Cheltenham

Cheltenham splits neatly into a handful of areas, and where you stay shapes the trip more than in most towns its size. Base yourself around Montpellier or the Suffolks if walking to restaurants and boutiques matters most, since both sit within a few minutes of the Promenade's shops and wine bars. The town centre, closer to Cheltenham Spa station and the main theatres, suits anyone arriving by train or planning late evenings out, while the quieter streets around Pittville Park offer a greener, more residential base a short walk from the centre. Visitors coming for the Cheltenham Festival in March should book well ahead and expect to look slightly further out, since demand for anything near the racecourse spikes hard that week and prices follow.

Cheltenham's Regency terraces have given rise to a good number of boutique hotels and characterful guest houses converted from the same townhouses that make the town worth visiting, so a period building is easy to find at most budgets. Those wanting a full-service hotel with spa and dining on site have a reasonable choice on the edge of town, including properties set in their own grounds near the racecourse, while self-catering options are more limited than in the surrounding Cotswold villages. Anyone touring the wider Cotswolds by car may prefer to treat Cheltenham as one stop among several rather than a single base, given how close Winchcombe, Bourton-on-the-Water and the Cotswold escarpment villages all sit.

Cheltenham rewards a slow walk as much as a planned itinerary, but these are the names worth building a visit around.

• The Promenade and Montpellier - the town's grandest Regency street and its adjoining quarter of independent boutiques, caryatid-fronted terraces and pavement cafes.
• Cheltenham Racecourse - home to the Cheltenham Festival and the Gold Cup each March, and open for tours, weddings and other events for the rest of the year.
• The Wilson (Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum) - a well-regarded museum covering Arts and Crafts furniture, Regency history and the town's connection to the Cotswolds.
• Holst Birthplace Museum - the Victorian terraced house where composer Gustav Holst was born, restored with servants' quarters and period rooms.
• Pittville Park and Pump Room - the largest of Cheltenham's parks, built around a Greek Revival pump room where the original spa water can still be sampled.
• Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway - a heritage line running steam and diesel services between Cheltenham Racecourse and Broadway through Cotswold countryside.
• Sudeley Castle and Gardens - a short drive away near Winchcombe, with royal history stretching back to Catherine Parr and gardens open through the summer.
• Cleeve Hill - the highest point of the Cotswolds, a short drive from the centre, with open access land and views back across the Severn Vale.

Cheltenham's food scene has grown well beyond its spa-town origins, with a strong run of independent restaurants concentrated around the Suffolks and Montpellier districts. The Suffolks in particular has become known for its cluster of small, chef-led restaurants and wine bars, while the Brewery Quarter offers a more casual mix of chains and bars around a cinema and bowling complex. Cheltenham's food and drink festival takes over the town in June, bringing together local producers, chefs and street food stalls. For regular shopping, the Regency Arcade and the twice-weekly farmers' market on the Promenade are good sources of Cotswold cheese, meat and baked goods, and several long-standing tea rooms still serve a traditional Cheltenham-style afternoon tea in the Regency squares.

Cheltenham itself is a built-up spa town with no campsites within its boundaries, so anyone wanting to camp needs to look just beyond the ring road, out towards Bishops Cleeve, Tewkesbury or the racecourse fringes. The terrain here is gentler than the Cotswold hills further east: rolling vale farmland and the flat, willow-lined ground near the Rivers Severn and Avon around Tewkesbury, rather than the steep scarp slopes above the town. That makes for easier walking and cycling from a tent, with Cleeve Hill and the Cotswold Way still within reach by car or bike for those wanting a proper climb.

Wild camping has no general legal right in England, Gloucestershire included, so pitching without landowner permission is not advised anywhere around Cheltenham; the touring parks and Club sites listed here are the reliable, legitimate option. Spring through early autumn is the practical camping season, with April to September offering the driest ground and the longest daylight, though the vale's clay-heavy soil can turn heavy after wet spells so early spring bookings are worth checking with the site first. Anyone timing a visit around the Cheltenham Festival in March should note that nearby sites, including the Racecourse's own Club site, get booked out well in advance and are not really a winter camping option in any case.