River Avon, Bath

Bath is an UNESCO World Heritage site - about 99 miles west of London.

The city has a picturesque river scene of bridges that were modeled after Remaissance Florence. Nice stopover to take some photos if the weather holds.

Bath is also famous for being the residence of the famous author Jane Austen.

4 more images

I decided to do a river cruise on M.V. Cleopatra sailing downstream into the City of Bath. The boat trip included an entertaining commentary on the historic sights of Bath and the River Avon as well as the wildlife on the river.

The duration is the trip is approx 1 hour.
Prices: Adult £4.95 Senior/Student £3.95

Frequent departures between 11am-5pm (daily)

The company has been providing trips up and down the River Avon for the past 10 years. They operate two boats, MV Cleopatra & MV Avon Empress.

Avon means "river" in Welsh so "River Avon" literally means "River River".

Because there are other River Avons in England the river through Bath is also known as the Lower Avon or Bristol Avon.

It was raining when I got there, so didn't really get a chance to have a good look at the river.
It was also a pity that I didn't get to take a gondola along the river due to the rain, so if you can....lucky you....

3 more images

A short walk along river avon will give you the chance to get a short overview, make some pictures and enjoy the landscape. I started at Pulteney bridge, descending via a small staircase on the southern part of the bridge. You will see one or two cafés and a couple of banks where you can sit down for a few minutes. From the banks, you will have a good view on the Weir system which was built in 1972 to regulate water level.

Continuing on the left bank, the next notable place is North Parade Bridge. It was built as an iron bridge in 1836, but 100 years later, it was replaced by the current stone bridge.

The final point of my walk was the footbridge which leads to the central station. The walk took me half an hour. It can be reduced to twenty minutes, if you do not wish to sit down and enjoy a sandwhich you bought a couple of hours ago in London. The same goes for other time-consuming and relaxing activities.

For information about Pulteney bridge, please check out my tip about the bridge.

We visited Bath in late February after a strong wind storm had blown through. The river was high and from the bridge in town centre it was cascading over the barriers. There was quite a crowd on the bridge, might have been a weekend day, and a lot of shops and eating places on the street leading to the bridge. Nice place for a leisurely stroll on a bright afternoon.

Guess I wanted to be near to The Weir, hence snapping another photo ! The weir is built so that the flows of the water can be controlled.
The Weir in Bath was added much later, in 1972...CONTINUED WITH MY PHOTOS AROUND BATH ! [Please click]

Here we can see The Weir & also we can see The Grand Parade where you can see all those people looking over The River Avon...Normally, people would be on The Grand Parade to take photos of The Pulteney Bridge & The Weir !
It's good that I managed to capture the structures underneath The Grand Parade...