thursdaysd

I'm thinking of visiting some cathedrals on my way north from Oxford - some or all of Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford. When I looked Gloucester up in Lonely Planet I was surprised to find it advising me to stay in Cheltenham and day trip instead of sleeping in Gloucester. I had not previously considered Cheltenham as a destination, but LP seemed quite enthusiastic, making it sound like a less-touristed Bath, although without the Roman Baths.

I'll be traveling by public transport, and besides Gloucester it seems that I could also visit Tewkesbury and maybe somewhere in the Cotswolds by bus, and Worcester by train. I'm not pushed for time, so would three or four nights in Cheltenham be a good idea?

I'd also like to get some walking in, nothing too energetic, two or three hour hikes. Any advice on that? I'll probably stop off in Ludlow or Shrewsbury after Cheltenham.

annhig

thursdaysd - when I was growing up, we used to go to Cheltenham to visit some elderly relatives, so I've always had a soft spot for it. but I'm not sure about it as a tourist centre. I did stay in Gloucester once for a night when DD had an interview at nearby Hartbury College; I have to say that apart from the Cathedral, it didn't impress.

Last year on our way to Shrewsbury we stopped off for a couple of hours in Hereford - now that did strike me as somewhere it would be nice to stay for a few nights but I don't know how that would work with public transport.

What about Worcester?

[I'd much prefer to stay in Ludlow over Shrewsbury, BTW, if that's your next question!]

thursdaysd

Thanks ann. I have somewhat fond memories of Ludlow - the somewhat is because of standing around waiting for my father to get photos of the Feathers with no people.... I was thinking of Shrewsbury because of Ellis Peters, although I know little of the monastery is left.

It appears Gloucester has a National Waterways Museum, but I visited a canal and barge museum last year, not sure I need to see another so soon.

There seems to be quite a lot to see in Worcester, including the Porcelain Works and a couple of house museums, but I was figuring I could do it as a day trip from Cheltenham.

annhig

we spent 3 nights in Shrewsbury last year - there's quite a lot to see, but I just preferred Ludlow, though I've never stayed there.

it may come down to which place has the best train connections.

janisj

>>so would three or four nights in Cheltenham be a good idea? <<

I haven't ever been limited to public transport in Gloucestershire/Worcestershire etc so I don't know if it would get complicated, but just as places stay -- I'd rather stay in Gloucester, Tewkebury, Evesham etc than Cheltenham.

It has good shopping, and a racecourse etc -- but not really my cup of tea. But then again maybe it would work as a base for visiting other places.

Maybe julia_t (haven't seen her post recently) or flanner can give you better advice.

bilboburgler

I've been twice to Cheltnam in the past 2 years. Apart from the girls school and the spy centre it has a bunch of shops and buildings from across the ages.

The good news is it has one of the countries best art galleries selling locally produced art outside London. But nothing else

thursdaysd

Interesting input, thanks. I'm afraid I've given up trying to appreciate most art after the Surrealists, so the art gallery isn't a draw. Spy center?

LP says it's "the most complete Regency town in England", and claims the Promenade is one of England's "most beautiful streets". Also mentions "a lively collection of bars, restaurants and independent shops and boutiques". You all don't agree? Maybe the author spent too long in the bars?

kmowatt

I was in Chelts for Christmas, my brother just moved there. For sure it has some beautiful Regency architecture and the promenade is nice...there is a small boutique hotel at one end with a good restaurant - No. 131 - they have other properties too. I would check the train schedules to see how the links are for public transport. It's a pleasant place, but not very large.

FrancesBrighton

Cheltenham is a very beautiful town, especially if you appreciate lovely Regency architecture. It does have great bars, restaurants and shops. It is quintesentially English. I would recommend it. It is a much 'nicer' place to stay than Gloucester ... but, obviously, it depends on your tastes.

janisj

Yes - there are some pretty Regency buildings -- and worth an afternoon IMO.

It isn't a small place -- nearly 120,000 population so if you want a city w/ some pretty bits and transport links it might be a convenient stop.

thursdaysd

The transport links do seem to work well. Looks like I could do Gloucester and Tewkesbury one day, Worcester one day, and Cirencester one day.

