In 2025, Bath celebrates the 250th birthday of its most famous former resident, the legendary author Jane Austen. With a range of very special events, activities, experiences, and hotel packages to mark the occasion, Austen fans visiting the city throughout the year are in for treat.
Stay
What better way to mark Jane Austen’s 250th birthday than with a stay in Bath? Mark this momentous Austen anniversary by indulging in one of the exclusive Austen250 packages available at some of Bath’s most glamourous hotels.
Treat yourself to the ultimate celebration of Jane Austen with one of The Gainsborough Bath Spa’s six-day packages in partnership with ECT Travel. Taking place twice in the spring and autumn, both include accommodation in one of the hotel’s opulent rooms, a welcome reception, scrumptious celebratory meals, talks from distinguished Austen experts, curated walking tours, and workshops. And, as if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also have the opportunity to take part in a Regency dance workshop and an embroidery class.
You can choose to completely immerse yourself in Jane Austen’s world by attending each of the events in full Regency costume, courtesy of Strictly Jane Austen.
Image: Celebrating Jane Austen at The Gainsborough Bath Spa, credit The Gainsborough Bath Spa Hotel
You’ll also venture further than the hotel during your stay, with a private visit to No.1 Royal Crescent, as well as daytrips to the nearby Wiltshire village of Lacock and Chawton House, the former Austen family home, in Hampshire.
At The Francis Hotel, discover Bath’s links to Jane Austen and the city’s Georgian heritage on a two-night stay with their ‘Explore Bath’ package. Enjoy visits to The Jane Austen Centre and No.1 Royal Crescent with tickets to both attractions included in your package, then retire to the Regency-inspired townhouse hotel for a Bridgerton-inspired cocktail followed by a delectable afternoon tea.
Image: The Francis Hotel
For more luxurious stays in period Georgian settings, book yourself into a boutique room at The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa, The Queensberry, or No.15 by Guesthouse.
Among Bath Luxury Rentals’ portfolio of charming Georgian townhouses is Mr Darcy’s Abode, named after one of Jane’s most infamous characters. This chic boutique self-catering property provides the perfect pad for a group stay in Bath marking Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, with seven bedrooms, four luxury bathrooms, a spacious kitchen and cosy snug.
You’ll find more Georgian townhouse accommodation ideal for groups and families at The Private House No.5, or even book a stay in Jane’s former family home between 1801 and 1805 via Airbnb!
The four-poster grandeur of the Jane Austen Room at Bailbrook House is perfect for a romantic escape, or you can enjoy some Regency splendour at Dukes Bath, The Windsor, Abbey Hotel or Hotel Indigo.
Enjoy Austen Attractions & Events
The Jane Austen Centre is always a must-visit attraction, but this is especially true in the author's 250th birthday year. Step through the door for a fascinating journey through Jane's life, where you'll discover the city's influence on her work, and meet some of her iconic characters, including the dashing Mr Darcy! Expect interactive museum exhibits, including the chance to dress up in Regency clothing and practice your skills with a quill, as well as a filmed tour of the Bath locations that inspired Jane's writing. You’ll also discover what Jane really looked like (it’s controversial!)
The Centre also runs The Jane Austen Festival, the city’s annual celebration of all things Austen. The event usually takes place throughout September, but will expand for one year only in 2025, with three themed balls taking place outside of the main festival.
Image: Summer Ball at The Jane Austen Festival, credit Sean Strange Photography
These include a Persuasion nautical-themed ball on 31 May, followed by a Sanditon seaside-themed ball on 28 June, the first time the festival has hosted two summer balls in its history, offering double the opportunity for you to join in with the festivities. Plus, you can brush up on your moves at dance workshops ahead of both events.
Later in the year, in the build-up to the big day itself on 16 December, there's a chance to celebrate Jane's birthday and the Christmas season in what promises to be a memorable Yuletide Birthday Ball on 13 December.
But it's not just about the dancing! You'll also have the usual festival favourites to look forward to throughout September, including the Grand Regency Costumed Parade through the city centre streets, alongside some more special events scattered in to the programme.
Image: Grand Regency Costumed Promenade at The Jane Austen Festival, credit Sean Strange Photography
Other venues across the city are getting in to the Austen anniversary spirit throughout 2025. In April, the Theatre Royal welcomes the multi-award-winning ‘Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of)’ to its Main House stage. This audacious retelling of the novel features a mix of everything you’d expect plus quite a few surprises, as men, money and microphones are fought over to a soundtrack of modern pop classics.
