Blogmas Day Nine: Christmas in Bath

Blogmas Day Nine: Christmas in Bath

Every year we as a family do something new during the lead up to Christmas. This usually involves visiting a new Christmas Market, Festival or Faye. This year, we decided to take a day trip to Bath, Somerset. 

We were up early to drive from Essex to London Paddington, where at 9:48am we caught the train to Bath Spa. It was a fast train and we got to Bath Spa within an hour and a half. The trains were also really comfortable. Once we arrived, we made sure our coats, hats and scarves were pulled tight as it was freezing in Bath, we then journey to get a cab to 1 Royal Crescent. 

This is the beautiful Royal Crescent, which is a famous point in Bath, which everyone goes and sees. It is next to 1 Royal Crescent, which was built between 1767 and 1774. It is displays items used by both upstairs and downstairs illustrating Georgian domestic life. When we went to visit the House has been dressed for a Georgian Christmas. 

During the visit to 1 Royal Crescent, we got to see inside several different areas, including the Study, Gentlemen's Retreat, Drawing Room, Dining Room, Bedroom but also the Kitchen and Scullery. Most of the room had a guide on stand by who welcomed you into the room and would happily give you information about the decor, how it was decorated for Christmas and to answer any questions you had. They were really helpful and the rooms were all decorated in a stunning way - I would happily spend Christmas there. I loved the added details for the festive season - for example in the Gentlemen's Retreat - there was a bottle and two glasses which were filled with Mulled Wine. The House, now being a Museum and quite a small place to be a museum - it made it feel quite cosy and with the added decorations made it feel really festive and Christmassy. In the Dining Room, the table was set for Dinner - but this being the Dessert portion of the Dinner Party. We discovered that a Dinner Party would last several hours and that the servants would lay the table with the food but the guests would be expected to help themselves. It was an amazing place to venture around, especially with it being somewhere I had never visited before. Everyone who worked there was so friendly and happy to help and give you as much information as possible. If you are planning to visit Bath, I think this should be your first stop! 

We then hopped on a local bus and made our way to the Bath Christmas Market. Now this made me feel really Christmassy. There was music, the smell of Mulled Wine, and fake snow being blasted now and again. It was also really busy, which was amazing to see, cause it gave you an understanding that it was popular and good. Each small business had a little shack where they were selling there good from. This included food stalls, handmade goods, sweets, clothes, christmas decorations etc. It was amazing to walk past the stores and see items that you would not usually come across in normal shops and stores. We picked up Cheese, a new hat, Fudge, a Christmas Pudding, a picture and a handmade rabbit necklace (thank you Katie!). It was so festive and a really good market to visit. I liked that not all the stalls were in the same place, they were all off of the town centre and down side streets - so they were around every corner! All the stall owners were really friendly and were happy to help and give you information, free samples and of course wish you a Merry Christmas. It was an incredible experience and one of the best Christmas Markets I have been too! While we were at the Market, we also came across a shop called December 25. This store is open all year and it sells amazing Christmas decorations. We cannot go to a new City and not pick up a bauble or two! We got five baubles all together that are now pride of place on our Christmas tree. 

Bath was incredible. It was so festive and made me feel really Christmassy. We all had an amazing time, then grabbed a train home. It was nice to come home tired from an amazing Day. Definitely going to go back and visit again. 

Until next time, 

Becky xxx