Bath is a small town of about 94,000 people in the county of Somerset. By train, it is about 2 hours west of London, and it’s closely neighbored by Bristol and the Welsh border to the northwest. By all accounts, this is one of the most beloved and beautiful little towns in the South of England. There are lots of other sub-regions of the British Isles that I’m sure have lots of other beautiful towns… but in terms of day trips out of London, Bath is definitely in the top 3.
There is more to know about Bath of course—including the super un-creative way it got its name—but I’ll cover those details in due course. For now, here’s the map. You can enter into this place as uninformed as I was when my train rolled up one morning in late October.
The Canterbury Cathedral is a marvel of gothic architecture and remains immensely important in the modern day. In fact, before I had actually visited this place, I mostly just thought of it as the town around this cathedral. We’re going to spend a lot of time exploring this cathedral today, but first, let’s have a walk through town.
It turns out that the town of Canterbury is quite charming in its own rite! My sample size is still quite low when it comes to England, but this felt—to me—like the quintessential English town. Even in the rain, it makes for some lovely walking.
I’ve heard it said that London is the ultimate Christmas city.
It definitely puts on quite a show come Christmas time! But the drawback is that, during the “festive period” (as it is called), the streets are MOBBED. The holidays in London are both magical and chaotic; enchanting and stressful. This year, I was lucky enough to have my loved ones come to London to visit me during the holidays, so I got to spend the “festive period” being a tourist in my new city. Despite the obvious stress that comes with trying to guide your clan through crowds of people, it was a lovely time, and I’m glad to be able to give it some coverage on this site. Because ✨Christmas London is a destination unto itself.
