There are art and craft shops, galleries, and antique emporiums, as well as designer stores and speciality food shops.

Union Street and Stall Street contain many of the usual high street names. There are also numerous stalls along this stretch, selling paintings, candles and flowers, as well as plenty of street entertainers.

Margaret's Buildings

Head to the north of the city and you will find Margaret's Buildings, a quaint little passageway of shops a stone's throw from the Royal Crescent. This area has some lovely boutique shops selling gifts, antiques, crafts and books, as well as some fine restaurants. Because this area is a little off the beaten track it is less crowded than most of Bath's other shopping areas.

Walcot Street

Known as Bath's bohemian quarter, you will find antiques shops, markets and cafes in this area of the city. It's a great place to pick up antiques, crafts, comics and vintage clothes.

Milsom Street This is where you will find all the banks, an array of shoe shops, Jolly's department store and many other specialist and designer stores.

SouthGate

The long-awaited regeneration of Bath's SouthGate will create a new retail quarter in Bath, with a mix of new shops, leisure facilities, restaurants and homes, all served by a modern public transport hub and set within a series of newly designed streets and public squares.

Phased construction of SouthGate will take until approximately 2010 and is well under way; updates are available at www.southgatebath.com