Recently we had an overnight stay in the city of Bath. Why Bath? Well we got to know the city very well when our youngest went to the University of Bath to do a masters degree on aerospace engineering and it has become my favourite city for a short break. It’s so quintessentially English with its beautiful honey coloured sandstone, 18th century Georgian architecture that dominates this beautiful city.
Its history dates back to Roman times. The invading romans settled here in the 1st century because of the hot springs the city is now famous for. Roman remains, including the Temple of Sulis Minerva and the thermal spa are a major tourist attraction and one of the reasons the city of Bath is a UNESCO world heritage site. You can enjoy your own spa experience by visiting the modern Thermae Bath Spa which boasts the only natural thermal hot spring in the country.
For those of you who want to further your cultural experience of the city, there is the beautiful abbey followed by walk along the River Avon to the famous Putney Bridge. For all those shoppers out there, Bath is a great destination. The city has more than its fair share of independent shops alongside the more familiar names and is very compact and easy to navigate. For when you get weary there are absolutely loads of bistros, bars and restaurants to choose from.
There is no shortage of places to stop either. We have tried a number of hotels over time and we now always end up being drawn to just one, the Paradise House Hotel. This is a beautiful independent hotel in a Georgian property situated just a few hundred years from the city on the South side of the river.
We love overnight stays because the short period, for us, makes you fit in a lot of things over short period of time which I think makes it more enjoyable and memorable than a longer trip. However, a short trip always seems to bring up the same old dilemma, what to pack and what to pack it in.
Having made quite a number of short business trips over the years has disciplined us into thinking very carefully about what we need to take and to try and keep it to an absolute minimum. It’s almost become a challenge. Although it’s perfectly possible to just take a change of underwear and a toothbrush which you could probably just carry in your pocket, the chances are that you are going to eat somewhere fairly smart and the sensible shoes you wore just walking about are maybe less appropriate in the evening. So a change of outfit for two. In my mind that presents two sensible choices, a small trolley suitcase or a holdall. To be honest both work well but in different ways. A trolley suitcase is always a sensible choice especially if you are not arriving by car. If you are coming by train for instance and staying in the Paradise, the train station is just down the road, which is handy, but even walking that short distance, I feel the suitcase with its wheels are a must. However, if you’ve come by car both options work but for me the holdall works better because you can pack it with your shoes at the bottom and your clothes on top and because there is usually a greater capacity, your garments won’t get so creased.
Ultimately it comes down to personal preference but for me an overnight stop demands a stylish handmade holdall made in Italian leather. It just looks the part!
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