The Roman Baths & Museum in Bath, England: You Need to Visit

Seeing as I’ve lived in Somerset my entire life, I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to visit the ancient Roman Baths in the beautiful city of Bath, England. These 2,000-year-old bathing pools of Aquae Sulis are truly fascinating, and the history they’ve unearthed blew my mind. There are so many unexpected extras inside the Roman Baths that I didn’t have a clue about, all hidden quietly behind and below those honey-toned exterior walls.

It’s probably quite naive of me, but all I’d ever really seen online were photos of the main green bathing pool (which I can’t deny is impressively beautiful). So I was so pleased to discover, and experience just how much more there is beyond that during my recent visit to the Roman Baths.

Whether you’re travelling miles to get here, or just becoming a tourist in your own city for the day, The Roman Baths are absolutely worth a visit. And if you’re local like me, and sometimes feel like the things on your doorstep don’t quite have the same pull – well, this is your little nudge. Go. It’s worth it. Whether you’re into history or not, I’m confident you’ll leave feeling impressed… and like you’ve been transported back in time.

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Roman Baths prices and opening times

If you’re a resident of Bath or North East Somerset, you can get free access to the Roman Baths with a Residents Discovery Card. As for the rest of us, tickets are around £33 per adult and £26 for children aged 6+. They also offer a few different family bundles, for example, 2 adults plus 2–4 children costs £88 on a weekend. You can also buy entry tickets through Get Your Guide.

You can save a couple of pounds per ticket by booking online in advance, and weekdays are slightly cheaper than weekends and bank holidays too.

I always thought it seemed overpriced, but what I didn’t realise was just how much there is to see beyond the Great Bath. Now it actually makes sense. It’s not a cheap day out, but I do think it’s worth the money and something you should experience at least once.

The Roman Baths are open daily from 9am–6pm, with last entry at 5pm. They’re closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, with a few tweaks to opening times over the festive period.

For something extra special, visit over Easter weekend when they stay open until 8pm. There’s a pop-up bar, and the Great Bath is lit by flickering torches which sounds so atmospheric.

Where are the Roman Baths?

The Roman Baths sit right in the heart of Bath, directly opposite the imposing Bath Abbey, so they’re incredibly easy to find.

Address: The Roman Baths, Abbey Church Yard, Bath, BA1 1LZ

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Explore the iconic Great Bath

The main bathing pool – known as The Great Bath, is exactly what most people picture when they think of the Roman Baths in Bath. It’s that iconic murky-green, open-air pool surrounded by tall stone pillars and statues (although those are actually newer Victorian additions).

Originally, the Great Bath was covered by a huge wooden barrel-vaulted roof with glass panels, flooding the space with natural light and making it feel incredibly grand. At around 20 metres tall, it was likely one of the tallest structures in the area at the time. You can only imagine how impressive this would have felt to anyone who visited.

Today, you can admire it from two different levels: first from the upper terrace, and then again down at ground level (which is actually lower than modern street level), right beside the steaming water. It’s such a beautiful space, and the details they’ve preserved are genuinely remarkable.

Bathing was hugely important in Roman times. They believed the waters had powerful healing properties and interestingly, it was a place where social class didn’t divide people in the same way. Wealthy bathers would be there alongside labourers washing away a day of grime, dust and rubble all using the same space. Though the wealthy often had slaves watching their belongings unlike the poor.

Later on, the baths were divided into separate areas for men and women… which leads nicely into the rest of the rooms you’ll explore.

Are the Roman Baths worth visiting in Bath

Frigidarium (cold bath)

We all know about cold water therapy in modern day life, it’s everywhere nowadays, with thousands of people raving about the health benefits from taking a cold plunge, ice bath or wild swim. Well, it turns out the Romans were way ahead of us and knew this 2000 years ago.

They would come to the Roman Baths to take a dip in one of the shoulder deep cold plunge pools to help boost their immune system and fight off fevers and other illnesses.

The smaller, semi-circular plunge pool even had a bench running around the edge, where people would sit and endure a few minutes in the cold before heading back into the warmth.

There’s also a larger, circular frigidarium, which you’ll come across as you explore and it looked like people throw coins in it like a wishing well.

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Walk around a Roman gym

The Roman Baths were so much more than just bathing, it was a social space, a place to heal, to be plucked and pruned, but it was also a place to come and exercise – almost like a modern day spa and leisure centre!

More recently they discovered an exercise courtyard. It was basically a gym where the Romans would lift weights, wrestle and work-out before they headed into the Laconicum (their version of a sauna). They used things like stone weights and medicine balls made from animal bladders and even played a game called Trigon – a fast-paced three-person ball game that you’ll see projected onto the walls.

See the original hypocaust in the steam room

As you explore the Roman Baths, you’ll come across rooms showing the original hypocaust system. An underfloor heating setup made from stacked stone pillars where fires would be lit, and the hot air would circulate beneath the floors, heating the rooms above.

There were even stone beds in these rooms, where people would lie down after sweating it out and be massaged with olive oil often infused with herbs. It would then be scraped off using a hooked tool known as a strigil, which would remove all their dead skin.

