Bath fits nearly all its shopping inside a 20-minute walk: a domed Georgian market hall, Britain's oldest purpose-built arcade, an antiques quarter and the independent stretch of Walcot Street, plus one modern centre on the river side.
Bath's oldest shopping venue, trading on this site since the 1700s and roofed by a domed Victorian hall. Around 20 stalls sell pies, cheese, haberdashery, vinyl and hardware. Open Mon–Sat roughly 8am–5pm, closed Sundays.
Held under the glazed 1870 train shed of the old Green Park Station every Saturday, roughly 9am–1.30pm. Somerset cheese, cider, Wiltshire bacon, sourdough and cut flowers from producers within about 40 miles of the city.
The independent spine of the city, running north from Broad Street: architectural salvage yards, letterpress studios, secondhand furniture, record shops and delis in Georgian frontages. Most traders open Tue–Sat, roughly 10am–5.30pm.
Working glassblowing studio producing the cobalt-blue glass coloured with copper oxide that mimics Bath's mineral water bottles. You can watch furnace work from the gallery, then buy baubles, jewellery and stemware in the shop.
Bath's Georgian fashion street, laid out in the 1760s and named in Jane Austen's Persuasion. Independents and mid-range labels line the hill, while Milsom Place opens into a hidden courtyard of homeware and jewellery units behind the facades.
Three floors of an independent bookshop with a Bibliotherapy room where staff prescribe reading lists over tea, plus a bath-tub reading seat on the upper floor. Signed first editions and small-press titles fill the front tables.
Opened in 1825 and among Britain's earliest purpose-built shopping arcades, The Corridor runs glass-roofed between High Street and Union Street. It spills into Northumberland Place, a flagstoned alley of jewellers, gift shops and small cafés.
The city's modern retail quarter, rebuilt in 2010 in Bath stone to match the Georgian grain, with about 50 high-street chains, a food terrace and covered parking beside Bath Spa railway station.
A short Georgian street north of Milsom Street that has been Bath's antiques trade centre for decades: dealers in silver, militaria, prints, porcelain and vintage clothing share multi-room buildings, with prices well below London equivalents.
A pedestrian Georgian terrace between Brock Street and Catharine Place, a minute from the Royal Crescent. Antiquarian booksellers, a picture framer, vintage clothing and homeware occupy shopfronts unchanged since the 18th century.
Bath's specialist cheesemonger and the best source of edible souvenirs: West Country truckles, Bath Blue, chutneys and the crisp Bath Oliver biscuit invented here in the 1700s. Vacuum-packing is available for the flight home.
A vast independent bookshop on ladder-served floor-to-ceiling shelves, holding tens of thousands of titles with a strong Bath and West Country section. Free pots of tea and coffee are brought to browsers in the reading chairs.