Bath’s Canal Walk: Highlights from Pulteney Bridge to the Towpath

(87 reviews)

Bath audio tour: Bath’s Canal Walk: Highlights from Pulteney Bridge to the Towpath

This is a 2mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

Bath

The United Kingdom

$9.99

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Reviews

About the Tour

Escape the crowds of the city centre and join me on my favourite scenic stroll through Bath. This walking tour will give you an opportunity to soak up the city’s incredible architecture and meander along the peaceful Kennet and Avon Canal. This walk is ideal for visitors who’d like to see a beautiful, historic side of Bath that’s often missed by tourists, where you may find it difficult to believe that you’re in the heart of the city!

During our walk, you’ll hear the fascinating stories behind Bath’s famous buildings as well as some of its lesser-known corners, including:

Pulteney Bridge
Bath’s longest boulevard, magnificent Great Pulteney Street
The Recreation Ground, a famous spot for sports fans
Jane Austen’s house
Sydney Gardens, the place to be seen in the early 1800s

This 90-minute walk is predominantly on flat ground with a few steps in places, so is suitable for all ages. On a nice summer’s day, you could take a picnic to enjoy in the park, or purchase some refreshments at the park café.

At the end of the tour, I’ll leave you at a spot where you can either return to Bath's shops and museums or climb to my favourite viewpoint over the city centre if you’ve got the stamina. I look forward to guiding you around my city!

Tour Producer

Daniel H

1 tour

I am a local guide based in the beautiful city of Bath. I am proud to call Bath my home – it is where I was born and grew up, as did generations of my family before me. I am what one calls a true Bathonian! Years ago I was bitten by a bug which you may be familiar with – the famous travel bug! Having travelled around most parts of the world I now take great pride in showing visitors around the beautiful and fascinating parts of my world - although I still do take the occasional break to go on another overseas adventure (the travel bug has yet to be cured!) I have been guiding visitors around Bath and the surrounding area for over 7 years now. The audio tour I have created on VoiceMap follows one of my favourite walks in Bath and is one I often take my international friends on when they come to visit. I hope you will get to enjoy it too!

Preview Location

Location 6

The Legend of Bath

Go over to the railings by the river just after the path has widened and stop there please. I will tell you about the legend of Bath!

Like many cities, Bath has a legend about how it was created. The legend of Bath dates back over 1000 years ago when there was a Prince call... Go over to the railings by the river just after the path has widened and stop there please. I will tell you about the legend of Bath!

Like many cities, Bath has a legend about how it was created. The legend of Bath dates back over 1000 years ago when there was a Prince called Bladud. While studying abroad this Prince sadly caught the disease leprosy and so when he returned to England he was banished from his father’s court. He travelled across the countryside from place to place and eventually settled at a place near present-day Bath where he got a job as a swineherd.

Every day he took the pigs out looking for their favourite food which in this area was the acorn. One day he came across the area in front of you. In those days there would not have been any buildings, instead, there would have been lots of trees and if you can see today’s church behind the trees – in that area it would have been very boggy and marshy as the hot springs bubble up close-by.

Now, do pigs like mud? Oh yes! And warm mud? It must be a tropical paradise for pigs so when Bladud's pigs reached this area I imagine they all jumped in and had great fun rolling around in the warm mud! When Bladud was eventually able to entice them out to take them home he brought them to the river to clean the mud off them. As he cleaned them he noticed that all of the blemishes on the pigs skin had magically disappeared. This made him think. If the mud had cured the pigs of their skin ailments, could it also cure him? To find out he rushed back to the marsh and rolled around in the mud and rubbed the mud all over his body. When he came out, lo and behold, he was cured of leprosy! It was a miracle!

He rushed back to his father’s court where there were big celebrations and later he returned to the marsh where he erected a shrine to thank the Gods for curing him. A settlement then developed around the shrine – the settlement of Bath – and that is the story of how our city came to be. Now it is up to you whether you believe this story – but when you walk around Bath you can sometimes see acorns in the architecture and there are a couple of places where you can see a statue of a pig – and that is all because of this legend! If you look across the river to the park you can perhaps see a stone statue of a man and next to him is a pig – that is Bladud and the legend!

Before you move on, if you look across to the railings that are directly above the river, to the right of the statue – you should see a red lifebuoy attached to it and nearby on the wall below it you will see a red pipe coming out into the river. If you were to jump into the river at that spot, please don’t, it will be slightly warm! It is said that the hot springs in Bath bubble up at such a rate that the water could fill a bath-tub every 8 seconds. That is a lot of water so when the Romans built their spa over the hot springs they built a drain to take the excess water out to the river. In front of you is the outlet of one of these drains.

You may notice a slight shimmer in the water and if you are close to it you can often see lots of fish who are enjoying the warm water and its minerals! If you are interested in Bath’s Roman history you can see the remains of the Roman spa and the hot springs in the city’s Roman Bath Museum. If you have the time during your stay it is worth a visit, you will need at least an hour and a half to see it.

Now, keep walking down the path towards the bridge. You will pass part of Bath’s flood defence – a gate which helps to control the river level. Before this flood defence system was introduced in the 1970s Bath had a number of major floods and there were times when you would have had to swim where you are standing today! Read More

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Major Landmarks

Bath Rugby
Pulteney Bridge
Great Pulteney Street
The Holburne Museum
Jane Austen's Courtyard Apartment
Sydney Gardens
Kennet and Avon Canal

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Getting There

Route Overview

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Start location
Abbey Courtyard, Bath BA1 1LY, UK
Total distance

3km
Final location
15 A36, Bath BA2 4JP, UK
Distance back to start location

438.95m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour starts outside the entrance to the Abbey Hotel (postcode: BA1 1LF). Located on North Parade it is just a few steps from the famous Sally Lunns cafe and a few minutes walk from the Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths. There are a number of car parks nearby (Bath Sports and Leisure Centre Car Park, Manvers Street Car Park, Southgate Car Park).

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Holburne Museum (art museum). At the back of the museum there is also a cafe and within the Sydney Gardens there are public toilets (which may require a 20p piece to operate).

Best time of day

Anytime during sunlight hours. If there has been a lot of rain recently you may need to side-step large puddles on the tow-path by the canal.

Precautions

Please take care when crossing roads and when you are on the path by the river and the canal do watch out for bicycles who use the same path.

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“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”