Bath on the silver screen…take a movie tour of the city!

18 April 2017

With such beautiful backdrops and wonderfully preserved Georgian architecture everywhere you turn, it’s no wonder that Bath has featured in dozens of Hollywood films over the years.

If you’re thinking of visiting Bath, why not take a movie tour? The Visit Bath website has a map you can download with the full list of locations that have been featured in films, or you can put your own itinerary together. Here’s our list of the top Bath movie moments that you must visit during your stay:

  1. Les Miserables

This incredibly ambitious adaptation of the award-winning musical may have featured Hollywood stars such as Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman, but one of Bath’s most famous landmarks also makes a starring appearance. Pulteney Bridge was used to film the dramatic scene where policeman Javert (played by Russell Crowe) throws himself into the river. Apparently, large crowds gathered on the bridge eager for a glimpse of Gladiator star Crowe filming his scenes.

  1. Persuasion and Northanger Abbey

With Bath’s strong links to Jane Austen, with the author having lived just off Great Pulteney Street and using the city as a setting in many of her novels, it’s no surprise that it features heavily in many Austen adaptations.  Sydney Place, the street where Austen actually lived, is used in the filming of Persuasion, as are many of the other streets near the Thermae Bath Spa. If you watch Northanger Abbey, another Austen adaptation, you can’t miss the Royal Crescent. This most famous of Bath landmarks is used in many establishing shots in Regency period films.

  1. The Duchess

This is the film most often associated with Bath, mainly because it uses the unmistakable Royal Crescent as one of its backdrops. This beautifully costumed Keira Knightley-starring period film also features many scenes that were filmed in and around the Assembly Rooms.

  1. Vanity Fair

For scenes featuring more of Bath than just a glimpse of the Royal Crescent, take a closer look at 2003’s Vanity Fair starring Reese Witherspoon. Residents of the city may remember when large parts of Great Pulteney Street were transformed into a magnificent promenade for this lengthy period drama about artful socialite Becky Sharp. The promenade lead up to the Holburne Museum and featured some stunning scenes of Bath.

You may be surprised not to see Pride & Prejudice, Austen’s most famous story, in this list. However, the famous BBC adaptation of the novel was filmed just outside of the city in Lacock.

Where to stay to start your movie tour

Most of the best Bath movie hotspots are in the heart of the city, so that’s where you’ll want to be too. Bath Holiday Rentals has a number of fabulous apartments and studios right in the city centre, so you’ll be just a stone’s throw away from some of Bath’s best backdrops. Now’s the time to get out those movies and do some research!