I lived out my Jane Austen dreams in historic UK city set for glamorous balls and immersive attractions this year
I WAS a fan of Jane Austen long before Colin Firth’s wet-shirt scene in the BBC’s Pride And Prejudice.
I’d read all her novels and fancied finding a Mr Darcy of my own — the bigger his stately pile the better.
Many of the books are set in or around Bath — Austen used to live in the city — and every year fans flock there for its annual Jane Austen Festival.
But 2025 is going to be THE year to visit, and embrace her Regency world, as it marks the author’s 250th anniversary.
Want to dress like her? You can. Write like her? That’s possible too. There will even be balls to dance at.
But the best place to start is Gay Street’s Jane Austen Centre, where costumed actors playing characters from the novels.
Elinor Dashwood (Sense And Sensibility) leads me to the parlour, and Anne Elliot (Persuasion) shows me Empire Line gowns to try. There’s a shiny wine-coloured one, but who will fasten it at the back?
Enter Mr Wickham, the womanising cad from Pride And Prejudice, who I should well avoid. But not only do I allow him to button me up, I let him undo me afterwards.
Other fun includes scents to spritz — think orange blossom and rose water — as well as Jane’s favourite pastime of Spillikins, a game of manual dexterity using long match-sticks. I play a round with Anne Elliot . . . she wins.
You can even write a letter with quill and ink. But it’s painstaking to form just a word, so how did Austen write novels this way?
Much of Bath looks exactly as it did in Austen’s time — including Dukes Hotel, in a Georgian house on one of the grandest avenues.
My room here just oozes Regency flavour, from its four-poster bed to gold brocade curtains and Marie Antoinette armchairs.
It all puts me so in the mood that I consider exploring the city in period costume. “Nobody will bat an eye in Bath,” the receptionist says.
So on goes the dress and I take to the streets. The hotel is around the corner from 4, Sydney Place — Austen’s former house — and you can download a tourist trail.
It takes in the author’s home as well as Sydney Gardens opposite, a park where Jane promenaded. Here a little girl does bat an eye at my outfit and follows me on her scooter. “Are you the Queen?” she asks.
Other author-related hotspots are covered in a free 90-minute audio walking tour, called In the Footsteps of Jane Austen, which includes Royal Crescent, Gravel Walk and the Pump Room — next to the Roman baths whose mineral-rich spa waters were popular to drink in Jane’s day.
There’s a fountain to sip from but the water is warm and smells of sulphur so one glug’s enough for me. To wash away the taste, I head to Bath’s Gin Bar, where Austen is the mascot.
Her image graces all of the bottles — the orange sloe flavour is delicious — and they even serve gin in a Regency teapot. Does it taste better this way? Absolutely.
It’s the dancing in Jane’s novels, however, which fires the imagination the most and, throughout 2025, Bath will be offering Regency dance classes as well as balls.
Gin in a teapot
I can’t resist having a go and Martin Salter — who has taught historian Lucy Worsley and comic Rory Bremner to dance — has me twirling and curtseying in no time.
It’s elegant and intimate , although the spinning does leave me needing a sit-down. So I order “Tea with Mr Darcy” at the Jane Austen Centre’s Regency Tea Room — yes, you can.
The man himself is there — though not the real one — as I’m served finger sandwiches, scones and cakes.
It’s not quite a Mr Darcy of my own, but I pour him a cuppa and we enjoy a fabulous time together.
GO: BATH
STAYING THERE: Doubles at the Dukes Hotel Bath cost from £125 on a B&B basis. See dukesbath.co.uk.
For more info, see austen250.co.uk/ janeausten.co.uk.