Heritage England: 10 day Luxury Itinerary - London, Oxford & Bath Spa

Introduction

Having had to defer a South Africa trip for the third time (albeit thankfully rearranged for the end of 2022 now) we were looking for somewhere closer to home for a week’s trip. Initially I was focussing on luxury spa resorts only, but this got me to realise that I’d never actually stayed in Bath Spa before and this would make a great location to write about my interest in spas with a focus on male spa treatments. I then thought that Bath would be a good add-on for a London trip, and in the middle we also added a stay in historic Oxford; all easily accessible from each other by train.

The hotels featuring in the post are:

• One Aldwych, London https://www.onealdwych.com

• Old Bank Hotel, Oxford https://www.oldbankhotel.co.uk

• The Gainsborough Bath Spa https://www.thegainsboroughbathspa.co.uk

Full detailed itinerary below.

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10 day Luxury England Itinerary - London, Oxford & Bath Spa

London

Hotel website: https://www.onealdwych.com

Photo @onealdwychhotel

I’m a huge fan of luxury weekends in London, and as well as trying out new hotels (of which there are quite a few at the moment) I also like to visit some of my old favourites. A recent new find was L’Oscar in Bloomsbury (you can read my full review here), and some regular much-loved hotels include The Langham, Hotel Café Royal, The Landmark, The Baglioni and The Milestone, many of these started off as being part of Leading Hotels of the World. I’d been to One Aldwych, before it undertook significant renovations back in 2019, and absolutely loved the location (seconds away from Covent Garden) and the subterranean luxury pool and spa complex, but what really let it down, I felt, was the breakfast and restaurant service. Normally having a complimentary breakfast included as part of an LHW stay is a great benefit of booking, but this one wasn’t a highlight.

That said, with booking Tina Turner The Musical at the Aldwych Theatre, One Aldwych is a perfect location and I also really do like staying in the vicinity of Covent Garden for its central location and amazing choice of local restaurants. The last stay was such a long time ago now, and excited to see the refurbishment - so much more optimistic of a better lasting impression this visit.

Photo @onealdwychhotel

Photo @onealdwychhotel

Photo @onealdwychhotel

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Oxford

Hotel website: https://www.oldbankhotel.co.uk

Photo @oldbankhotel

Easily accessed from London (Paddington) by train (Great Western Railway) taking just under an hour, Oxford seemed like a good choice to twin with London and Bath. I’m looking forward to staying at The Old Bank (Hotel), an incredible central location again this five star hotel (only 43 rooms) seems like a good mix of old and new, and stunning views of some of the city’s most famous landmarks. As well as booking a visit to the Botanic Gardens, we’ve also organised a tour of the Bodleian Library and Christ Church. In all locations we have some great restaurants booked, from afternoon teas, to Thai, Greek and traditional English at the Ivy.

Photo @oldbankhotel

Photo @oldbankhotel

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Bath (Spa)

Hotel website: https://www.thegainsboroughbathspa.co.uk

Photo @thegainsboroughbathspa

Bath and in particular the thermal spas have been on my radar for so long, but have never been to stay before. The obvious hotel choice for me was the Gainsborough Bath Spa (part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World) , with a great location and adjacent to both the new Thermae Bath Spa and the historic Roman Baths. As well as having multiple bathing slots in the hotel’s Spa Village (Bath House Experience) we also have a spa session planned at Thermae Bath Spa and also a visit to the Roman Baths followed by a traditional champagne afternoon tea at Searcys at the Pump Room.

Photo @thegainsboroughbathspa

Photo @thegainsboroughbathspa

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Actual Detailed Itinerary:

• Day 1   Travel with LNER to London’s King’s Cross Station

  • We do usually fly to London with British Airways, but I’ve always wanted to do a full train review of the now not so new Azuma service, but have been thwarted a couple of times with LNER changing trains at the last minute.

  • Dinner at Yeni in Soho

  • Overnight One Aldwych

• Day 2 London

  • Lazy morning followed by treatments at the One Aldwych Spa

  • Afternoon tea at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

  • Tina Turner the Musical at the Aldwych Theatre

• Day 3 London

  • Shopping day and making use of the pool and spa again within the hotel

  • Gin flights at the London Gin Club

  • Dinner at the Real Greek restaurant in Covent Garden.

• Day 4   Direct train with GWR London Paddington to Oxford’s main train station.

  • Staying 3 nights at the Old Bank Hotel

  • Walking tour of Oxford

  • Dinner at Chiang Mai Kitchen

• Day 5   Oxford

  • Botanic Garden visit

  • Dinner at the Ivy Oxford Brasserie

• Day 6   Oxford

  • Tour of Christ Church

  • Dinner at 215 Kitchen & Drinks

• Day 7 Oxford

  • Morning tour of the Bodleian Library

  • GWR train from Oxford to Bath

  • Overnight at the Gainsborough Bath Spa Hotel

  • Bath House Experience at the Village Spa

  • Dinner at eight

• Day 8   Bath

  • Thermae Bath Spa

  • Roman Baths tour

  • Champagne afternoon tea at the Pump House

  • Bath House Experience at the Village Spa

• Day 9   Bath

  • Walking tour of Bath

  • Bath House Experience at the Village Spa

  • Dinner at Aqua

• Day 10 Return home

  • Bath House Experience at the Village Spa

  • Direct Air Decker coach from Bath to Bristol

  • Direct flight home

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Useful website links:

• Hotels

  • One Aldwych, London https://www.onealdwych.com

  • Old Bank Hotel, Oxford https://www.oldbankhotel.co.uk

  • The Gainsborough Bath Spa https://www.thegainsboroughbathspa.co.uk

  • Leading Hotels of the World LHW https://www.lhw.com/

  • Small Luxury Hotels SLH https://www.slh.com/

• Transport:

  • LNER https://www.lner.co.uk/

  • GWR https://www.gwr.com/

• Restaurants:

  • Café Murano https://www.cafemurano.co.uk/

  • Rules https://rules.co.uk/

  • Yeni, London https://www.yeni.london/

  • The Real Greek https://www.therealgreek.com/

  • Chiang Mai Kitchen https://www.chiangmaikitchen.co.uk/

  • The Ivy Oxford Brasserie https://theivyoxford.com/

  • 215 Kitchen & Drinks https://www.twoonefive.co.uk/

  • Noya’s Kitchen https://www.noyaskitchen.co.uk/

  • eight https://www.eightinbath.co.uk/restaurant

  • Aqua https://www.aqua-restaurant.com/

• Other:

  • Afternoon tea at Theatre Royal Drury Lane https://thelane.co.uk/eat-and-drink-venues/grand-saloon-afternoon-tea

  • Tina the Musical https://tinathemusical.com/uk/

  • The London Gin Club, Soho https://londonginclub.com/

  • Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum ​​https://www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk/

  • Bodleian Library https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/plan-your-visit

  • Christ Church, Oxford University https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/visit-us

  • Thermae Bath Spa https://www.thermaebathspa.com/

  • Roman Baths https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/

  • Afternoon tea at the Pump House https://searcys.co.uk/venues/the-pump-room/the-pump-room-restaurant/

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