Hotels near The Holburne Museum and Sydney Gardens

Great Pulteney Street runs 320 metres dead straight from Pulteney Bridge and terminates at the Holburne Museum, which was built in 1799 as the Sydney Hotel and converted to house Sir William Holburne's collection in 1916. The permanent holdings cover Gainsborough portraits painted during his Bath years, Thomas Lawrence, Italian bronzes, majolica and 18th-century silver. Entry to the permanent collection is free, with temporary exhibitions charged separately at around GBP 12.

The 2011 extension by Eric Parry, a ceramic and glass block grafted onto the Georgian rear, caused a long planning fight and is now widely admired. Behind it lies Sydney Gardens, the oldest surviving 18th-century pleasure garden in Britain, reopened in 2023 after a major restoration. Jane Austen lived across the road at 4 Sydney Place and walked here regularly. The Kennet and Avon Canal cuts through the gardens under two cast-iron footbridges, and Brunel's Great Western Railway runs through a cutting alongside.

Pro Tip: The Garden Cafe at the back of the Holburne has a glass wall facing Sydney Gardens and is one of the few genuinely quiet places to eat in central Bath. Combine the museum with the canal towpath, which runs from the gardens all the way to Bathampton in about 40 minutes.