The Somerset edit: a weekend in Bath
Your autumn escape to the Francis Hotel, Bath starts here. We've curated the perfect itinerary for your autumn escape.
Friday evening check in
There's something about Friday evening that feels like shedding the weight of the week, even more when you’ve booked a weekend break.
Your weekend starts with us, checking in at the Francis Hotel, greeted with a fragrant, warm reception, and the doorman shares the burden of your luggage. You head up to your room, lights on, pillows plumped, and a trinket of local treats awaiting on the dresser. Room service available at the dial of a button, the room understands what you need before you do.
By seven-ish, you've settled into Emberwood. Embracing that neighbourhood restaurant feel with the flair and theatrics of a London classic brasserie, but instead here in the heart of a quaint city. Then you carry on the night, Bath's nightlife doesn't announce itself, it whispers. A cocktail at Dark Horse, a conversation in the cellars of Beckford Bottle Shop, the sort of evening that unfolds rather than erupts. Back in your room, you’ll be greeted by a Hypnos mattress fit for royalty.
Saturday Morning Rituals
The morning wake is different in the honey-hued streets of the city. Perhaps it’s the sunrise through the Georgian windows, or simply the absence of urgency, you’re on a staycation.
You wake when you wake and wander to find the early movers in the city. Saturdays are made for your dog, a pastry, flat white (oat milk) and the latest book from the local seller, Mr B’s Emporium. You pick Bertinet or the Landrace Bakery, the choice is yours.
Coffee in hand, you join the quiet walk down Great Pulteney Street. It's one of those thoroughfares. The Holburne Museum appears like a full stop at the end of the street. Currently housing Winifred Nicholson, an English artist from Oxford with a nuanced contemporary style.
Followed by a step into their botanical gardens, a moment to embrace autumn and its Georgian splendour.
The perfect pitstop before an afternoon of perusing.
A meander in Milsom Street
Back in Bath proper, the afternoon is made for shopping, not the hurried kind, but the leisurely sort where you might stumble upon a ceramic treasure, a book you didn’t know you needed, or something linen and beautifully made. Here, the shops curate rather than merely stock.
Here's our latest recommendations to pop on your list:
- Piglet in Bed, full of organic linens, gingham bedding and pyjamas.
- Holloways of Bath, for the interior enthusiasts, has a curated selection from near and far of furniture and furnishings.
- Bird and Blend, a new addition to the city, is a local tea merchant with some fun collaborations.
- Rodd and Gunn, all the way from New Zealand, a menswear brand that fits the autumn season like their outerwear coats and gloves.
And many more little routes for you to lose yourself in, all five to ten minutes from the Francis Hotel.
Or venture a little further
The American Museum and Gardens is just beyond the city's embrace; a country house stuffed with quilts and Shaker furniture and the curious romance of collecting. It's worth the brief journey for the grounds alone, the sort of landscape that makes you understand why the English are obsessed with gardens.
The rhythm of Bath nights
Aperitifs call first with us, at Emberwood. Our British brasserie, where the room hums with that particular energy of a Saturday night. The menu speaks in seasonal dialect, British produce handled with the kind of respect that doesn't need announcing. If you dined with us last night, you'll settle back in like returning to a favourite armchair, perhaps trying what you didn't order the evening before.
If you're tempted by the streets of the city, Solina is the perfect home for youthful pasta and a margarita. Served in a casual nuance setting. Dress up or down, there's no request, simply come as you are. And their tiramisu is spooned right onto your plate.
Then, head back to sink into our lounge or sneak to your room for Netflix and a cosy night in.
Sunday is the art of lingering
The alarm can wait. Or rather, ignore it entirely. Late checkout isn't a luxury here, it's an understanding.
Eventually, you'll need to leave, but not quite yet. Leave your bags with us, perhaps catch a film at the Little Theatre Cinema, that nostalgic lounge of red velvet and reasonable ticket prices. Or if you've brought the dog, a five-minute wander takes you past The Circus through the Royal Crescent with a handful of independent shops threaded between.
The memories will keep until you return. And you will return.
