Cheltenham brings together Regency history and music with green spaces and routes. When choosing accommodation, it helps to first decide what matters most to you: would you like to discover historic buildings and cultural venues, make time for the racecourse, or explore the city’s routes and green spaces? Then check the location of a specific hotel in relation to the places you plan to visit.
Culture Across Different Eras
Pittville Pump Room is a Grade I listed Regency building. It regularly hosts events, craft markets, concerts, exhibitions, talks and workshops. If you want to plan your stay around a particular event, check the current programme in advance.
Cheltenham Town Hall also tells the story of another era in the city’s history. It was built in 1902–1903 as a venue for balls and concerts, which were part of the social calendar around the turn of the 20th century. Sandford Parks Lido was built between 1934 and 1938 and is a Grade II listed building.
Holst Victorian House is the birthplace of composer Gustav Holst. Visitors can see a piano on which Holst composed The Planets. To help you find your way around The Wilson: the museum is a two-minute walk from The Promenade and about the same distance from the High Street. Cheltenham Spa is the nearest railway station to The Wilson.
Historic Routes and Notable Places
A self-guided walk through historic buildings introduces Cheltenham’s Regency history as a spa town. Montpellier’s shopping district is recommended as a starting point. Exploring the city independently lets you connect its historic buildings with a clear sense of chronology, without reducing every stop to the same period of the city’s history.
The Neptune Fountain is one of Cheltenham’s landmarks. In the Winston Churchill Memorial Gardens, a bronze statue of Gustav Holst stands at the centre of a fountain surrounded by tall grasses. A circular route featuring cast-iron pigeons designed by artists and craftspeople was also created in Cheltenham in 2019.
Green Spaces and Routes
Pittville Park is Cheltenham’s largest ornamental park. Two self-guided tree trails provide information about different tree species, offering a distinct focus alongside the historic buildings and cultural venues. The Honeybourne Line shows another side of the city: the former railway line is now used as a footpath and cycle route, as well as a nature reserve.
The Honeybourne Line also has a marked 2 km running route from Queen’s Road Bridge to the southern edge of the Prince of Wales Stadium. Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common are different: both are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) for their unimproved limestone grassland.
Racecourse and Festival Dates
Cheltenham Racecourse moved to Prestbury Park, its current location, in 1831. The Horses For Courses Tour lasts about 45 minutes and includes access to the Parade Ring. If you want to include this tour in your plans, check availability for your preferred date. Cheltenham hosts some of the country’s largest and most popular festivals each year, attracting international talent and thousands of visitors. Here too, it’s worth checking the specific event dates if your trip depends on a festival.
Plan Accommodation and Routes to Suit Your Stay
From Cheltenham city centre, you can explore attractions, restaurants and cultural venues in less than 20 minutes on foot or in 10 minutes by bike. Use this as a starting point for your planning and compare a hotel’s address with the destinations actually on your itinerary. That way, you can choose accommodation to suit your stay, rather than assuming it will be close to every attraction.
Discover more destinations: Lydbrook, Chipping Campden, Parkend, Alderton, Lechlade, Berkeley, Ebrington, Bibury
For the wider travel overview: Gloucestershire.
