuscompany.com) and is a hop-on, hop-off tour that takes in the main sights and attractions of the city (duration - 45 minutes).
Bath City Boat Trips (tel: 07974 560 197; www.bathcityboattrips.com) offer a full commentary on the historic sights of Bath by a qualified Blue Badge guide. Bath Carriage Company (tel: 07916 177 149) provides horse-drawn, open-top carriage tours of Bath, while Bath Balloon Flights (tel: (01225) 466 888; www.balloon-flights.co.uk) launch from Royal Victoria Park for excellent panoramic views of the city. Flights must be pre-booked.
