The Severn’s far from boring
Swim at the Lido, walk with hawks, or meet rare breeds at the Cotswold Farm Park. Admire Tewkesbury Abbey. Watch the Severn Bore do its thing. Soak up the continental café culture of Cheltenham. Go Ape in the Forest of Dean. Wrap up the day with a Pink Poppy Punch at The Botanist.
Country kids
Note that the Forthampton Hall accepts children only aged 12 and older.
Rattle your way through the glorious countryside on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Steam Railway, a 14-mile heritage railway covering 14 miles of the Cotswolds. Take a walk with a hawk or enjoy an own encounter at Walks with Hawks. Or dive into 26-degree heated water at Sandford Parks Lido.
Get close to some rare-breed animals at Cotswold Farm Park with its 50-plus flocks and herds of farm animals, including Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs and Highland cattle. Play in the indoor barns and enjoy the adventure playground, farm safari, maze, tractor school, sandpits and jumping pillows.
Holst Victorian House is Cheltenham’s only open-house Victorian home and the birthplace of composer Gustav Holst. Explore the lives of the inhabitants and marvel at a time capsule of 19th century life with working Victorian kitchen, Victorian bedroom, scullery and nursery.
Hire bikes from the station at The Bicycle Hub. Dive into a mystical lost world at Mr Mulligan’s Cheltenham, with a seriously crazy jungle golf course with Jurassic creatures waiting at every turn. Or get some vitamin D down them at Flyup 417 Bike Park, with its jump site and outdoor trails in 100 acres of beautiful hillside.
For the grown ups
Into abbeys? You must get down to Tewkesbury, with its stained glass, long nave and striking Romanesque tower. Refresh and refuel on scones and soup in the Touching Souls Tea Room. Alternatively, walk the Malvern hills, watch the Severn Bore do its thing, or enjoy the garden sculptures at Showborough House.
Be wowed by the flower borders with their Malvern views at the Victoria Pleasure Gardens. Go Ape in the Forest of Dean. Walk the triangular island of the Severn Ham. Potter picnic-perfect Pittville Park, hire a boat and see the Pump Room, jewel of Cheltenham’s Regency architecture.
Museums? You’ve got natural history at the John Moore Museum and aerospace at the Jet Age Museum. For culture vultures, the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham offers ballet, opera, drama, dance, comedy, music events and traditional pantomime. Or shop yourself silly at the Montpellier district or Gloucester Quays Designer Outlet.
Watch one of the world’s most prestigious motor-racing events set in 60 acres of glorious Cotswold countryside at the Prescott Hill Climb. Or see the warehouses, narrowboats and tall ships that pepper the Victorian Gloucester Docks and refuel at the Med Kitchen.
Happy hens
Create your own gin at Brennen and Brown Distillery, take a guided tour and take home your very own 70cl bottle of gin crafted from a range of 30 botanicals. Or enjoy concerts and comedy nights at Cheltenham Racecourse, home of the famous jump-racing festival held in March each year.
Feel ever-so-sophisticated as you wander the Regency streets of Cheltenham among the stylish eats and chic boutiques of the Montpellier district. Or head to the Brewery Quarter for the multiplex Imax Cinema, bowling alley, indoor adventure golf, and high-street branded restaurants and bars.
Book a day spa at the Greenway Hotel and Spa with its hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room, sanarium and al-fresco hot tub. Choose from themes such as Dr Who and Aladdin as you plot your way out of Escape Hunt in Cheltenham. Or try some zorb football, the bubble version of the beautiful game.
There’s a continental café culture in Cheltenham by day and a vibrant party scene by night. Throw some shapes at the MooMoo Club Rooms, 21 Club, the Frog and Fiddle or Bar Fever. Enjoy a Pink Poppy Punch or Rhubarb Rose Martini at The Botanist. Or mix your own at an All Bar 1 masterclass.
