Bath

The Roman Baths, Royal Crescent and Thermae spa in two days

Two days in Bath covers the Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent and an evening at Thermae Bath Spa, with time for the canal walk to Bathampton. Trains from London Paddington take about 1.5 hours, and Bath pairs easily with London, York and other UK cities on a wider route.

The city is small, and most visitors see it in a single rushed day between London and the West Country. Stay a night and the day-trippers thin out by late afternoon. That is when the Georgian streets are at their best.

• Day one, Roman and Georgian Bath: be at the Roman Baths at opening with a ticket bought online, and allow at least 2 hours. Bath Abbey stands next door; a tower tour takes you up above the roofs of the old centre. Cross Pulteney Bridge, then walk uphill through the Circus to the Royal Crescent, completed in 1774, where No. 1 Royal Crescent shows how a Georgian household lived. End with a soak in the rooftop pool at Thermae Bath Spa as the light goes.
• Day two, around the edges: join the free two-hour walking tour run daily by the Mayor of Bath's Honorary Guides, then follow the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath for about 40 minutes to the George Inn at Bathampton for lunch. Fit the Bath Skyline Walk into the afternoon if your legs allow.
• Day three, out of town: Bristol is only 15 minutes by train and Bradford on Avon 15 to 20. Coach tours run to Stonehenge and Avebury, to the National Trust village of Lacock and to Castle Combe in the Cotswolds.

Rooms are expensive for the size of the place, and weekends go first. If prices bite, Bristol makes a cheaper base with a quick train in each morning. Otherwise, compare hotels in Bath within walking distance of the Abbey, and reserve a Thermae slot for any weekend or summer visit.

From London Heathrow, take the Heathrow Express into Paddington and change there, a little under two hours in all. A car earns its keep only in the Cotswolds, so hire one for those days alone.

Summer walking weather, the Jane Austen Festival and Christmas market

May to September is the best time to visit Bath for walking, and September adds the Jane Austen Festival after the school-holiday crowds leave. Summer peaks around 22°C, December is the wettest month, and from late November the Christmas market fills the streets around the Abbey.

The valley of the Avon gives Bath a soft, damp climate. In high summer the Roman Baths keep their doors open until 10PM, the best way to see them without a crowd. Rain arrives in earnest in autumn. In the wet months the warm water of the rooftop pool becomes the city's main winter draw.

Day-trip coaches peak around midday from spring to autumn. Arrive before ten or stay into the evening, and the Royal Crescent and the Abbey churchyard feel like a different city.

September is a strong month to come. The Jane Austen Festival usually runs then, with visitors in Regency costume parading through the streets, and the summer school-holiday crowds have gone. Read Northanger Abbey before you arrive; many of the places Austen satirised still stand.

The Bath Film Festival fills cinemas from late October to mid November. From late November the Christmas market sets up its wooden chalets around the Abbey and draws coach parties from across the country, so weekday visits are far calmer. Bath Rugby also sells out the 14,509-seat Recreation Ground on match days, filling pubs and restaurants beside the river.

Sally Lunn buns, Bath Olivers and cheap lunches in Kingsmead Square

Two buns compete for the city's name. The Sally Lunn bun is a big unsweetened round. Sally Lunn's Refreshment House on North Parade Passage splits it and adds sweet or salty toppings, and at lunchtime you may have to queue. The Bath bun is smaller and sticky, with lumps of sugar and raisins on top, and every baker sells it. The Bath Oliver, a plain dry biscuit, was invented by Dr William Oliver in 1740 for patients taking the waters. You can taste the filtered spa water itself from the fountain at the end of the Roman Baths tour.

Kingsmead Square is the place for a cheap lunch. Seafoods on Kingsmead Street has been frying fish and chips for over 50 years, and the benches in the square fill with people eating takeaway burgers. For dinner, Yak Yeti Yak serves Nepalese food in a basement on Pierrepont Street; book ahead for Friday or Saturday. Restaurants near the Abbey charge for the view, as in any heritage town.

Bath's pubs are its other pleasure. The Old Green Tree on Green Street is tiny and wood-panelled. Squeeze in for a pint of real ale or cider. The Star Inn on the Paragon pours Abbey Ales in small rooms with wooden benches and old pub games. The Salamander is the house of Bath Ales. The Bell on Walcot Street, in the artisan quarter, has live music and a big garden. Across the river in Bathwick, the Rising Sun keeps a traditional skittle alley.

Locals call themselves Bathonians and take their city's looks seriously. Do not be tempted to swim in the river between Pulteney Bridge and the weir: the current is deadly.