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Whether you come to see the elegant Georgian crescents, bounce between the beer-sloshing student bars, unravel Roman history in the ancient spa buildings or launch adventures into the beautiful rolling hills of the surrounding Cotswolds, hostels in Bath are sure to be a budget-friendly choice of stay. For a small city, there's a surprising mix to pick from. Some are modern dorms attached to the university campuses, while others are housed in listed buildings clad in honey-hued Bath stone. Location-wise, there are options between the green dales and farms on the city's outskirts, or closer to the steaming pools and Gothic churches in the centre, which is where you're most likely to find hostels in Bath touting lively backpacker bars and common spaces.
Looking to be immersed in the pretty Georgian buildings that have made Bath so famous? That's possible, with some of the city's historic hostels hiding in enchanting spots that are centuries old. You'll recognise them for the handsome cladding of cinnamon-tinted Bath limestone, which is the trademark look of this lovely West Country town. Adding to that are some truly romantic stays with touches of medieval carving, age-stained chimney stacks and leafy gardens. You might even be able to bag a private room with an ensuite bathroom in one of those, if you're keen to get somewhere for you and your other half, and maybe even close to the drifting Cotswolds canals and lonely woodland walks.
A few of the hostels in Bath are primed for fly-in backpackers looking for somewhere fun, lively and interesting to while away their time in the company of Roman ruins and the Gothic spires of Bath Abbey. They will be the ones with the on-site beer bars that come alive with pub quizzes and music shows in the evenings. They are also the ones that often have dedicated reception services to help with things like ticket booking in Bath's spas or day trips to nearby Stonehenge. Many will throw in a breakfast for free, so you can wake to pastries, breads, cheeses and coffee, to get set up for walking tours down Great Pulteney Street and across to the Royal Crescent.
Choose hostels in Bath, if you're eager to check off this enchanting West Country town and its surroundings on a budget. Also choose hostels in Bath if you're keen to settle somewhere with a unique character and style, like the charming YHA Bath, which straddles Bathwick Hill on the very cusp of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It offers wooded gardens and manor-house veneer, and is the perfect base for a couples' walking trip in the green hills that abut the River Avon, or for jaunts to the lecture halls of Bath University. Also steeped in historic architecture is the central Bath Backpackers Hostel. That's right next door to the iconic Roman Baths – a 2,000-year-old complex of heated pools and steam rooms that was used by the ancients. And, it's near Bath Abbey, where walking tours reveal handsome Victorian interiors and shimmering stained-glass windows.