Make Friends in Bath, from Royal Victoria Park to Green Park

Royal Victoria Park opened in 1830, and about one Bath city-ward resident in five is between 18 and 24.
Bath friends wheeling bikes along a leafy way, both in giggles
95,400+
residents across the 15 wards of the city of Bath (Census 2021, ONS)
21%
Bath’s 18 to 24 year olds as a share of the city, against 8% regionally (ONS, Census 2021)
27%
of Bath households rent privately, a long way above 20% across the region (Census 2021)

Bath’s Saturdays start at Green Park

The Saturday farmers’ market in the old Green Park railway station is an easy way to make friends in Bath. Bath Central Library on Northgate Street holds a Patchwork Project craft session every Friday morning and board games on Saturday afternoons, the Victoria Art Gallery’s Upper Gallery has free entry, and Royal Victoria Park serves coffee year-round. Gofrendly connects Bath women too.

Bath friendship questions, Podium to park

Bath woman grinning at a crowded party with a mural behind

Can you visit the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath for nothing?

The Upper Gallery at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath charges no admission, Tuesday to Sunday and bank holiday Mondays from 10.30am to 5pm, while exhibitions in the Lower Gallery are paid. The gallery welcomed over 66,000 visitors between April and December 2025.

What happens at Bath Central Library on a Friday?

Bath Central Library in The Podium runs the Bath Patchwork Project, a community craft session, every Friday from 10am to noon. Stitching at one table with a regular group is a gentle introduction to people in Bath, and no expertise is needed to join in.

Which Bath parks have Green Flags?

Royal Victoria Park, Sydney Gardens, Henrietta Park, Hedgemead Park, Alexandra Park and Bloomfield Green are all on the Green Flag list for Bath, along with Haycombe Cemetery. Royal Victoria Park’s café opens all year from 8am to 5pm, near the Botanical Gardens.

How can Bath women meet friends in their own neighbourhood?

Gofrendly is a women-only friendship app that lists Bath women living nearby, from Larkhall to Oldfield Park, and a short message is enough to suggest meeting. Coffee at the Royal Victoria Park café is an easy first plan in Bath, term time or not.

Bath’s social life, beyond the students

Bath is a World Heritage city of Georgian crescents and Roman baths, with two universities, a busy railway station and seven Green Flag sites, from Royal Victoria Park to Sydney Gardens and Henrietta Park. In its 15 city wards, young adults between 18 and 24 are about 21% of the population and private tenants fill some 27% of households, far above the South West. With so many people arriving for study and work, regular weekly plans help the friendships that start here last beyond a single term or tenancy.

A beautiful city can still feel lonely once you are outside the student crowd. Bath Sports and Leisure Centre on North Parade Road has the pools, the Victoria Art Gallery marked 125 years in 2025 and opened The Modelling Room, and Bath Skyline parkrun runs on Claverton Down above the city each Saturday at 9am. Brickfields Park in the west of Bath has a second parkrun. Places to try:

1
Royal Victoria Park, with its year-round café and Botanical Gardens.
2
The Victoria Art Gallery, with a free Upper Gallery.
3
Bath Central Library in The Podium on Northgate Street.
4
Green Park Station, home of the Saturday farmers’ market.
5
Sydney Gardens, a Green Flag and Green Heritage park.
LOCAL TIP
Bring your sewing to the Friday Patchwork Project in Bath and keep the date.
How to

Bath: making friends after the move

1
Sign up to sew with the Bath Patchwork Project in The Podium on a Friday morning.
2
Run or walk Bath Skyline parkrun and stay at the finish to cheer.
3
Let a Gofrendly hello in Bath turn into tea at the Royal Victoria Park café.
4
Drop in to Board Game Saturdays at the library and join a table.

Worth a read this week

Our Bath guide’s writers

Gofrendly founders Claudia Gård and Ulrika Lilja wrote the Bath guide alongside our editorial team, for city women who rent, have come for study or work, or simply want more friends nearby.

Friendship looks different at every stage

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Friendship looks different at every stage

More guides for women in this area – each with its own local advice.

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