Exploring the Museums of Bath, Bath, England

There are so many museums in Bath that it would take a month to explore them all. I’ve spent the last week visiting several of them, but I’ve got a lot more to go! There are the museums and galleries that you might expect, a few more unusual, and a surprising number of small museums…

The Museum of Bath Architecture is interesting for its building – an old chapel – as well as for the museum

Art lovers should start with the Victoria Art Gallery, housed in a purpose-built Victorian building beside the Pulteney Bridge. It contains more than 1,500 artworks, with an extensive British collection including paintings by Thomas Gainsborough and Walter Sickert. Then there is the Holburne Museum, home to a private collection with 18th century art and artefacts, and much more (read more about the Holburne Museum here.) And the Museum of East Asian Art is a small, family-friendly, collection of artefacts spanning 7,000 years.

So far as architecture is concerned, you could almost regard the city itself as a sort of outdoor museum! I would certainly recommend walking around to see it for yourself before visiting the museums. When you are ready to learn more, the Museum of Bath Architecture is an excellent small museum that focuses on the design and construction of Georgian buildings. And No 1 Royal Crescent is a house that has been furnished and decorated as it might have been in the 18th century. Of course, gardens were an important part of domestic architecture, and you can also walk around the Georgian Garden at the rear of No 4 The Circus. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).