When the celebrated author Jane Austen made Bath her home, from 1801 to 1806, the city was a thriving spa resort, popular with fashionable society.

Retrace Jane’s steps on your visit to Bath and you will discover the same elegant yet vibrant city which provided inspiration for two of her six published novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

Discover Bath’s influence on Jane from her time living here in the early 1800s by following in her footsteps over 200 years later. As you wander around our beautiful World Heritage city, you’ll find it easy to picture the Regency-era Bath Jane brought to life so vividly in the pages of her novels Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.

Whether it’s dressing up with fellow Jane Austen fans as one of her much-loved characters, learning more about Jane’s connection to Bath with special talks, tours and trails, exploring stunning Bath locations used in screen adaptations of Jane’s novels, or toasting Jane’s memory over delectable food and drink, you’re sure to find the perfect way to observe this momentous Austen anniversary!

Jane Austen tours in and around Bath

Book on to In and Beyond Bath’s ‘Austentatious’ day tour, which will take you to locations across Bath, the Cotswolds, and Lacock with connections to Austen, including a sumptuous lunch in an ancient country inn.

Or, stay in the city centre and join one of Strictly Jane Austen's walking tours, where you'll be led by an expert guide to the very same Bath locations Jane frequented over two centuries ago, and hear fascinating stories from the city during the time she lived there.

Local guide Fred Mawer's Jane Austen Walking Tour will also take you to the author's former haunts, as well as the locations in the city used in screen adaptations of her works, including Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. 

Austen afternoon tea

Austen writes in Mansfield Park that "one should be very glad of a little tea," and we couldn't agree more! Head to the grandeur of The Pump Room Restaurant, once described by Austen as the place where 'every creature in Bath was to be seen in the room at different periods of the fashionable hours', and indulge in their Jane Austen Afternoon Tea. Or experience a Mr Darcy Afternoon Tea at the Regency Tea Room at the Jane Austen Centre. 

Alternatively, sample a taste of time gone by at Sally Lunn's Historic Eating House. 

Discover Austen's Bath

There are plenty of ways to discover Jane Austen's Bath. Plan a visit to the Jane Austen Centre during your trip, or join in the Jane Austen Festival for a more immersive experience. 

Indulge in some Regency-inspired activities such as taking to the naturally warm waters at Thermae Bath Spa and promenading along elegant Georgian streets on a Jane Austen tour. Begin at Gravel Walk, the Lover's Lane of Jane Austen's day and the setting for a touching love scene in Persuasion. As you stroll along Gravel Walk, look out for the discreet door into the Georgian Garden, which has been sympathetically restored to how it would have appeared in Jane Austen’s time. 

Whilst you are wandering through the Georgian splendour of Bath, listen to Jane Austen’s Paper Trail, a podcast from The Conversation celebrating 250 years since Jane Austen’s birth. In each episode, they investigate a different aspect of Austen’s personality by interrogating one of her novels with leading Austen researchers. In the first episode here, they travel to Sally Lunn's in Bath and learn more about the role of Gossip for Jane Austen and look closely at Sense & Sensibility.

Then rest your head, after a day about town, in the grandeur of a four-poster bed or a charming period townhouse, ideal for families or small groups.

Around Bath and nearby Bristol, you’ll find many locations used in various big (and small) screen adaptations of Austen’s work, not least Sanditon, her famously unfinished novel. Don't miss your chance to follow in the footsteps of Jane's nephew and biographer, the Reverend J.E. Austen, and discover the delights of Longleat, to the south of the city. 

Whatever your Jane Austen experience, you are sure to share Catherine Morland’s sentiment in Northanger Abbey: 'They arrived in Bath. Catherine was all eager delight; her eyes were here, there, everywhere, as they approached its fine and striking environs, and afterwards drove through those streets which conducted them to the hotel. She was come to be happy, and she felt happy already.'