Bath is famous for two things. First, the Roman Baths are there. And they are magnificent. it's hard to believe that up until less than 200 years ago they were completely unknown and forgotten, buried beneath up to 6 metres of detritus. (It really is amazing to see how much 'street level' rises over time - Bath and York are two of the most classic examples).
And the baths themselves are stunning. Carefully preserved and partly reconstructed, the baths complex includes the remains of a temple to Minerva Sulis (the Roman/Saxon hybrid goddess of water - the romans were good at deity hybrids, it made it easier for the people they conquered to accept their rule, because the gods seemed nearly the same), a forecourt and the massive bath-house itself, which by the time it fell into ruin boasted male and female wings, a royal bathing pool and the massive central bath, all fed by one of Britain's only hot springs. The engineering is largely intact - you can see lead pipes joined with massive welds, huge hollow bricks to conduct heat or give strength to arches, and hypocausts - I never understood Roman underfloor heating before. Now I do. This was worth every penny of the 10 quid entrance fee. Really.
The second famous aspect of Bath is its Georgian gorgeousness - the architecture is everywhere and it's really very pretty, although it does lend an air of exclusivity and poshness that more homey, less homogenous places like Oxford or St Albans manage to escape. I was less thrilled with this bit, although Nic and Lara my travelling mates were rather taken with it. I was also less than taken with our accommodation (which, sadly, I had chosen) - by far the least friendly, most crowded hostel I've come across so far in the UK - so I won't name it here. In hindsight, given that we had the car, we'd have been better off in a B&B outside town - cos we also got a parking ticket!
(*'Bank holiday' is english for 'public holiday', so a bank holiday weekend is a long weekend)
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