Bath packs a surprising amount into a small city. A Georgian world heritage site with a Premiership rugby club, a racecourse on the hill above it, two major festivals, and a Christmas market that takes over the streets around the Abbey for six weeks. Most of it is walkable from the station.
This guide covers what is on through the year, and — the part most event listings leave out — where a group can actually stay when the city’s hotels are full.
Bath Christmas Market
Late November to mid December. Around 180 wooden chalets threading through the streets around Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths, which is both the appeal and the problem: it is genuinely lovely and extremely busy at weekends. Midweek visits and early mornings are far more pleasant.
Hotel prices in the city roughly double across market weekends, and single rooms sell out first, which is why groups increasingly take a house outside the city and travel in.
Bath Half Marathon
Usually mid March. A fast, flat, two-lap road course through the city centre, with around 10,000 runners and a lot of supporters. Road closures make driving in on the day a bad idea; most runners staying outside Bath get a lift to the edge and walk.
Running clubs and family support groups tend to need beds in one place, near a kitchen, with somewhere to put muddy kit and an early breakfast — which hotels handle badly and a house handles easily.
Bath Rugby at the Recreation Ground
September to June. The Rec sits right on the river in the middle of the city, which makes it one of the more pleasant grounds to visit — you can walk from the station in ten minutes and be in a pub afterwards without getting in a car. Big fixtures fill the city’s accommodation well in advance.
Bath Racecourse
Flat racing from April to October on the highest flat course in the country, up on Lansdown with long views over the city. Ladies’ Day and the summer evening meetings are the busiest. It is a short drive from the villages around Bath, so staying outside the city is straightforward.
Bath Festivals
The Bath Festival in May brings music and literature together across venues in the city, and the Jane Austen Festival in September fills the streets with Regency costume for ten days. Both draw visitors who stay several nights rather than passing through, so book early.
Weddings and private celebrations
Bath is a popular wedding destination, and the guest accommodation problem is a familiar one: a scattered group of relatives booking individual rooms across several hotels, then needing taxis at midnight. Taking one large house for the family solves both, and gives you somewhere for the morning after.
If that is what you are planning, Celebrate Near Bath covers it in more detail.
Where to stay for events in Bath
For one or two people, the city’s hotels and B&Bs are fine. For a group — a running club, a family in for a wedding, friends down for the rugby or the races — the economics change. Six hotel rooms across a weekend usually costs more than a whole house, and everyone ends up eating separately.
We look after several large self-catering properties a short drive from Bath, taking groups of eight to twenty-two with exclusive use of the whole property:
Several have a heated pool and hot tub, which earns its keep after a cold day at the races or a half marathon.
Getting to and around Bath
Bath Spa station runs direct to London Paddington in about ninety minutes and to Bristol in twelve, which makes it practical for guests arriving from different directions without cars. The city centre is small enough to walk end to end in twenty minutes, and parking in it is genuinely difficult — staying outside and travelling in is often easier than it sounds.
The things to do guide and local area guide cover what is within reach once you are here, and you can check availability for any of the properties.