Introduction:

I qualified in 2018 as a Blue Badge tour guide for South West England: in the rigorous exams, I was honoured to be given the highest overall marks, and also awarded the best walking tour commentary of Bath.

I lead many tours in and around Bath, where I live with my family. I am bang up-to-date on what's happening in the city. In 2022 a new World Heritage Centre, explaining why Bath is a double-listed UNESCO World Heritage Site, opened. Cleveland Pools, Britain’s oldest lido, opened in 2023 after a long and costly restoration (heated water in 2024). Plenty of filming has taken place in Bath recently. Big-budget productions shot in the city have included: the Netflix hit series Bridgerton; a Netflix film adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion; and Wonka, a prequel to Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story, to be released in December 2023.

As well as general history / culture tours of Bath, I offer:
* TV and film-themed tours of the city. Many scenes from Bridgerton were filmed in Bath, and I can take fans on a Bridgerton-themed tour.
* Medical and spa history tours – the supposedly therapeutic thermal waters have played a key role in Bath's history through the centuries.
* Literature-themed tours – covering Jane Austen of course, but other writers too such as Charles Dickens and Mary Shelley, who wrote much of Frankenstein while living in Bath.
* Architecture tours – covering the all-important Georgian period, and other periods too.
* More off-the-beaten track tours – for example a "five crescents" tour taking in the city's lesser-visited beautiful Georgian crescents, or along a scenic stretch of the Kennet & Avon Canal to the Bath Skyline Walk.

I also guide all over South West England – that's Bristol, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall – bringing to life the landscape, history, heritage, culture and contemporary life of the region. I take private and group walking tours, coach tours, cruise-ship tours and private, chauffeur-driven tours.

I frequently offer walking and coach tours of Bristol, and take private and group tours of Stonehenge, Salisbury, Lacock, Castle Combe, Wells and Glastonbury.

As well as working as a guide, I am also a long-established travel journalist. I am an expert on Bath for The Daily Telegraph – you can read my articles on my home city, as well as on other places in the South West and elsewhere, here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/team/fred-mawer/. I also regularly contribute to other publications.

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Testimonials:

Please see Tripadvisor reviews here: https:// http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g186370-d23401191-Reviews-Fred_Mawer_Tours-Bath_Somerset_England.html

"Dear Fred, the Danes thought the tour of Bath was a fantastic success and described the experience as “sensational”! I can’t thank you enough." (JS, Bath)

"On our tour of Glastonbury and Wells, Fred was lovely, incredibly knowledgeable and picked up on our interests and moulded the tour to what we wanted to see." (LC, Canada)

"Fred deserves recognition for doing a potentially very intimidating thing: talking about medicine and medical history to a group of medics, which he did fantastically and very engagingly from beginning to end. Such a different spin on a social event." (AB, Bristol).

"Fred, just a quick email to say many thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable and stimulating medical history tour of Bath. Despite having lived in Bath for 20 years I saw parts of it and learnt facts about its history that I had no idea about." (AK, Bath)

"We had Fred on our tour. He was great, I wanted to listen to everything he had to say. Was the best thing we did in Bath." (FW, London)

"Fred was an excellent guide. Very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Really enjoyed it. Would recommend to anyone." (F, Birmingham)

"This tour was a perfect introduction to Bath. Fred was great, the right amount of facts and detail and extremely helpful." (SO, Manchester)

"Our guide, Fred, was knowledgeable, interesting and funny." (C, Christchurch).

"Best tour guide ever!!! Fred answered all our questions and even gave a few suggestions on what to do after the tour was over." (KS)

"Our walking tour around Bath with Fred, our friendly guide, was one of the highlights of our weekend in Bath. We enjoyed it so much that we retraced our footsteps the following day to spend more time at some of the sites we had visited the previous day." (LM)

"Fred was a warm and friendly guide with tons of knowledge and insight into Bath, its history, architecture and culture." (DN)

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Types of tours I offer:

* Walking tours of towns and cities for individuals, couples, families, small and large groups
* Visits to attractions such as Stonehenge, Avebury, Wells and Salisbury cathedrals, Glastonbury Tor and Abbey
* Tailor-made, chauffeur-driven excursions by car and people carrier
* Coach tours
* Cruise-ship tours

My tours range from introductory overviews to those that focus on particular themes, for example medical history in Bath and street art in Bristol.

With my in-depth knowledge of the region, I can advise on how to create rewarding and doable days out or multiple-day itineraries to meet clients' needs and interests.