Bath

Bath lies 185km west of London in Somerset, the furthest of the region's popular day trips, reached in about 1h20 by direct GWR train from Paddington to Bath Spa station. Given the distance, an early morning departure — ideally before 9am — is recommended to make full use of the day. The city centre is compact and walkable from the station, and mornings are best spent at the Roman Baths, one of the best-preserved Roman religious spa complexes in Britain, where the museum walkway follows the original bathing pools and temple precinct. Adjoining Bath Abbey, with its fan-vaulted ceiling and West Front carved with Jacob's Ladder, is a short walk away and worth combining with the Baths visit. By midday, the Georgian architecture of the Royal Crescent and the Circus, both designed by John Wood, make for a scenic walk before lunch options along Milsom Street or in the covered Guildhall Market. The afternoon suits Pulteney Bridge, one of the few bridges in the world lined on both sides with shops, modelled on Florence's Ponte Vecchio, followed by a relaxed soak at the rooftop Thermae Bath Spa, the only place in Britain where visitors can bathe in naturally thermal spring water, or a further wander through the Jane Austen Centre for literary history. Spring and autumn bring milder weather for the walking-heavy itinerary and thinner crowds than midsummer, when the Roman Baths' narrow walkways can back up with tour groups by late morning. Because of the longer round trip, most visitors treat Bath as a full nine-to-ten hour day out from London rather than a half-day excursion.