Lodges Near Bath

Picture the honey-coloured stone of the Royal Crescent glowing at sunset, steam curling off the Roman Baths, then a short drive back to a quiet deck and a bubbling hot tub under the stars. That’s the joy of booking one of our lodges near Bath. Georgian streets by day, Somerset countryside by night, and no fighting for a hotel parking space.

Nobody runs a lodge park in the centre of this packed World Heritage city, so the closest, Bath Mill Lodge Retreat, is about 3.9 miles out and the rest are located across the Mendip Hills and the lanes around Wells.

Which lodges near Bath should you book?

Start with location. Staying a few miles out suits a holiday built round sightseeing. The farms near Wells and Cheddar give you more space, darker skies and quieter nights. Compare all five in the table, then see each one below.

Bath Mill Lodge Retreat, Somerset

Driving Distance: About 14 minutes (3.9 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 8 | Pets? Yes

Part of the Bouja Collection, this five-star park lines a wooded mill stream about three miles from the Georgian streets. Nothing else here comes close for location.

• Contemporary lodge interiors with premium design touches
• A riverside restaurant and a bar, so you can eat without driving
• Guest reviews give it 4.7

Luckington Burrows, Somerset

Driving Distance: About 30 minutes (13.3 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 5 | Pets? Yes | Hot tubs? Yes

Kids think they’ve walked into a storybook, and that’s before they spot the hot tub!

• Turf-covered roundhouses among rolling fields, with walkways and cycle paths from the door
• Close to Kilmersdon, the village with Jack and Jill’s famous hill, plus Mells and Frome
• Cheddar Gorge and Longleat Safari Park a short drive away
• Reviews rate it 4.9

The Nave at Cathedral View, Wells

Driving Distance: About 40 minutes (22.1 miles) | Sleeps: 2 people | Pets? Yes | Hot tubs? Yes

A luxury glamping pod on private farmland, with a wood-fired hot tub and a direct view across the fields to Wells Cathedral. It’s a perfect place for couples, and couples bringing their dogs. You’re about five minutes’ walk from the cobbled heart of Wells.

• Bridleways lead into the countryside from behind the pods
• Sister pods The West Front and Chapterhouse share the outlook
• Guests rate it 4.8

Burcott Country Retreats, near Wells

Driving Distance: About 44 minutes (23.7 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 4 | Pets? Yes

Just two lodge homes, each in its own corner of a family-run organic working farm, looking out to Glastonbury Tor. Stroll into Wookey for the café and three well-liked pubs, then come back for a long evening outside on your own decking.

• Wookey Hole Caves and Cheddar Gorge minutes away
• A full 5.0 from guests

Cheddar Woods Resort and Spa, Somerset

Driving Distance: About 50 minutes (27.6 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 8 | Pets? Yes | Hot tubs? Premier range

The most activity-packed of the five, on the Mendip slopes with wide views over Somerset, and a great pick when it rains.

• Swimming, climbing and football on site
• A five-star spa, plus private tubs on Premier lodge stays
• Room for up to 8

Hot tub breaks, dogs and bigger groups

Three of the five have hot tubs, and you can browse every lodge with a hot tub for more choice in the surrounding area.

Travelling with dogs? All five are pet friendly. The Skyline and the canal make good dog walks, and our dog friendly search covers the whole South West.

The mill park and Cheddar Woods both sleep up to 8, the biggest number on this page, which makes them the pick for a group. Sharing one lodge between two families often costs less per head than two hotel rooms in town. Prices change with your dates, so check availability and live prices on each property page, then play with the numbers below.

Holidays in the Bath area: days out from your lodge

Everything Bath offers is packed into a compact, hilly centre, so park once and do the rest on foot.

The Roman Baths and the Abbey tower

Steam rises off the green water of the Great Bath while the Abbey’s Gothic tower looms just over the wall. Standing where Romans bathed nearly two thousand years ago gives you goosebumps.

• The Roman Baths museum lists opening from 9am to 6pm, last entry 5pm, closed 25 and 26 December
• Check you’re buying from the official website, which has warned about a fake one selling “half price” entry
• The Abbey’s tower tours climb 212 steps to the top, last about an hour and run Monday to Saturday

Thermae and its rooftop pool

Floating in naturally warm water on a rooftop, with cold air on your face and the Abbey lit up a few streets away, is one of the great evenings in England.

• Thermae Bath Spa is Britain’s original natural thermal spa
• Minimum age 16, or 18 for treatments, so please plan something else with younger children
• Book ahead for weekends

The Royal Crescent and the Circus

Walk to the top of Gay Street and the Circus. Carry on along Brock Street until the Royal Crescent opens out in front of you, thirty houses curving above Royal Victoria Park. Jane Austen lived here from 1801 to 1806, and the streets found their way into Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Each September her festival fills the town with bonnets.

The Bath Skyline walk

Want the view without the crowds? The National Trust’s Bath Skyline is the finest free walk in the area, looping through wildflower meadows, woodland and farmland, past the folly of Sham Castle, with the whole valley spread out below.

• Six miles, free, open dawn to dusk
• No National Trust car park, so start from town
• Allow up to four hours
• Keep dogs on a lead where cattle and sheep graze

The canal to Bradford on Avon

Flat, firm and beautiful, the Kennet and Avon towpath winds through wooded hillsides above the Avon valley. Countryfile puts the walk from Bradford on Avon at 9.7 miles, crossing John Rennie’s Avoncliff and Dundas aqueducts.

• Stops: the Cross Guns pub, a café at Brass Knocker Basin and the George at Bathampton
• Trains link Bradford and the railway station regularly, so walk one way and ride back

Our Bradford on Avon guide covers where to stay at that end.

Beyond town: Wells, Cheddar, Frome and Castle Combe

• Wells, with its cathedral and the Bishop’s Palace, about 40 minutes away
• Cheddar Gorge and its caves, right below Cheddar Woods
• Frome, an independent market town about 11 miles south
• Castle Combe, a stone village in the southern Cotswolds about 10 miles north
• Glastonbury Tor, on the skyline from Burcott

Getting into the centre without the parking stress

Whatever your lodge’s location, don’t drive in. The streets are narrow, the car parks fill fast, and Visit Bath says Park and Ride services run up to every 15 minutes until 11.30pm, Monday to Saturday. Before you travel, note the bus number and postcode for each site:

• Odd Down (bus 41, BA2 8PA): from Wells, Cheddar and Luckington
• Newbridge (bus 21, BA1 3NB): from Bristol and the west
• Lansdown (bus 31, BA1 9BJ): from the M4 and the north
• Clean Air Zone: Class C, so private cars aren’t charged, whatever their age
• By train: Bath Spa station is a short walk from the Roman Baths

When’s the best time to visit?

Spring and September are the sweet spots, with room on the pavements. December is lovely too, if you don’t mind sharing.

What to pack

Bath lodge FAQs

Roman stones by day, your own quiet corner of Somerset after dark: enjoy your stay, and have a look round the rest of Somerset and South West England while you plan.