When you visit Bath, you’ll find that many parts of the city offer some degree of historical or cultural interest. From the museum at No 1. Royal Crescent to the ancient Roman Baths, there’s no escaping Bath’s fascinating and wonderfully preserved history.

But if you really want to get stuck into a good museum or plan a rainy day trip to an art gallery, here are the best places to visit:

1. Holburne Museum

The Holburne Museum on Great Pulteney Street is free to get in and offers an impressive collection of fine and decorative art, along with beautiful grounds. In short, it’s a must-visit Bath attraction.

2. Victoria Art Gallery

Another attraction with free admission, this small but perfectly formed gallery is a fabulous space housing an unmissable collection of paintings, decorative arts and sculpture. Combine a trip to the Victoria Art Gallery with an hour or two in the Holburne Museum and you’ll have the perfect day out in Bath.

3. The American Museum in Britain

It’s not something you’d expect to find in the quintessentially English Bath, but visitors absolutely love the American Museum at Claverton Manor. Critics do too, as The Independent included the museum in its 50 best UK museums and galleries in 2012.

This glorious Georgian manor house has over 120 acres of beautiful grounds and is known for having the largest collection of Americana outside of the States. Exhibitions offer an insight into slavery, leading to the Civil War, as well as the pioneers of the west, Native Americans and the founding fathers. Enjoy the interactive American Heritage Exhibition, the museum’s outstanding quilt collection and a fascinating Folk Art Gallery. Admission starts from £12 per adult.

4. The Jane Austen Centre

You can’t visit Bath without bumping into some reference to one of its most famous residents – the celebrated author Jane Austen. If you want to find out more, visit the Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street – very close to our fabulous Georgian townhouse Monmouth Mews. The centre tells the story of the author and explores her relationship to Bath, and the influence the city had on her writing. There’s even a charming Regency Tea Room on the second floor. Admission starts at £11 per adult.

If you have more than a weekend to visit Bath, there are a plethora of other excellent museums and cultural centres to pop into. Apart from the four listed above, special mention also goes to the Museum of Bath at Work, the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, Fashion Museum Bath, the Museum of Bath Architecture, Bath Postal Museum and the Museum of East Asian Art.

Phew, that’s a lot of museums! You could easily spend a week or more immersing yourself in Bath’s museum scene, with all of these gems within easy reach of the city centre. Make sure you have somewhere comfortable and suitably sumptuous to stay, by choosing a Bath Holiday Rentals property right in the heart of the city.