October 2025

 

 

The City of Bath is revealed as the UK’s best city!

Bath scoops top spot in prestigious Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards 2025

 

After coming 6th in 2024, the City of Bath has been revealed today as the ‘Best UK City’ by Condé Nast Traveller magazine, beating landmark cities including London, Edinburgh, Manchester and Cambridge to the no.1 spot.

The 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards are regarded as the biggest and most influential in travel, representing the most loved and cherished travel experiences.

The destinations are voted for by Condé Nast Traveller’s loyal readers. This year, an astounding 182,500 readers in the UK shared their experiences and voted for their favourite countries, cities, hotels, spas, islands, resorts and more.

Kathryn Davis, Chief Executive of Visit West, said:

“Condé Nast Traveller is such a well-respected and influential publication, so we are thrilled Bath has been voted the UK’s best city by its readers, who have clearly been captured by not only the city’s remarkable history and picturesque architecture, but also by its rich range of events and festivals, award-winning attractions, amazing places to eat and drink and great independent shopping.

Bath has also gained huge attention for being a prominent filming location for productions such as Bridgerton, Wonka and ITV’s McDonald & Dodds so visitors really feel like they are stepping into a film set when the explore the city.

We hope this accolade will inspire more visitors to choose Bath for an all-year-round city break, and base for exploring the wider region.”

2025 has been a phenomenal year for the City of Bath, with the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth inspiring a host of additional exhibitions and experiences. The city has been put in the global spotlight throughout the year, with events celebrating the author’s impact on the City of Bath.

Visit West has worked in partnership with the national tourism organisation Visit Britain to garner press attention from all over the world, including the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Toronto Star, FT China, The Australian, Vanity Fair Italy, El Pais Spain and Forbes.com.

New Openings in the City of Bath

Alongside preserving its renowned architecture and history, which has been the setting for some of the most popular TV series and films, Bath continues to flourish with new openings, making it a vibrant city for residents and visitors, and a prime destination to visit, study, live and work.

• This autumn will see the unveiling of the £14m transformation of the Francis Hotel with its new spa, due to open early next year.
• Similarly, the restaurant Root Bath by Bristol chef Josh Eggleton in Shires Yard (formally Milsom Place) will open.
• Next year, the city will celebrate 20 years of the Thermae Bath Spa.
• An exclusive exhibition at The Holburne Museum is planned for May 2026: Post impressionist Printmakers from Manet to Picasso.
• Lovers of art and culture will also find the reimagined immersive Georgian experience at Bath Assembly Rooms by The National Trust, which will open at the end of 2026/early 2027.

 

Go to visitbath.co.uk for further inspiration and information on visiting Bath.

For further information or images, please contact press@visitwest.co.uk

 

About Visit West

Visit West is the Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) for the West of England. They represent the four unitary authorities of Bath & North-East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire, businesses within these areas, and members beyond, working to maximise the potential of the region’s visitor economy.

Visit West promotes the region globally, supports tourism businesses with development, marketing, and research, and drives growth by collaborating with local authorities, industry, and educational partners. The organisation prioritises sustainable practices, inclusive experiences, and community engagement. Visit West operates the Meet Bristol & Bath Convention Bureau and the Visit Bath and Visit Bristol consumer websites.