The Roman Baths

The Roman Baths, at the heart of the City of Bath World Heritage Site, consists of the remarkably preserved remains of one of the greatest religious spas of the ancient world. It attracted around 1 million visitors last year, making it one of the most visited ancient monuments in the UK.

The main tourist attraction in Bath, The Roman Baths attract around 1 million visitors per year, making it one of the most visited ancient monuments in the UK.

The City’s unique thermal springs rise at the centre of the site and the Great Bath still flows with natural hot water. Visitors can explore the remains of the Temple of Sulis Minerva – the Roman Goddess of wisdom and healing – and the massive bathing complex which the Romans built next to the Temple and its sacred spring. They can walk on the original Roman pavements which were built around the magnificent Great Bath. There are smaller bathing pools to explore and even the remains of a Roman gym and sauna. Visitors can also try the naturally warm, mineral-rich water at a special fountain.

The museum collection includes a life-size gilt bronze head of the Goddess Minerva and ancient objects found in the hot spring including Roman ‘curse tablets: the personal and private prayers of individuals.

Projections, interactive displays and costumed characters also help to bring the site to life.

Interpretation is also available in 38 languages. Full interpretation is provided in 13 languages via the free audioguides (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese (European), Ukrainian, Russian.) 25 languages are available on language sheets: Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Traditional Chinese, Czech, Danish, Farsi, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Malay, Norwegian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Welsh, Urdu and Vietnamese!

Full written transcripts of the audio guides in English are also available, including large print. Braille guides are on offer as well.

A children’s audioguide, narrated by Michael Rosen, is also available along with children’s activity trails. During school holidays free drop-in craft activities are also available for all the family.

Children and adults will also love chatting to the Roman characters around the Great Bath, and learning about their lives. Their knowledge about Roman life and ability to stay in character is captivating and sometimes very amusing. The characters are based on real people who lived and worked at Aquae Sulis 2000 years ago. Their stories have been reconstructed from evidence found here on site at the Roman Baths.

The site is 90% accessible to wheelchair users and visitors with hearing or visual impairments can enjoy the site using the British Sign Language or fully descriptive audio tour and tactile models. Information can also be provided for visitors with autism and potential claustrophobia. Further information on the Roman Baths Accessibility Guide can be seen here.

One hour guided tours are also available for visitors to learn even more about the Roman bathing experience, explore the famous Great Bath and suite of Roman bathing rooms in the East Baths, and see the Sacred Spring where naturally hot water has bubbled up from under the ground for thousands of years. During the tour visitors can see historic photos and illustrations of the Roman Baths and handle replica bathing equipment – such as a strigil, which Roman bathers used to scrape and clean their skin. The tour will also touch on aspects of pre-Roman and post-Roman history.

Guided tours are in English and start from the Great Bath each day at 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm. Tours cost £6 per person in addition to your entrance ticket (free for children under 6).

During the summer evenings The Roman Baths stays open for longer, allowing visitors to experience the site beneath flickering torchlight. See the website for further information and details of other events.