The Top Places to Propose in Bath..
Up, Up and Away!
Hot air balloons take off throughout the summer months and glide gracefully over the honey coloured stone buildings of Georgian Bath. Companies like Bailey Balloons take off from Royal Victoria Bath and glide gracefully over the rooftops of the Royal Crescent and the Circus before drifting out to the surrounding countryside. With a bottle of champagne on board to toast your future together, what could be more romantic?
On the Palladian Bridge at Prior Park
Created by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ralph Allen to complement his magnificent mansion on the Bath skyline, the Eighteenth century landscaped gardens at Prior Park are set in a sweeping valley with panoramic views across the city. Laid out by Capability Brown the gardens include a Palladian bridge and a series of lakes.
Thermae Bath Spa
Thermae Bath Spa has to be one of the most romantic settings in Bath. Open daily until 10pm, you can enjoy a moonlit dip in the open-air rooftop pool overlooking the beautiful city of Bath. For total intimacy, the stand-alone Cross Bath, fed by its own natural hot spring can be hired for exclusive use.
The Peto Gardens at Iford Manor
Iford Manor which dates from medieval times sits in an idyllic spot in the steep sided valley of the River Frome. The gardens are famous for their tranquil beauty set into the hillside with romantic views of the nearby countryside In 1899 Harold Peto, architect and landscape gardener, discovered this magical place and set about transforming the gardens. They made the perfect showcase for the Italian, French and Spanish artefacts he had collected on his travels around Europe. His skill was in combining architecture and planting with a passion for Italian garden design. Today the gardens are open to visitors in the summer months (but check first for opening times) and the Iford Festival brings opera to this romantic setting. The Peto Garden at Iford won the Historic Houses Association/Christie's Garden of the Year Award.
Aboard the Lady Sophina, an elegant river launch on the Kennet and Avon Canal
The Royal Crescent Hotel operates a magnificent river launch, the "Lady Sophina" on the Kennet and Avon canal. The canal winds through the Limpley Stoke Valley, designated an area of outstanding natural beauty. Throughout the summer months the launch is available for private charter. The 1923 mahogany river launch is immaculately presented with its original brass fittings in tact. What could be more romantic than a champagne cruise as dusk falls on this tranquil backwater? A two-hour champagne cruise costs £45 per person and the launch can also be chartered for a leisurely cream tea.
Cruises on the Lady Sophina can be booked through the Concierge at the Royal Crescent Hotel.
On the terrace at The American Museum
The American Museum in Bath overlooks the Limpley Stoke Valley, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Sitting on the terrace, sipping tea and savouring the superb view will melt any woman's heart. The Museum houses an extraordinary collection of decorative arts which tell the story of life in America from colonial times until the end of the nineteenth century. The collection was amassed by Dallas Pratt and John Judkin whose romantic notion was that they should foster relations between the two countries by building a collection to demonstrate the evolution of American craft and culture.
Tea in The Pump Room
If music be the food of love.......Afternoon tea in the Pump Room transports visitors back to an era of elegance and social intrigue. Even today it is a genteel meeting place where visitors can enjoy a traditional afternoon tea accompanied by the Pump Room trio.
The Pump Room played a pivotal part in the Georgian Bath. Mentioned on several occasions in Jane Austen's novels, this was the place to see and be seen. People gathered here to take the waters and to register as new visitors, to converse and socialise and to parade their fashionable clothes. Today the "pumper" is still on hand to dispense the Bath spa water which contains 43 minerals and has its own distinctive flavour. One glass is sufficient for most people today but in the Eighteenth century, when the waters became famous for their therapeutic properties, two litres or more was recommended for daily consumption.
The Grand Pump Room, its predecessor, was completed in 1795 as an elegant salon with a 10 metre ceiling. Some surviving relics of the original pump room include a statue of Beau Nash who, as Master of Ceremonies, set out the code of conduct for acceptable behaviour at the time when Bath was in its heyday in the Eighteenth Century.
The Botanical Gardens in Royal Victoria Park
Royal Victoria Park occupies 46 acres and was opened by the young Princess Victoria in 1830 providing shady promenades and grand carriage drives and is as popular with today's visitors for walking and cycling as its was with their Victorian counterparts.. The charming botanical gardens with its intricate maze of paths were established in 1887 and showcase many rare specimens collected from around the world. Here there are private benches and quiet bridges, ideal for lovers to meet.
Walking Around Bath - The Bath Skyline
The National Trust publish a six mile circular walk around the Bath Skyline including meadows and ancient woodlands, an Iron Age Hill Fort and Roman settlements and magnificent panoramas of the Georgian city of Bath. There are places to pause to savour the view or for a picnic and plenty of points of interest such as " Sham Castle" commissioned by Ralph Allen in the Eighteenth Century to improve the view from his town residence. The National Trust owns and manages nearly 500 acres of the skyline to the south-east of Bath. This was acquired through a donation by the mallet family in 1959 and subsequent appeals and grants by Bath City Council and the Countryside Commission.
A diversion from the walk leads to Prior Park Landscaped Garden, a beautiful eighteenth century landscaped garden created by Capability Brown for Bath philanthropist Ralph Allen.
The Bath Skyline walk is clearly marked with way mark signs that are marked "Bath Skyline ".A leaflet about the walk and map are available at the Bath Tourist Information Centre near the Abbey.The best place to start the walk is near the Cats & Dogs Home, next to Bath University which can be reached by bus from the centre of town.
Sydney Gardens
Located at the end of Great Pulteney Street, Sydney Gardens are a quiet backwater with charming Chinese style bridges over the Kennet and Avon Canal. Jane Austen lived nearby at 4 Sydney Place and in her day Sydney Gardens was a social centre. By night the gardens were superbly illuminated and hosted public entertainments with music and fireworks. Laid out in 1795 the gardens boasted waterfalls, thatched pavilions, a grotto, a sham castle, bowling greens and swing and a labyrinth. None of this frenzied social activity is evident in today's Sydney Gardens but some interesting relics of the past remain and it has been a public park since 1909.
The gardens house the Holburne Museum, Formerly a hotel "for families of distinction" but now housing a wonderful collection of paintings including many fine Gainsborough works, porcelain, furniture and objets d'art.
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