The Jane Austen Centre

We paid £30 for 2 adults and a young child and I still regret wasting my money on this. We had a 10 minute talk. Then there were 3 rooms in the centre, one with just some boards with writing on, one with a TV on, and one with some dressing up clothes and that's it. We were out of there in about half an hour none wiser than when we went in. Worst experience we had ever.

The Jane Austen Centre was the centerpiece of our short trip to Bath. We were visiting London for a few days and took the train from Paddington. The Bath train station is an easy walk to the major Bath sites including the Centre. We stopped along the way at Sally Lunn's for lunch. Delicious!
While at lunch, I received a call from a Centre staff member asking me to delay my entry time for about a half hour, which actually worked out better. You can enter the building at any time but will only get as far as the gift shop (the online version is much more extensive). Reservations (fee) are required for the exhibit. The introduction lasts about 20 minutes. Our group 's presenter was an absolutely engaging Lizzie Bennet, in costume and character. While, as a Janeite, I didn't learn anything I didn't already know, it was a great reminder of the details of Jane's family. Next was a walk through of the portrait gallery, then a small display of Georgian items, a dress up area, etc. The wax Jane was amazing! I wish we had enough time to walk past the various places where Jane lived, but that's for another visit.

A lovely place to visit. Jane Austen might only have tarried in Bath a few years, but we all got a real feel of what it was like to be in Bath at that time. Loved that the 'staff' were dressed in costumes of the day and enjoyed listening to the informative guide. Short film on a loop meant we could take our time looking at everything. Great to be able to write with a feather quill, just like Jane did! Other things to try to. A good experience, particularly as there were so few people in the house at the same time as us.

We were so dissatisfied with our experience there. The tour for which we paid £12.50 each included a 20 min “B” grade live introduction to Jane Austen’s life followed by a walk through a few very amateur Jane Austen exhibits. Just think, you were given an opportunity to have a photo in a Jane type outfit -fancy dress!
This was a classic tourist trap-simply not worth the expense and time. For the introduction we were rammed into a room with at least 20 other people, there was little ventilation and it was unpleasant.
In retrospect we should have demanded a refund.

The Jane Austen Centre is a must for any enthusiasts of the writer. The presentation about Jane's life was very informative and brought to life by the presenter being dressed in the style of the day.
I did feel however, that the entrance price was a little high and also items in the shop .

We had a lovely afternoon tea in the café. The cheerful and helpful staff catered for all our dietary needs, substituting sandwich fillings and drinks as needed. One member of our group was not able to come and we were given a full refund (as I had paid online.) I didn't expect this and it was extremely generous. The sandwiches and scones were delicious!
We then went around the Jane Austen centre. The host was extremely jolly and it was a lot of fun. We learnt a great deal about Jane Austen's time in Bath and this was useful as we'd been to her home in Chawton the year before.

Fairly good museum experience. The talk was the most interesting and enjoyable part. Very disappointed with the Regency Tea Room. Waited too long for a table even though there were at least 2 empty tables already. They were out of the item I wanted, so I had to settle for something else. Took ages to bring me a coffee, but immediately served tea to people who arrived after me, then tried to charge extra for the coffee, even though it isn't charged separately on the menu (you can order cake and coffee for one set price), but the waitress seemed to forget that. Not impressed.

My friend and I had a wonderful experience at the Jane Austen Centre on Monday (17th Oct). As we are both limited by mobility issues, being (lively) pensioners, we were given a private talk by Mr Knightley downstairs instead of in the Drawing Room on the 1st floor. Mr Knightley made it a very interesting and riveting talk (he is a good actor!)
We then managed to see all the exhibition rooms and the 15 minute cinematic story of Jane Austen's time in Bath.
Even though we were not able to climb the stairs to the Tea Room, we both felt that the whole experience was very good value and we really appreciated the personal attention.
Both Mr Knightley and the lady in the Shop (so sorry I am not sure of her name) were extra helpful in both arranging a taxi for us, and in overseeing its arrival. Our sincere thanks to both.
Would definitely recommend!

I really wanted to enjoy the Jane Austen Centre, as like so many others I am a big Jane Austen fan and was keen to learn more about her and the Bath she brings to life in two of her novels. Unfortunately I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed by it. The tour starts waiting in a kind of holding room until we were taken through to the next room for an introductory talk with a guide playing Charles Musgrove. There were a few small portraits of Jane Austen’s family on the wall. The guide was very enthusiastic and gave it a lot of effort while going through her family history, and it was informative, but it felt a little underwhelming when the guide mentioned that we couldn’t do the next bit of the tour in the portrait gallery as the group was too big so we were shown some laminated pictures of Jane Austen instead. The exhibition itself was OK, but unless you wanted to try on costumes and take some pictures with a Mr Darcy mannequin it didn’t take very long to go through it. On the plus side there was a small selection of costumes on display with The Mystery Dress being a highlight, and it was fun to try writing with a quill and ink. The world famous Jane Austen waxwork was nice to see but her hair looked like it needed a bit of care and restyling. The centre has so much potential for all the fans out there but it just seemed to be lacking something and didn’t take very long to go through.The gift shop was lovely and the products on sale were really nice, I almost wish I had saved money on the tickets and purchased a keepsake instead. The map of Jane Austen’s Bath that came with the ticket was very handy though!

I am already a massive fan of Jane Austen but came to the Centre with my friend who I had only recently been introduced to her writing and screen adaptations. First, we had afternoon tea in their tearoom and it was amazing! But our visit to the museum was particularly great - very informative and our guide (Charles Musgrove) was very knowledgeable. He made the tour very fun! We also spent a long time in the dress up section, trying on on many different regency outfits. Mary Elliot came and helped us with picking our dresses and accessories and then did a whole photoshoot with us. She was so so lovely and absolutely made our visit, so please pass on our thanks! I definitely recommend visiting if you’re a Jane Austen fan, love history or just want to have a treat in the tearoom.