Touring Around
Touring the Cotswolds
Cheltenham is surrounded in all directions by countryside that can only be described as quintessentially English: the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the south and east, and to the west the ancient Forest of Dean and the Malvern Hills marking the changing landscapes of the Welsh borderlands. Essential places to visit are the picturesque Cotswold villages of Bourton-on-the-Water, Bibury, Broadway and Painswick, and the ancient wool towns of Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh, Winchcombe and Cirencester. Gloucester and Tewkesbury with their famous Cathedral and Abbey are nearby and a little further afield but still within easy reach are Bath, Worcester and Oxford.
If you don't have your own car you will be able to visit - with varying degrees of ease! - by using public transport services. Guided coach tours are available from Cheltenham during the summer months, but click here for a summary of local bus services. With your own car you are spoilt for choice: you can follow our unique touring routes along the Romantic Road, taking in the very best places to visit in the north and south Cotswolds, or you can head west: across the Severn Plain to the contrasting scenery of Herefordshire and the beautiful Wye Valley where ruined castles and abbeys signify a very different history.
VisitCheltenham Group Desk operates a three-day Gardens of the Cotswolds tour which can be extended and/or amended to your specific requirements. We can also tailor-make an individual tour for you: anything from a walking tour to a full tour programme with accommodation plus attraction or entertainment tickets.
