Bath, England: Travel Feature

Bath in the southwest of England is just one of those places. Much of what you see today builds on the city's history that dates back 2,000 years to Roman times. One of the huge draws here is the Roman bath,s and with good reason. You're unlikely to see such a well preserved set of baths anywhere else in the world. They're below street level and were originally built here because it was believed that the area waters had healing powers. As you'd expect from the Romans, they didn't do this by halves - this is a spa and a temple, constructed around the water, which they contained in a reservoir. Even today, that would be some undertaking! On your tour you'll see the Sacred Spring, Roman Temple, the Roman bath house and various archaeological finds that have been made here over the years.

But what makes this different is that these aren't ruins you're seeing, where you try to imagine what would have been constructed on the site. The main parts of this complex remain intact. The highlight has to be the Great Bath, a very appropriate name. If you've ever seen photos of Bath, it's probably a picture of the Great Bath that you've been looking at, with its distinctive light green colored water and columns all around the bath. You can tell immediately that this area was used for bathing and in fact, it's something like five feet deep! Even today, this is something that many modern spa resorts would be proud to name amongst their facilities.

Close to the Roman baths is Bath Abbey, a superb site for photographers. This church dates back to 1611 and is well worth a look inside. England is fortunate to have a number of churches in what's called the Perpendicular style, with their high ornate roofs, and they really are worth seeing. This is perhaps one of the best examples of this type of church in the country.

Most of the other sights in Bath are much newer, but that doesn't mean they're any less stunning. One of my favorite views in the city, one that I could stare at for hours and never get bored, is Pulteney Bridge. It's named after a local heiress and was completed in 1773. With shops on both sides across the full span of the bridge, its style is very reminiscent of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. To me, the special thing about this bridge is not just taking a walk across it - although that's a great way to spend some time in this lovely city - but the picture postcard view of the bridge with the river in front of it. It really is one of the iconic images of Bath, although interestingly, the bridge has undergone so many changes since it was built that it's thought unlikely its architect would even recognize it now!