Why go?

While this Regency spa town is as quintessentially English as cream tea and cricket whites, and prettier than one of local legend Edward Wilson’s pictures, it’s got brains as well as beauty. October heralds the arrival of the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, which follows a cerebral summer of events, with major festivals in jazz and science taking place, cheltenhamfestivals.com.

What to do

Cute and compact, the best way to get around Cheltenham is on foot. Starting in the chi-chi Montpellier district is as good a place as any. Like a scaled-down Notting Hill, independent boutiques and cafés flirt for the attention of the town’s well-heeled denizens, montpelliercheltenham.com. If it’s enrichment of a different kind you’re after, head to The Wilson gallery. Following a £6 million expansion project, Cheltenham now has an art gallery and museum equipped to cater for the town’s appetite for culture. Its modern, glass-fronted exterior sits in conspicuous, but not intrusive contrast with the library next door, and its intimate yet airy exhibition spaces are equally well judged cheltenhammuseum.org.uk. Painter and Antarctic explorer Edward Wilson isn’t the only one of Cheltenham’s esteemed sons to have a museum in his name, though admittedly Gustav Holst’s is on a considerably smaller scale; it is The Planets composer’s house after all, holstmuseum.org.uk. And a matter of minutes from where Holst’s father played the organ at All Saints Pittville, Pittville Park is a pretty dog-walkers’ pleasure garden. Here you’ll also find the Pittville Pump Room, which was one of Cheltenham’s biggest spas before being converted into the concert space it is used as today. cheltenhamtownhall.org.uk.

Where to stay

Just down the road from the aforementioned park, No. 38 The Park is a small-scale, big-character boutique hotel with 13 rooms. The converted Georgian townhouse has a relaxed come-and-go policy, handing you your own key to the front door as well as your room. A smoked salmon and scrambled egg breakfast in the conservatory kitchen is worth getting up early for, 01242 822 929, no38thepark.com. Nearer the railway station, Hotel du Vin’s 117-bottle wine list and private tasting room are reasons enough to hang your hat here. The 49 rooms are kitschly named after different wines but more than make up for it on the inside. Cast-iron roll-top baths, plasma-screen TVs and Egyptian linens all feature, 0844 736 4254, hotelduvin.com. Completing the theme, Malmaison Cheltenham is another Georgian beauty with a modern makeover, whose 61 rooms come equipped with an iPod Touch, complimentary mini bar and TV with Sky. Take dinner on the outdoor terrace and unwind as local tradition dictates in their superb REN Spa, 01242 527788, malmaison.com.

Where to eat and drink

At the top of the pile is Le Champignon Sauvage, a two-Michelin-star masterclass in the wonders of teamwork. While head chef David Everitt-Matthias works his magic in the kitchen, conjuring up dishes such as seared flank of Dexter beef, Hereford snails and parsley purée, his wife Helen runs the floor with practised professionalism 01242 573449, lechampignonsauvage.co.uk. Crazy Eights restaurant and bar in hotel No. 131 serves simple, well-executed British seasonal plates like poached wild sea trout, potato salad, broad beans and peas, and crafts a punchy cocktail, 01242 822 939, no131.com. On the promenade, Huffkins bakery is hard to beat for a cream tea or a ridiculously sticky Chelsea bun the size of your head, 01242 513 476, huffkins.com.

Time running out?

Take a taste tour of over 100 of Britain’s (and Europe’s) finest cheeses alongside the chutneys and wines to match at neat little deli Cheeseworks, thecheeseworks.co.uk.

National Express runs a regular coach service between London Victoria and Cheltenham with prices starting from £9. Travel time is about 2.5 hours, nationalexpress.com.

Travel Information

Travel Information

Getting There

First Great Western runs regular services between London Paddington and Cheltenham Spa. Travel time is about 2.5 hours, firstgreatwestern.co.uk.

National Express runs a regular coach service between London Victoria and Cheltenham with prices starting from £9. Travel time is about 2.5 hours, nationalexpress.com.

Resources

Visit Cheltenham is the go-to resource for the local lowdown, visitcheltenham.com, while Visit England will fill in the gaps on the Cotswolds and surrounding area, visitengland.com.