Bath has been revealed as the ‘Best UK City’ in Condé Nast Traveller magazine's 2025 Readers' Choice Awards, beating landmark cities including London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Cambridge and Liverpool to the top spot. 

Pulteney Bridge, Bath

The 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards represent the most loved and cherished travel experiences, as voted for by Condé Nast Traveller magazine’s loyal readers and are regarded as the biggest and most influential in travel. This year an astounding 182,500 readers in the UK shared their experiences and voted for their favourite countries, cities, hotels, spas, islands, resorts and more.

2025 has been a phenomenal year for Bath, with the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth inspiring a host of additional exhibitions and experiences celebrating the author’s impact during the year putting the city in the global spotlight. Visit West, which works to promote Bath and the wider region globally, has worked in partnership with national tourism organisation Visit Britain to garner press attention from all over the world, including the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Toronto Star, FT China and The Australian.  

Bath Abbey and Bath Roman Baths

Kathryn Davis, Chief Executive of Visit West, said: “Condé Nast Traveller is such a well-respected and influential publication so we are thrilled Bath has been voted the UK’s best city by its readers, who have clearly been captured by not only the city’s remarkable history and picturesque architecture, but also by its rich range of events and festivals, award-winning attractions, amazing places to eat and drink and great independent shopping.

“Bath has also gained huge attention for being a prominent filming location for productions such as Bridgerton, Wonka and ITV’s McDonald & Dodds so visitors really feel like they are stepping into a film set when the explore the city. We hope this accolade will inspire more visitors to choose Bath for an all-year-round city break, and base for exploring the wider region.” 

Bridgerton was filmed at the Holburne Museum in Bath © Visit Bristol / Evoke Pictures

Bath continues to flourish with new openings making it a vibrant city for residents and visitors, and a prime destination to visit, study, live and work. This autumn will see the unveiling of the £14m transformation of the Francis Hotel with its new spa due to open early next year, and the opening of restaurant Root Bath by Bristol chef Josh Eggleton in Shires Yard (formally Milsom Place).

Next year the city will celebrate 20 years of the Thermae Bath Spa, an exclusive exhibition at The Holburne: Post impressionist Printmakers from Manet to Picasso, opening in May, and the reimagined immersive Georgian experience at Bath Assembly Rooms by The National Trust will open at the end of 2026 / early 2027.

Royal Crescent, Bath (credit: greatwestway.co.uk)

The other cities in Condé Nast Traveller’s list include Manchester in second place and London in third place, followed by Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Belfast, Brighton, Liverpool and Aberdeen.

Condé Nast Traveller cited Manchester’s food and hospitality scene for drawing in travellers in ever-growing numbers, and last year’s number one London is commended for everything that happens in the city. “It’s a full-time hobby keeping up with the latest restaurant openings, newest experiences and most fascinating exhibitions,” according to the magazine.

If you or your group would like to enjoy a visit to the city of Bath - or indeed any of the other fabulous cities on the Reader’s Choice list - as part of a tailor-made tour of England or the United Kingdom, please do contact our friendly team.

Bath is on the Great West Way, a popular touring route which follows 500 miles of navigable routes between London and Bristol, and as a Great West Way official tour operator, Janet Redler Travel would be pleased to organise a custom tour of this delightful part of England for you. Get in touch today!