Bath Abbey

Bath Abbey stands beside the Roman Baths and dominates the skyline of the old city. A church has stood on this spot for more than a thousand years, and the present building was begun in the late fifteenth century and later restored by the Victorians. Its west front carries the carved angels climbing ladders to heaven, said to come from a dream of the bishop who started the rebuilding, and inside, the fan-vaulted ceiling is one of the finest in England, flooding the nave with light from enormous windows. Visitors can walk in to see the nave, the memorial tablets and the Discovery Museum. The extra worth booking is the Tower Tour: a one-hour guided climb of 212 steps that takes you behind the clock face, above the vaulting, past the bell chamber and onto the roof, with views over the Roman Baths, the river and the Georgian terraces. Tours run Monday to Saturday and the ticket includes entry to the Abbey and the museum. The Abbey is a working church, so services can interrupt visiting.

The Abbey is worth understanding before you step in. A monastery was founded here in the Anglo-Saxon period, and in 973 Edgar was crowned the first king of all England in an earlier church on the site. The Norman cathedral that followed was largely ruined by the late fifteenth century, and Bishop Oliver King began the Perpendicular Gothic church you see now. The huge windows give it the nickname Lantern of the West, and the Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott completed the fan vaulting. In the nave you will also see hundreds of memorial tablets on the walls and floor, giving the Abbey an unusual feel of a crowded Georgian address book.

How to visit: you can usually buy a ticket at the Welcome Desk, or book the Tower Tour online in advance; tickets for tower tours are first-come-first-served on the day if they are not booked. The ticket covers a guided tower tour plus entry to the Abbey and Discovery Museum, which tells the story of the site. The climb is steep and narrow in places, so it is not suitable for everyone; the guides explain the mechanisms of the clock and bells as you go, and the roof views are the reward. Check the Abbey's own pages for service times and any short closures before you go, especially around Christmas, when the building is used for concerts and carol services.

Where it fits: the Abbey is an easy, central stop, only a few steps from the Roman Baths entrance, so most people combine the two. It also works as a calm break from the crowds: sit in a pew, look up and take in the vaulting. Pair it with a visit to the Christmas market in late November and early December, when the surrounding streets fill with stalls and the streets glow in the evenings.