Maybe flanner will weigh in on the Cotswolds. There is a bus to Stow-on-the-Wold.

crellston

Hi Thursdaysd

Spy centre? GCHQ - the Govt. Comms Centre - a descendent of Bletchley Park aka The Donut. Fascinating place but not sure it's a tourist attraction.

"I'd also like to get some walking in, nothing too energetic, two or three hour hikes. Any advice on that?" Wincombe is a 20 min bus ride from Cheltenham and is on the Cotswold way and a junction of several walks. Also home to Sudely Castle, the home of Katherine Parr - Henry V111's last wife. Well worth a visit.

janisj

Because it is the 'city' in the area transport links are likely much more convenient. So you could use it as a base . . . and get outta town every day

thursdaysd

@crellston - ah, thanks for the clarification. I enjoyed visiting Bletchley Park (and the Computer Museum), but will keep my distance from the new incarnation. Glad to hear about Sudely and Wincombe, though. May have to add another night!

@janisj - there certainly seems to be plenty to go see in the area, and transport looks to be pretty good. Now I just have to find somewhere to stay.

flanneruk

It's downright absurd to call Cheltenham a "beautiful city."

By the standards of proper English heritage towns, it's a history-free johnny come lately: a spa town thrown up by Georgian speculators with a small and pretty 18th century core surrounded by mile after mile of drab (and universally hideous) suburb, itself surrounded by lovely Cotswold countryside several hundred feet above the town itself. Because it's such a new town, its few interesting buildings were thrown up during the period Britain wasn't into religion, so it doesn't just lack a cathedral: it lacks the grand medieval churches with their associated closes that most of England's other non-cathedral towns (not just Cambridge, Bath, Tewkesbury or Warwick, but Wigan or Beverley) have at their centres.

It's got excellent intercity railway links, but seriously mediocre going on non-existent trains serving its hinterland. It's got a few local bus links (spider map at http://www.escapetothecotswolds.org...._large2014.jpg) .

It's got better shops (I mean shops people use for their daily life) than anywhere else in the Cotswolds, and a reasonable number of serious restaurants - in the case of the Champignon Sauvage, seriously serious - in its (slightly tacky, though often pretty) BoHo area around Montpellier. Since its local public transport is weak, its hinterland shoppers all car-borne and its major employers in its suburbs, traffic is almost always heavy and ubiquitous.

GCHQ (occasionally claimed to be the Russians' Number 1 nuclear target worldwide) neither attracts visitors nor goes out of its way to frighten them off. To the average Cheltenham visitor, it's just another anonymous out of town call centre surrounded by a huge car park: the security's not visibly intrusive and most certainly not threatening, but I've never found a way of photographing the doughnut itself. There's no visitor centre, and its outreach activities are mostly centred on school visits and interesting articles on its website. There is no perceptible sense in the town of being married quarters for a military base: GCHQ's simply your average white-collar (I believe more often T-shirt and jeans) employer.

On the other hand, the speculators building the spa were generous in the amount of open-access greenery they provided in the town centre, and the town's earliest arriving employers (like hotels and private schools) also generated a lot of green openish space. So staying in the centre can be pleasant: most of the borough's hotels, though, are out on its horrid ring roads - seriously difficult to access without a car - or in its equally horrid (though safe) inner-city suburbs.

Not trying to put you off: but Cheltenham's no unspolit rural market town.

flanneruk

I should have added: I've not yet found (though I've not looked hard) an easy way of doing short walks in the Cotswolds from a Cheltenham base without a car.

Unlike the real Cotswolds, where every house is with 100 yards of the national footpath system, getting into open countryside from Cheltenham requires a long, uphill, tedious slog along traffic-choked streets: it's not got green trails from the centre like, say, Oxford, Winchester or Salisbury.

Nor does it have trains I've found into rural stations actually on the footpath system: without a car, the easiest option is a bus to Winchcombe - but that's well over half a day written off for a walk that'd take a couple of hours from a hotel in Burford or Chipping Campden.

Others may have discovered an alternative: but as far as I'm concerned Cheltenham's attractions come down to the Champignon Sauvage, John Lewis and a Sainsbury's big enough to stock Staffordshire oatcakes.

thursdaysd

Thanks for the reply, flanner. So, what would you suggest as an alternative base for Gloucester, Worcester, Tewkesbury and maybe a day in the Cotswolds, given I won't have a car?

thursdaysd

How about Worcester as an alternative?