On Thursday the 20th, we had breakfast at our hotel, Apsley House, a wonderful bed & breakfast a bit west of the Bath City Centre. Our original plan for the day was to visit Stonehenge, Salisbury, Avebury – all different henges and stone rings – then work our way back to Bath. Instead, to start the day, we took a local bus to the City Centre in Bath to visit the Roman Baths. This was a great decision, as we would have never made it back to Bath in time to visit the baths.
Bath Abbey at the Bath City Centre
All I can say about the Baths is that they were incredible. While some parts were reconstructed in the 19th Century, the main layout of the Baths is still intact. The Grand Pool you see below is about 20 feet below the current street level in the town.
View of The Grand Pool at The Roman Baths of Bath.
The day was fairly chilly – enough so that the 46C (about 114F) water had a layer of steam on it at all times and frost was still on some of the outside display panels at 11:30 in the morning.
We probably spent about two hours touring the Baths. They truly were phenomenal.
We took the bus back to Apsley House, where we dropped off the souvenirs we had picked up while in Bath City Centre, then got in the car and headed (or at least tried to!) out towards Avebury. If we would only have an opportunity to see one of the stone circles, the choice was Avebury since you can actually walk amongst the stones.
We got there with about an hour left before the car park was closed. The day never did warm – there was still frost on the grass and berm that faced away from the sun.
A portion of the southwest quadrant of Avebury Henge showing the grass still with frost at the end of the day.
We visited what is considered the southern hemisphere of the ring. You are actually able to walk right up to the stones.
At Avebury, you are able to walk right up to the stones.
We were there right around sunset, then headed south to try to do a drive by of Stonehenge, even though it was dark. As we came down the “A” road that approached Stonehenge, there was a turn off to a “B” road that should have gone right by the henge – but it was closed! (The road, that is – we already expected the visitor center to be closed by that time of day.) We caught a glimpse of Stonehenge with lighting behind it, but there wasn’t any way to stop on the highway, so we headed back to Bath to prepare for the next day of travel.
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