54408LWE
Roman Bath Museum visit
Bath lunch stop
Glastonbury Abbey visit
You will need cash for Glastonbury.
· Confirm visits in advance & ask about special events, closed areas of sites.
· There are restrictions on coach access to certain parts of Bath. Please Note that Private Hire coaches are not allowed to use Pulteney Bridge. Coming from London follow the Pulteney Road (A36) South and use North Parade (Good view of Pulteney Bridge rhs) to get into the city centre. Discuss with your driver the route you’d like to take.
· Parking for Bath is now outside THE ABBEY HOTEL, North Parade, BA1 1LF. There are also bays on Terrace Walk. From here, it’s a short walk to the Abbey and the Roman Baths. (The original parking spot is now for taxis only).
· No chewing gum allowed in either museum
Route March.
Depart London on M4, view of Windsor Castle to left. Possible rest stops include Membury or Leigh Delamere. Join A46 for Bath at Junction 18.
BATH
Sightseeing Tour
Do your panoramic of the city first, doing your best to cover as many of the sites below, traffic and restrictions allowing:
Pulteney Bridge
The Abbey
The Assembly Rooms
The Circus
View of Royal Crescent (from Royal Avenue across Victoria Park)
Queen Square
Museums
ROMAN BATHS MUSEUM (Admission by voucher)
After tour, drop group in lay at North Parade/Terrace Walk. This will be your meeting point. Impress on group that they must be on time as coaches are not able to wait. Walk them past Abbey to the museum. Group waits outside briefly while you alert museum staff and pay the entrance by voucher. Distribute individual tickets, group receives brief introduction talk from a member of staff, ticket barcode is scanned and audio guides collected. The museum is self-guiding.
Facilities inside the Museum Buildings
Audio handsets available – these are interesting and easy to use.
Shop. Restrooms are just prior to shop.
The Pump Rooms – taste the spa water, small charge and sample the delicious cakes (esp. the famous Bath Bun) and tea in this elegant café.
Toilets upon Entry – gents on left downstairs, ladies on right.
COSTUME MUSEUM (Can obtain admission by voucher)
Group waits outside briefly while you alert museum staff and pay the entrance. The museum is self-guiding. Some groups have been known to get through the exhibit very quickly.
GENERAL INFO ON MUSEUMS
Ensure group is aware that once they have left the museums, they aren’t able to re-enter. The visits could be in either order. Whatever the case, you need to arrange a meeting time/place after the first one and then walk group to the second (approx. 10
mins. – NB It’s uphill to the Costume Museum). After the second visit, group has free time in the city for lunch/shopping etc.
Historic Buildings/Architecture /Facilities
Building of Bath Museum – The Paragon
No 1, Royal Crescent – Royal Crescent
Herschel Museum – New King Street
William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus in 1781.
Sally Lunn’s House – North Parade Passage
Bath Abbey – Abbey Churchyard
Jane Austen Centre 40, Gay Street
Guildhall – High Street
Theatre Royal – Beauford Square
Pulteney Bridge
The Circus
The Royal Crescent
Bureau de change – directly opposite entrance to museum in Tourist Information Centre (commission free, but usually terrible rates). Marks and Spencer (Stall Street) is left from the arcade.
Cash-points – bottom of High St. (across from the Abbey), Union St and Bath St, opposite Roman Baths shop exit.
Shopping – good mix of high street, gift and souvenir stores.
Internet Access – there are a couple of cyber cafes on Pierrepont and Manvers Streets, close to the railway station.
Glastonbury – visit
Judge this visit according to your group’s wishes and interests. As well as the Abbey, they may wish to climb the Tor if the weather is fine.
Glastonbury Abbey
The coach park next to Abbey on Magdalene Street. Pay with cash and give group time to explore. Exhibition and ruins of the Abbey in which medieval monks claimed to have discovered the 6th C tomb of Arthur and Guinevere (marked on ground in nave). Also see the Holy Thorn, supposedly descended from that planted by Joseph of Arimathea when he brought the child Jesus to Glastonbury (William Blake “…and did those feet in ancient times/Walk upon England’s mountains green”). In summer months an actor/monk roams in costume.
Facilities in Abbey
Gift shop, Toilets, Disabled Access 95% of site, Wheelchairs available, Café.
Re-gather at the main archway and either give free time to explore town (loads of new-age stores and Arthurian themed books etc) or to head towards the Tor.
Glastonbury Tor
Footpath to Tor is 15 minute walk uphill out of town on Chilkwell St, A361 towards Shepton Mallet. Turn left along Wellhouse Lane. Follow signs to footpath on right. Takes about 1 ½ hours to climb and return. Rough ground, only for the fit.
The bus stop in front of the car park has been known to have a shuttle bus which will take passengers to the base of the Tor. Double check upon arrival.
You could try to approach the Tor part way by coach. Stopping on that road is very difficult, but you may be able to briefly use the car park of the Bere Lane Rural Life Museum to drop off/pick up.
Another interesting stop on Chilkwell Street (just before footpath to Tor) is the Chalice Well. Extraordinary and peaceful garden with its ancient iron spring. Entrance fee. A Roman lining was discovered to this ancient holy spring and you can drink the water. Ring ahead (01458 831154) and check it is ok to take a group. Not for the noisy, this is a meditation site. Good alternative for those who do not want to do the Tor.
Cheddar Gorge – drive
Take A38 (south) from Bristol and A371 into Cheddar village (famous not only for the gorge, but also for supplying the strawberries for Wimbledon tennis tournament), passing the entrance to King John’s Hunting Lodge on the left. From Cheddar take the B3135 – this is tour route through the Cheddar Gorge. The Gorge is a special conservation area and boasts outstanding natural beauty.
The visitor’s centre on the left is the first thing you see. Next is the Lookout Tower on the right, then Jacob’s Ladder, where you can climb the 274 steps for wonderful views of Somerset and the sea. Further on the right, you pass the entrances to Crystal Quest and Cox’s Cave. Next is Lion’s Rock on the left. There are toilets and a bureau de change here and also the Explorer’s Café-Bar and the entrance to The Cheddar Man, Britain’s oldest complete skeleton.