Women would also undergo various beauty rituals like hair removal using tweezers or pumice stones.

Read the Roman curse tablets

I found the Roman curse tablets so fascinating. You’ll see loads of these tiny silver-toned notes on display, some scrunched up, but others remarkably intact.

Dating between the 2nd to late 4th century AD, curse tablets were inscribed on small sheets of lead or pewter and then thrown into the sacred spring dedicated to the spirit of goddess Sulis Minerva.

Most of them tell stories of injustice, people asking for revenge or for wrongs to be righted. One even describes stolen belongings and asks for a curse to be placed on the thief. They used lead notes as they believed that if the tablet floated, the curse would bounce back onto the person who wrote it rather than its intended victim.. not what you want.

See the original Roman over-flow drain

A lot of the museum lurks beneath the streets of modern day Bath, and one of the most interesting parts is the original Roman over-flow drain. You can stand right next to it and actually feel the warmth of the water as it flows past. It’s amazing to think this system still works today, carrying water all the way to the River Avon about 400 metres away. The Roman’s really knew what they were doing all those years ago!

How did they discover the Roman Baths in Bath?

The Roman Baths were actually rediscovered by accident, when someone’s basement kept flooding.

Major Charles Davis, the city’s surveyor and architect began investigating a leak in 1878, which was when he uncovered Roman tiles, lead, and pottery. Over the following years, more and more of the site was revealed, including most of the Great Bath. The only problem? There were buildings sitting on top of it.

Eventually after much difficulty, those buildings were purchased by city authorities and demolished so the baths could be fully uncovered to what we see today.

Enjoy lunch in the Pump Room restaurant

You can’t bring food or drinks inside the Roman Baths and museum (aside from bottled water), and there isn’t a casual café onsite, but you can pre-book a table at the elegant Pump Room restaurant where you can dine beneath a sparkling chandelier while listening to a live pianist, which all feels very on-brand for Bath.

They have breakfast spots from 10am, where you can enjoy a selection of baked goods, or brunch is served from 11am for something more savoury. In the afternoon it’s switched up for afternoon teas, serving delicate finger sandwiches, caviar, cream tea’s and pastries. You can even taste the spa water from the traditional fountain in here too.

The Pump Room itself dates back to 1706 and was originally built so the upper classes could drink the magical healing spa water without mixing with the lower classes.

Can you swim in the Roman Baths?

Sadly the Roman Baths cannot be used anymore, only admired from the side line.

The water still flows through original Roman lead pipes, and the bath itself is lined with lead and filled with algae and potentially harmful bacteria that would make you very sick. Staff don’t even recommend touching the water, but if you do, you’ll definitely want to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

However, the good news is that you can enjoy the same (but safe) thermal waters from the original hot spring over in the new modern Bath Spa – Thermae Spa, which is just around the corner from the Roman Baths.

Drink the spa water from the Roman Baths fountain

Curious to know what the spa water actually tastes like?

Near the exit, there’s a drinking fountain where you can try it for yourself. It’s the same mineral-rich water the Romans drank, but fair warning, I’ve heard it tastes pretty awful thanks to its high mineral levels which give it a strong metallic flavour.

Sadly, it was closed when we visited but had it been open I’d still give it a try just for the experience!

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How long do you need to explore the Roman Baths?

We spent 2.5 hours inside the Roman Baths, moving at a fairly relaxed pace and listening to almost all of the auido guide.

Having said that, you could easily spend 3-4 hours in here if it’s crowded, especially if you want to stop and read every single bit of information in here and admire all the discoveries and artefacts. Theres a lot to see!

Model of The Roman Baths in England in 4th century

Listen to the helpful audio guides

Once inside the impressive Victorian reception hall, you’ll be given an audio guide which is attached to a lanyard that you can hang around your neck. It’s like an old-school phone that you hold up to your ear and is available in thirteen languages (English, Dutch, French, German, Ukrainian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish)

The audio guides are included within your ticket price and they are very informative – it’s worth having one! Theres a different audioguide for children, which features Roman characters and their stories which is a really nice touch.

Final thoughts on the Roman Baths

I love a bit of history, and The Roman Baths is such an immersive way to experience this part of the Roman Empire. The projections and holograms really help bring everything to life, showing exactly what would have happened in each space.

It’s an incredibly popular attraction, with over a million visitors each year, so it can get busy, which does take away from the experience slightly. If you can, try to visit early in the morning or later in the afternoon to avoid the biggest crowds… and give yourself the time to properly take it all in.

If you’re on the fence about visiting, take this as your sign to go. The Roman Baths completely exceeded my expectations, and I loved how much there was to see beyond that famous photo of the Great Bath. It’s one of those places that really makes you stop and think about just how advanced and surprisingly relatable life was all those years ago.

Yes, it can be busy, and yes, it’s not the cheapest day out… but it’s absolutely worth experiencing at least once. For me, it’s gone from “one of those places I’ll visit one day” to somewhere I’d happily recommend to anyone visiting Bath.

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