Thermae Bath Spa

About this place

Two minutes away at the Roman Baths you look at the hot water and are forbidden to touch it; here you get in. Thermae Bath Spa is the only place in Britain where you actually bathe in naturally hot spring water, the same water that drew the Romans to the city two thousand years ago, rising from the ground at around 45°C and cooled to about 33°C in the pools. The modern building opened in 2006 after nearly three decades without public bathing in Bath: a Grimshaw-designed glass cube wrapped in honey-coloured Bath stone, set among Georgian streets that have barely changed in two centuries. The standard visit is a two-hour session that starts in the large indoor Minerva Bath, moves through the Wellness Suite of scented steam rooms, an infrared room and an ice chamber, and ends where it should: the open-air rooftop pool, floating in warm water with steam curling around you and the tower of Bath Abbey and the green hills in front of you. On a grey winter afternoon this is better than in summer, because hot water meets cold air and you disappear into the mist. The rooftop pool is smaller than the photographs suggest and gets crowded on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, so book the first slots of the day or the evening. A session costs £44 on weekdays and £49 at weekends, towel and robe included; bring your own swimwear and flip-flops. Only a limited number of places can be pre-booked and the rest are released on the day through a virtual queue, so booking online a few days ahead is the reliable route, especially in summer, at weekends and in the evening. Phones are sealed in a locked pouch for the whole visit, so there is no photography at all, and anything you buy in the Springs Café is charged to your account and settled when you leave. Important notes for families: this is adults only, 16 and over (18 for treatments), bathing is mixed in every pool and there are no women-only or family sessions. Swimwear is compulsory; full-coverage modest swimwear is generally accepted here as at most British facilities, but confirm by phone before booking. The smaller alternative is the historic open-air Cross Bath across the street: public sessions run on Tuesdays only, 90 minutes for £40 a head, open to ages 12 and up with one adult per child, and the whole bath can be hired exclusively on any day of the week for up to ten people at £800 on weekdays or £1,000 at weekends, which is the only route here to complete privacy. From Bath Spa railway station it is under ten minutes on foot.