In May, acclaimed historian Lucy Worsley takes to the stage at The Forum for a dive into the world of Jane Austen. Nab your ticket for a beautifully illustrated insight into what home meant to both the author and the women characters of her novels, as Worsley takes a fascinating look at the places and possessions that meant most to her. You’ll also discover Jane’s true character as a passionate woman who fought consistently for her liberty, rather than someone who supposedly lived a ‘life without incident.’
Later in the year, The Holburne Museum welcomes a new ‘Illustrating Austen’ exhibition from September all the way through to January. Get up close to the artwork behind your favourite Austen stories, learn how the author’s iconic characters have been brought to life on the page, and how their depictions have evolved over the years as the novels have reached new audiences.
Bath’s Natural Theatre Company will be performing their immersive ‘Austen Lost and Found’ theatre show throughout the year using the city itself as a stage. Join them for witty walkabout performances exploring Jane’s life, creative ideas, and adventures. Expect wild imaginings of how Jane’s first drafts of her characters might have turned out, with a healthy dose of duels, romance, scandal, and a hilarious twist.
Take a Tour
Stretch your legs and get a detailed insight into Jane’s life in Bath on one of the many guided and self-guided tours available in Bath.
Let an expert guide transport you back in time to the city that Jane knew on the Strictly Jane Austen Tour, with fascinating stories from the city's time as a popular spa resort for high society in the Regency era. Or join Photo Tours in Bath’s ‘Jane Austen Photo Tour,’ where you’ll explore the buildings across the city that Jane once called home, as well as those mentioned in her novels, and buildings used as filming locations in screen adaptations of her work.
Step into Jane’s shoes and indulge in one of her favourite pastimes, to “take the air” in Sydney Gardens after breakfasting at the Sydney Hotel, now The Holburne Museum. Follow in her footsteps with an alfresco breakfast in the museum’s beautiful Garden Café, then set off on a stroll through the gardens on the Jane Austen Trail.
Image: Sydney Gardens
Alternatively, don your headphones and embark on Visit Bath’s very own Jane Austen audio walking tour of the city. The audio tour lasts for an hour and a half, and describes how Bath would have appeared in its Georgian heyday, with extracts from Austen's novels and letters.
Image: Jane Austen audio walking tour, credit Visit Bath
Eat & Drink
According to Michael Raffael’s book “The Curiosities of Bath” [Birlinn 2006]; “Bath buns don’t slip into the English language until a young Jane Austen writes a typically mischievous letter about 'disordering my stomach with Bath bunns.' The extra letter ‘n’ may not be an accidental slip. She could be referring to Sally Lunns. Nor is she criticising their indigestibility, simply implying that she liked pigging out on them as a form of comfort eating.” Take the taste test for yourself at Sally Lunn’s Historic Eating House.
Image: Sally Lunn's Historic Eating House
Save room for tea too, a ritual just as popular in Regency Britain as it is today, with Jane's characters often seen taking tea together. Today, you can enjoy a quintessential afternoon tea in the peaceful splendour of The Pump Room Restaurant, once described by Jane as the place where 'every creature in Bath was to be seen in the room at different periods of the fashionable hours,’ as well as at The Jane Austen Centre’s Regency Tea Room.
Image: The Pump Room Restaurant
At the latter, you'll be presented with a delicious range of options, from a decadent 'Tea with Mr Darcy' to lighter options such as 'Lady Catherine’s Proper Cream Tea’ and ‘Mrs Bennet’s Cake of the Day.' Whichever you go for, it'll be served with your choice of tea from the wide range available, including the exclusive 'Jane Austen Blend' by local brand Gillards of Bath, a light blend of China black teas popular in Regency times. It’s the perfect place to round out a visit to the Centre below, or escape from the bustle of the city centre.
For something with more of a kick, take a trip to the chic surroundings of Circo Bar & Lounge, or head upstairs at The Bath Distillery Gin Bar to familiarise yourself with Virginia ‘Gin’ Austen and savour a Bath Gin cocktail.
Image: Bath Gin
Shop
Milsom Street, where Jane and her contemporaries would have shopped for hats and ribbons, is still the place to go for trinkets and fripperies, gifts and high fashion. Read our guide to the street and surrounding areas to find stylish places to shop, eat and drink while you're there.
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