The best independent shops and cafes near Hardwick Barbers, our very rough guide to Union Passage and beyond
We've been cutting hair at 14 Union Passage for long enough to have strong opinions about what's worth doing in the surrounding streets. Not opinions formed by scrolling TripAdvisor. Opinions formed by walking the same bit of Bath every day, talking to clients, and knowing the difference between places that are genuinely good and places that just happen to be there.
Union Passage is one of those bits of a city that visitors sometimes walk through quickly on the way somewhere else. That's their loss. It's a narrow, covered lane that connects Cheap Street to the Upper Borough Walls, and it's been there in some form since the medieval street plan of the city. These days it's home to a handful of independent businesses, including us, and it connects to some of the most interesting streets Bath has to offer.
Here's what we'd actually recommend to someone with a couple of hours after a haircut.
Coffee worth sitting down for
Colonna & Small's
6 Chapel Row. 4 min walk
If you care about coffee at all, this is the one. Colonna & Small's has been one of the most respected specialty coffee shops in the country for well over a decade, not because of the branding, but because the coffee is genuinely exceptional and the people behind the counter know what they're talking about. It's small, it's quiet, and it doesn't have the feel of a chain that's decided to call itself artisan. Worth the short walk from the Passage.
Mokoko Coffee
Multiple locations including Kingsmead Square. 3 min walk
A Bath independent that's expanded without losing what makes it good. Strong espresso, reliable food, and a room that doesn't make you feel like you need to leave quickly. Good for a longer sit down if you've got time to kill.
Food worth the detour
Guildhall Market
High Street. 2 min walk
Most people walk past it. Don't. The covered market has been on this site in various forms since the sixteenth century, and these days it houses a mix of stalls selling food, produce, and various other things. It's not a tourist market, it's a working one, which is why it's worth going.
The hot food options at lunchtime are unpretentious and good. One of those places that feels like the actual city rather than a performance of it.
The Corridor
Off Union Street. 1 min walk
Designed by architect Henry Goodridge and opened in 1825, The Corridor claims to be one of the world's oldest purpose built indoor shopping arcades. Whether or not that's precisely true, it's a genuinely atmospheric space, long, narrow, glass-roofed, and worth five minutes of your time even if you don't go in any of the shops. Several food and drink options have set up here in recent years.
"Bath is a city that rewards slowing down. The best bits are rarely the ones with the largest signs."
Shopping that's actually worth it
Topping & Company Booksellers
York Street. 8 min walk
A serious independent bookshop that takes books seriously. Three floors, well curated stock, regular events with authors, and staff who have clearly read things. The kind of bookshop that makes you feel slightly better about the world. Slightly further than the others on this list but worth the walk, it's a proper shop in a city that has plenty of the other kind.
Walcot Street
10 min walk. The city's artisan quarter
Bath's most eclectic street. A mix of antique dealers, independent furniture shops, vintage clothing, food, and various other things that don't fit neatly into a category. The Saturday Antique and Flea Market at the top end is particularly good if you're around at the weekend. It's the part of Bath that feels least like a postcard and most like somewhere people actually live, which makes it the most interesting part of Bath.
For a drink
The Salamander
John Street. 3 min walk
A Bath Ales pub in a Georgian building, which is a more agreeable combination than it might sound. Proper pub, not a bar that's decided to call itself one. Good range of ales, no background music at a volume that makes conversation impossible, and none of the interior design that makes newer places feel like they were assembled from a mood board. If you're after a straightforward pint after a haircut, this is the one.
The Star Inn
The Vineyards, Lansdown, 15 min walk
Further out, but worth knowing about. One of Bath's oldest pubs and a Grade II listed building. Serves Abbey Ales from a jug. No music, no fruit machines, no gastropub menu. Just a genuinely old pub that hasn't been improved into something worse. The kind of place that's increasingly rare and worth supporting while it still exists.
Where we are
Hardwick Barbers is at 14 Union Passage, Bath, BA1 1RE, right in the middle of the city centre, a minute from Cheap Street and two minutes from the main shopping area. We're open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm. Walk-ins welcome when we have space, but booking ahead saves you waiting.
The businesses on this list aren't paid inclusions or partnerships. They're places we actually go, or that clients have mentioned enough times that we'd feel comfortable recommending them. Bath has a lot of good things going on if you know where to look. This is a reasonable starting point.