Today, visitors can tour the excavated baths at their leisure, stepping into a subterranean archeological realm that vividly recalls the Roman past. The Great Bath, a shallow soaking pool ringed by columns and open to the sky, captures the reflection of the abbey tower high above. That I understood perfectly. After hours of historical sightseeing, I kept wishing I could slip into the steaming water as that Roman soldier did, and then the Georgians. Bath is about 90 minutes by express train from London's Paddington Station.
Departures are almost hourly.
The elegant Queensberry Hotel, tel. You will not be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one.