Discovering Cheltenham: A Self-Guided Audio Tour
Description
Are you looking for a way to see Cheltenham, the party capital of Regency era England without joining a tour group? Explore at your own pace with this affordable walking tour. • Discover how the humble pigeon transformed the town into a leading Regency resort town that attracted royal patronage • Hear from producer Owen Bowles, a Blue Badge Tourist Guide for the Heart of England region • Do it all in 90 minutes or linger at stops along the way with complete control over when you start and finish • Get unlimited use before your booking date and after it • Use the virtual tour option at home Once you’ve booked, you’ll receive a ticket with instructions and a unique code listed under “Before You Go”. Then simply install the VoiceMap app and enter your code. The app displays directions to the starting point, and when you’re in the right place, just pop in your headphones and tap start. VoiceMap has automatic GPS playback, with turn-by-turn directions. It also works offline.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The tour starts in front of The Wilson, an art gallery and museum. You'll hear a bit about the gallery and museum, be introduced to how VoiceMap works and learn a bit about Cheltenham's history before the tour officially starts.
The tour passes by Cheltenham Minster, St Mary's. You'll hear about the church while you walk around it and through the graveyard.
The tour passes through Royal Crescent. You'll hear the earliest important Georgian terrace to have been built in Cheltenham while you walk.
The tour passes by The Hare and the Minotaur by local sculptor Sophie Ryder. You'll learn more about Cheltenham's history while you walk.
The tour passes by the statue of Edward Wilson, one of Cheltenham's most famous sons. You'll learn about Wilson while you walk.
The tour passes by the majestic Neptune Fountain. You'll hear about the fountain including who designed it, where it gets its water from and who made it while you walk.
The tour passes by the impressive Cheltenham Town Hall. You'll hear about town hall like how it was once used entertainment venue for concerts, banquets, dances, and balls while you walk.
The tour passes through Cheltenham's Imperial Gardens which were once for the exclusive use of visitors to the Sherborne, later known as the Imperial Spa. You'll hear a bit more about the gardens while you walk.
The tour passes by Gustav Holst Statue. You'll hear about Holst and his music while you walk.
The tour passes by Queens Hotel Cheltenham, one of the first purpose-built hotels in Europe. You'll be shown interesting architectural features and hear about the hotel while you walk.
The tour goes through a section of Montpellier Walk which was designed by Cheltenham architect William Hill Knight. You'll hear about this retail strip while you walk.
The tour passes by Cheltenham College Chapel which was designed by Henry Prothero. You'll hear about the chapel and a famous day pupil of the college while you walk.
The tour ends in Montpellier Gardens. You'll hear about the gardens while you walk as well as some concluding remarks about regency era Cheltenham.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(27)
This tour is just the right length, especially for a very warm day! It shows some interesting and varied sights and gives just enough information to be absorbing without being over the top. It is easy to follow and quickly corrects you if you stray off course. By the time we’d walked from the John Lewis car park to the starting point, round the tour and back to the car, we’d done 10,000 steps. Cheltenham is beautiful and whilst the tour is superficial in terms of the distance that can be travelled on foot in one go (compared to all the delights the wider place has to offer), it was an excellent way for a prospective student to learn their way round and to see what Cheltenham has to offer. I would definitely recommend the tour.
An enjoyable and informative hour and a half with a very easy to listen to guide.
Clear directions (even when I went off track) easy to use and informative. I downloaded it so no problems with connection.
We stayed at 131 hotel, it was a gift from our daughters. It must be the nicest hotel we’ve stayed in. We went to eat at The Ivy which was beautiful.
Great informative tour, the narrator had a very nice voice, the directions were easy to follow and the information was very interesting
A well designed and narrated tour which takes in all the key interest points and historical sites in and around the centre of Cheltenham. We learnt a lot more from the tour than if we had just wandered around ourselves. We found the Audiomap app was not always intuitive to use, and initially struggled to find the menu option to enter the code provided on purchase. We also struggled with location access settings for the app - only solved by setting access to location data on permanently, and not just whilst using the app.
We came to Cheltenham for a short break. I knew it was steeped in history but we wanted to explore the town at our own pace. This was a brilliant option that allowed us to find out loads about Cheltenham without restricting us to a timetable. We were able to pause the tour at any point to explore shops and stop for lunch etc. The tour can be done in as little as 90 minutes but we stretched it out across a whole day and really enjoyed ourselves. We only got lost once and that was because we talked over one of the directions. We were quickly advised of our error and returned to the previous check point. I would definitely recommend to the inquisitive independent traveller
Very user friendly and helpful virtual guided tour. Nice voice, easy to follow directions and plenty of interesting information. Stopped when I stopped and automatically picked up when I moved on. Took me places and showed me areas that I would not have ventured to, but nothing too far off the beaten track! Very good overall and worth the cist
Great way to get to know a city especially when you’re on your own. The app worked well - the only time I went slightly off route it was easy enough to find my way back on and the tour was interesting and the guide lovely to listen to. Sometimes you do feel a bit weird standing still in random places (like next to the coach station) but just look confident and it’s fine!
Easy to follow and interesting and just about the right length. We'd been there a day already but would have missed loads without this tour.
