Shoppers travelling to Bath Christmas Market have been issued with a weekend travel warning as thousands prepare to visit the major attraction. Bath and North East Somerset Council has urged people to use public transport to get into the city centre, recommending the park and ride service.
Even bus passengers have been advised to plan ahead, however, with some visitors reporting large queues at the bus stop on their return journey. One picture taken on Monday afternoon showed the line for Newbridge Park and Ride snaking back from the bus stop outside Tesco Express to Boston Tea Party round the corner, though the visitor said the queue went down quickly.
The market, which runs until Sunday, December 15, attracted around 451,000 visitors last year and is one of the region’s biggest Christmas attractions. It has been affected by poor weather this week, closing early on Thursday evening during high winds and rainfall, with a yellow weather warning for wind also in place tomorrow (Saturday).
Posting on Facebook, a market spokesperson said: “The team will be continually assessing the weather. We’ll keep you updated if there are any further changes to our opening hours.”
In a statement this week, a council spokesperson said: “To avoid delays to journeys, the council is advising visitors to consider all modes of transport for their visit, especially on weekends.
“Bath is served by three Park & Ride sites, has a central train station and several bus operators providing services in and around the city.” The park and rides at Lansdown, Newbridge and Odd Down have a combined total of 2,806 car parking spaces, with additional overflow parking available at Lansdown.
TravelWest has confirmed that the park and ride buses will be running more frequently during the market’s duration, and will operate for longer hours into the evenings. From Monday to Saturday the buses will run every five minutes from 9.30am until 8.30pm, with the last service at 9pm.
On Sunday the frequency will remain at every five minutes, but the last service will be at 7pm. Extra staff will be on hand at all park and ride sites and city centre stops to oversee queuing and ticket sales, the council confirmed.
On the railway, Great Western Railway is also running additional services for the market, with trains arriving at Bath Spa station every six minutes on the three Saturdays it is running. For visitors planning to drive into the city, there are several car parks listed on the council’s website and marshals will be in place at Avon Street Car Park to control traffic flow.
Councillor Manda Rigby, cabinet member for highways at the council, said: “After a busy first weekend we’re excited to welcome even more visitors to our Christmas Market, which we’re pleased to say was recently named as being among eight of the UK’s best Christmas markets by Which? Magazine. As always, we’re encouraging everyone to think ahead, plan their journeys and consider walking, cycling, taking the bus, the train or one of our three Park & Ride sites whenever possible.”
Bristol’s new Christmas Village attraction opened earlier this week, located across Castle Park to complement the wider market in Broadmead. It is home to a roller rink, funfair rides and stalls including one selling the popular Yorkshire pudding wraps.