Alternative destinations near Bath.
Places near Bath that score high on beauty and low on crowding, according to our data.
Fortuneswell
A small conservation-area town on the steep northern slopes of the Isle of Portland in Dorset, Fortuneswell sits where Chesil Beach connects the island to th…
Blandford Forum
A remarkably intact Georgian town on the River Stour in Dorset, Blandford Forum owes its architectural coherence to a devastating fire in 1731, after which i…
Great Malvern
At the foot of the Malvern Hills — a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Worcestershire — Great Malvern grew from an 11th-century Benedictine pr…
Usk
A compact Welsh market town on the River Usk in Monmouthshire, with a ruined castle above the town and an arched stone bridge at its western entrance.
Christchurch
Smugglers worked the rivers Avon and Stour through much of the 18th and 19th centuries in this Dorset coast town, founded in the 7th century at the confluenc…
Alton
Heritage-dense market town in East Hampshire near the source of the River Wey, Alton has a compact centre with cafés and listed buildings within easy walking…
Queen Camel
This golden-stone Gothic church with a tall battlemented tower dominates this tiny Somerset village on the River Cam, where heritage-dense streets and proxim…
Montacute
This Somerset village a short distance west of Yeovil is built almost entirely of local hamstone and is thick with listed historic buildings, including a med…
Cocklake
A quiet Somerset hamlet on the Somerset Levels, Cocklake sits within the historic Isle of Wedmore parish, where a traditional village pub and listed stone-an…
Talgarth
A small Welsh market town in Powys said to have been the capital of the early medieval kingdom of Brycheiniog, Talgarth has a 14th-century parish church, a d…
Wincanton
This compact Somerset market town where Georgian and older listed buildings line a lively high street, with independent shops and inns giving it a well-worn,…
Chepstow
Chepstow's clifftop castle, often cited as the oldest surviving stone castle in Britain, rises directly above the tidal River Wye in this small Welsh border…