Cheltenham: Where regency meets racing
Cheltenham Races
Even if you’re not majorly into horse racing or betting, it’s a really fun excursion for a one-off. The atmosphere at the race course is electric and this spills over into the town itself. As the Gold Cup tends to happen around St Patrick’s Day, there is a real Irish vibe about the place. Guinness tents provide extra drinking space in the pubs and many of them take euros while the races are on to take advantage of all the paddy spending power. Most visitors arrive on the train and pub crawl their way to the race course, but there are plenty of buses for those who’d rather get there in some sort of functioning order. There are lots of good hotels and B&Bs to suit any budget but they fill up fast. Many of the Cheltenham residents actually let out their own rooms to accommodate the influx of visitors.
The Cotswolds
Away from the horses, Cheltenham has plenty to offer. The regency town houses, old Pump Rooms and promenade squares and terraces are reminiscent of fellow spa town, Bath. Speaking of which, Cheltenham provides a great base for exploring the surrounding Cotswold area including Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon and surrounding quaint Cotswold villages. A trip to Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe or to the beautiful Westonbirt Arboretum near Tetbury, makes for a nice day out if you get the weather.
Cheltenham Festivals
While the Gold Cup is a major attraction for Cheltenham, the races go on periodically throughout the year and the New Year’s Day races are great for helping you forget your hangover. But there’s more going on than just horse racing. Cheltenham holds many festivals including an Arts Festival that attracts internationally acclaimed artists, a Jazz Festival, the Cricket Festival which is the oldest cricket festival in the country, and the National Hunt Festival to name but a few. In the summer there is often live music or craft fares in the beer gardens that can be found in the Montpellier area of the town beside the luxury Queen’s Hotel. Being a regular Britain in Bloom winner, Cheltenham’s gardens provide a colourful and scented setting for relaxing outdoors. By night, there are a number of theatres to choose from, the largest being The Everyman Theatre in the town centre, where you’ll find a range of productions sporting some famous faces.
Designed For Leisure
Whatever it is that brings you to Cheltenham, you’ll be visiting a town that was designed purely for leisure and pleasure, a notion that it replicates today. Cheltenham originally became a spa town in 1716 when the first medicinal waters were discovered. King George III visited in 1788 to drink the waters which sparked a trend amongst the elite. At that point, Cheltenham’s transformation into a fashionable leisure resort began. King George III envisaged the first ‘English Garden City’ which became characterised by the regency period architecture that you can find there today. While perhaps not the destination of nobility that it once was, Cheltenham still caters to its original purpose, so a visit to this little spa town is sure to be a pleasure.