The Globe Trotter: 21 June
There are a number of wonderful British cities I have wanted to live in the moment I arrived, and beautiful Bath is certainly on the list. This year is a special time to spend a weekend there as it continues to celebrate its unique connection to Jane Austen and the 200th anniversary of Pride And Prejudice.
A special package has been put together by two of the city’s leading attractions. Visitors can now explore the life and times of the famous author, take ‘Tea with Mr Darcy’ and then bathe in Bath’s natural thermal waters, just as Jane Austen would have done in the 18th century.
The special package costs £58 per person and includes entry into the Jane Austen Centre, which claims to offer a snapshot of life during Regency times, Tea with Mr Darcy at the Regency Tea Rooms (with finger sandwiches, scone with clotted cream and jam, cakes and tea or coffee), and a two-hour spa session, including use of towel, robe and slippers at the wonderful Thermae Bath Spa – I loved it. To book: 0844-847 5256, www.visitbathshop.co.uk
The Jane Austen Festival runs from 13 to 21 September, and offers fans a chance to learn how to dance, read, write, sew, bathe, dress and even eat like the author, with a packed programme of events. The Grand Regency Promenade is a costumed walk through the city centre by about 600 people on 14 September. Anyone can join in. Book tickets from: www.janeausten.co.uk/festival
No 1 Royal Crescent re-opens today (21 June), after a £5m project to reunite the original 18th-century servants’ wing with the rest of the house. The refurbishment doubles the number of rooms open to the public, each with authentic furniture, objects, paintings and textiles, to make it one of the UK’s finest examples of late Georgian architecture.
Be a Regency lady for the day
If you book a 90-minute Jane Austen Walking Tour, guides take you to places where Jane walked, visited and shopped. The houses where she lived and the settings for the novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, can still be seen within a mile radius of the Jane Austen Centre. Tickets cost £9 per adult, £7 per child. To book: www.janeausten.co.uk Also, Bath Tourism’s website – www. visitbath.co.uk – has a section dedicated to Jane Austen, which includes an audio walking tour that can be downloaded for free.
Meanwhile, the Manor House Hotel in Castle Combe is staging a performance of Pride And Prejudice as part of its annual Theatre On The Lawns event on 26 August. The performance begins at 5.30pm. Tickets cost £15 per adult or £9 per child: www.manorhouse.co.uk
Finally, for your weekend in Bath, stay in a classic Georgian town house hotel a short walk from the Jane Austen Centre and her former home in Sydney Place. The Abbey Hotel – 01225-461603, www.abbeyhotelbath.co.uk – has 60 newly refurbished rooms, an acclaimed brasserie restaurant serving modern British food and a relaxing lounge/bar; its heated pavement terrace is a great spot for people watching, too.
Double rooms with breakfast start at £110 per night.
The Abbey Hotel also offers a special two-night break, with full English breakfast on both days; dinner on one night, and a Mr Darcy cocktail and afternoon tea, from £295 midweek and from £375 at weekends, for two sharing a standard room.
Visit Bath’s official destination website: www.visitbath.co.uk
Contact Wendy at wendy.gomersall@lady.co.ukTravel News
ROBINSON'S BEST Gravetye Manor, West Sussex, is celebrating the life of pioneering Victorian gardener William Robinson with a summer festival. The event, on 6 July, from £15 per person, includes access to the gardens, tea and cake and gardening talks. 01342-810567, www.gravetyemanor.co.uk
FLORIDA BARGAIN British Airways Holidays is offering a 14-night holiday in Orlando, staying at the threestar Ramada Hotel Gateway (room only), from £729 per person, departing between 28 and 30 August. Includes return flights from Gatwick. 0844-493 0758, www.ba.com/summer-holidays
FREE FIZZ Book a two-night, midweek stay at The Greyhound On The Test in Stockbridge, Hampshire, in June or July, and get a free bottle of champagne (rooms cost £100 per night) and a free bottle of wine if you also book dinner. 01264-810833, www.thegreyhoundonthetest.co.uk
A special package has been put together by two of the city’s leading attractions. Visitors can now explore the life and times of the famous author, take ‘Tea with Mr Darcy’ and then bathe in Bath’s natural thermal waters, just as Jane Austen would have done in the 18th century.
The special package costs £58 per person and includes entry into the Jane Austen Centre, which claims to offer a snapshot of life during Regency times, Tea with Mr Darcy at the Regency Tea Rooms (with finger sandwiches, scone with clotted cream and jam, cakes and tea or coffee), and a two-hour spa session, including use of towel, robe and slippers at the wonderful Thermae Bath Spa – I loved it. To book: 0844-847 5256, www.visitbathshop.co.uk
The Jane Austen Festival runs from 13 to 21 September, and offers fans a chance to learn how to dance, read, write, sew, bathe, dress and even eat like the author, with a packed programme of events. The Grand Regency Promenade is a costumed walk through the city centre by about 600 people on 14 September. Anyone can join in. Book tickets from: www.janeausten.co.uk/festival
No 1 Royal Crescent re-opens today (21 June), after a £5m project to reunite the original 18th-century servants’ wing with the rest of the house. The refurbishment doubles the number of rooms open to the public, each with authentic furniture, objects, paintings and textiles, to make it one of the UK’s finest examples of late Georgian architecture.
Be a Regency lady for the dayIf you book a 90-minute Jane Austen Walking Tour, guides take you to places where Jane walked, visited and shopped. The houses where she lived and the settings for the novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, can still be seen within a mile radius of the Jane Austen Centre. Tickets cost £9 per adult, £7 per child. To book: www.janeausten.co.uk Also, Bath Tourism’s website – www. visitbath.co.uk – has a section dedicated to Jane Austen, which includes an audio walking tour that can be downloaded for free.
Meanwhile, the Manor House Hotel in Castle Combe is staging a performance of Pride And Prejudice as part of its annual Theatre On The Lawns event on 26 August. The performance begins at 5.30pm. Tickets cost £15 per adult or £9 per child: www.manorhouse.co.uk
Finally, for your weekend in Bath, stay in a classic Georgian town house hotel a short walk from the Jane Austen Centre and her former home in Sydney Place. The Abbey Hotel – 01225-461603, www.abbeyhotelbath.co.uk – has 60 newly refurbished rooms, an acclaimed brasserie restaurant serving modern British food and a relaxing lounge/bar; its heated pavement terrace is a great spot for people watching, too.
Double rooms with breakfast start at £110 per night.
The Abbey Hotel also offers a special two-night break, with full English breakfast on both days; dinner on one night, and a Mr Darcy cocktail and afternoon tea, from £295 midweek and from £375 at weekends, for two sharing a standard room.
Visit Bath’s official destination website: www.visitbath.co.uk
Contact Wendy at wendy.gomersall@lady.co.uk
Travel News
ROBINSON'S BEST Gravetye Manor, West Sussex, is celebrating the life of pioneering Victorian gardener William Robinson with a summer festival. The event, on 6 July, from £15 per person, includes access to the gardens, tea and cake and gardening talks. 01342-810567, www.gravetyemanor.co.ukFLORIDA BARGAIN British Airways Holidays is offering a 14-night holiday in Orlando, staying at the threestar Ramada Hotel Gateway (room only), from £729 per person, departing between 28 and 30 August. Includes return flights from Gatwick. 0844-493 0758, www.ba.com/summer-holidays
FREE FIZZ Book a two-night, midweek stay at The Greyhound On The Test in Stockbridge, Hampshire, in June or July, and get a free bottle of champagne (rooms cost £100 per night) and a free bottle of wine if you also book dinner. 01264-810833, www.thegreyhoundonthetest.co.uk