The Wilson museum and Pittville Park cost nothing, Holst Victorian House is £10 and Sudeley Castle £21. Thirteen Cheltenham days out, prices checked this week.

Cheltenham is a Regency spa town that turned into a festival town, and both halves of that are visitable. The museum is free, the biggest park has a Green Flag and a pump room at the top of it, and the hill above Leckhampton was made a National Nature Reserve in June 2026. Beyond the borough boundary there is a castle, a steam railway and the Cotswold escarpment, all within half an hour.

Every price and opening time below was checked against the venue’s own website on 9 August 2026. Where an operator prices per date rather than publishing a fixed tariff, we say so instead of guessing.

What a Cheltenham day out costs one adult Chart of adult prices for days out in and around Cheltenham. The Wilson museum, Pittville Park, Pittville Pump Room, Montpellier and Imperial Gardens, Leckhampton Hill and Pilley Bridge Nature Reserve are all free to enter. Paid options are Holst Victorian House at £10, a Cheltenham Lido adult season ticket at £110, the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway all-day rover at £28, Sudeley Castle at £21 on the summer rate and £24 at the regular rate. What a Cheltenham day out costs one adult Standard adult admission, checked against each venue's own site on 9 August 2026. Free The Wilson (donation suggested) Pittville Park Montpellier and Imperial Gardens Leckhampton Hill National Nature Reserve Pittville Pump Room Pilley Bridge Nature Reserve Paid Sudeley Castle, child 3 to 15 £9.20 Holst Victorian House £10.00 Sudeley Castle, summer rate £21.00 Sudeley Castle, regular rate £24.00 Steam railway, all-day rover £28.00 Not on the scale: a Cheltenham Lido adult season ticket is £110 for the whole 28 March to 9 October 2026 season. Children aged 5 to 15 travel the steam railway for £1 during the 2026 summer season; a family of four all-day rover is £75. Sudeley Castle's summer rate applies on open days from 25 June to 1 September 2026; the regular rate applies outside that window.
Six of the thirteen cost nothing, and the most expensive thing on the list is a train ride to Broadway and back.

Free, and in the town

The Wilson, Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, Clarence Street GL50 3JT. Admission is free, with a suggested donation of £5. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm, closed Mondays, last admission half an hour before closing. There is a café on site, open until 4pm. One thing to know before you go: the Arts and Crafts Gallery has been closed since 1 June 2026 for works, and that is the collection the museum is best known for, so check what is open if that is why you are coming.

Pittville Park, the borough’s largest park, split in two by Evesham Road. The eastern half sits below Pittville Pump Room and has the main play area and the aviaries. The western half is bigger and wilder, with the lower lake, tennis courts, a pitch and putt course, a skate park, BMX ramps and a cyclocross course. It holds a Green Flag award, has a Changing Places toilet by the play area and three separate refreshment stops: the Kiosk, Central Cross Café and the Boathouse. Cheltenham parkrun meets here.

Pittville Pump Room itself is a Grade I listed Regency building, the last and largest of Cheltenham’s spa buildings, built by Joseph Pitt over five years and opened in 1830. It is primarily an events and hire venue now, with a pop-up café, so check what is on before making a special trip. Its own car park is one of the cheaper ones in town at £2 for three hours.

Montpellier Gardens and Imperial Gardens, the two formal Regency gardens off the Promenade. Imperial Gardens sits behind the town hall and is where the Literature, Jazz, Science and Music festivals put up their marquees each year. The Garden Bar opens in spring and summer.

Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common, the escarpment above the south of the town, with the Devil’s Chimney rock stack and views across the Severn Vale. In June 2026 Leckhampton Hill was designated one of the King’s series of National Nature Reserves, a national designation the borough council calls a significant honour. Free, open access, and steep.

Pilley Bridge Nature Reserve, an urban reserve in south Cheltenham on the line of the old Great Western Railway, and Griffiths Avenue Local Nature Reserve. Both free, both council-managed, both good for an hour rather than a day.

Paid, in the town

Holst Victorian House, Clarence Road, opposite the green gates of Pittville Park. The birthplace of Gustav Holst, presented as a Victorian home. Adults £10, 16 to 25-year-olds £5, children under 16 free with a paying adult. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm and Sunday 12pm to 4pm, last admission 3.30pm. Art Fund and Museums Association members go free; Friends of the Wilson get £1 off. Note that the brown road signs around town still show the old name, Holst Birthplace Museum.

Cheltenham Lido, Keynsham Road GL53 7PU. This is the old Sandford Parks Lido under a new name, and it is a registered charity. The 2026 season runs 28 March to 9 October. An adult season ticket is £110, a couple £191, a family of four £226, an age or health concession £65 and an income-based concession £51.50. Under-5s are free. Season ticket holders get four hours of free parking and priority entry. Day swims are booked online through the lido’s own system rather than sold at a published gate price.

The Everyman Theatre, Regent Street. Cheltenham’s Frank Matcham theatre, which the venue describes as the oldest working Matcham Victorian theatre. As well as the programme, it runs a backstage Theatre Tour on selected dates from 22 August to 18 December 2026, running about 1 hour 15 minutes, taking in the star dressing rooms, the fly floor, the space under the stage and the Irving Studio Theatre. Tour tickets are sold per date through the box office on 01242 572 573.

Cheltenham Racecourse, Evesham Road GL50 4SH, the home of jump racing. The 2026-27 season opens with the William Hill Showcase on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October 2026. On racedays the course runs a Horses For Courses tour departing from the Plaza by the Best Mate statue 90 minutes before the first race, two hours 15 minutes before during the Festival, lasting around 45 minutes and including the Parade Ring. Tours are strictly limited in number.

Cheltenham Festivals puts on four festivals a year across the town’s venues. The Literature Festival runs 9 to 18 October 2026, with a Festival Village that takes over Imperial Gardens.

Within half an hour

Sudeley Castle and Gardens, Winchcombe, about eight miles north-east. Katherine Parr is buried in the chapel. Open daily from 14 March to 1 November 2026, 10am to 4pm with last admission at 3pm and the adventure playground closing at 4.45pm. Summer rate, valid on open days from 25 June to 1 September: adults £21.00, seniors £20.15, children 3 to 15 £9.20, family ticket £52.10. Outside that window the regular rate is £24.00 adults, £23.00 seniors, £10.50 children, £59.50 family. Under-3s, carers and Blue Peter badge holders go free. Pet dogs are not allowed in the castle or grounds. The castle is closed to general admission on 8 August 2026.

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, running 14 miles from Cheltenham Racecourse station up through Winchcombe and Toddington to Broadway. An all-day rover over the full line, a 28-mile round trip, is £28 for an adult and £14 for a child aged 5 to 15, with a family of two adults and two children at £75 and an extended family of four adults and three children at £130. Under-5s travel free and dogs are £5. Over the 2026 summer season children aged 5 to 15 travel for £1 on the same all-day rover. A shorter Cheltenham Racecourse to Winchcombe explorer is £22 adult, £11 child.

The line’s Cheltenham terminus is the racecourse station on Evesham Road, which makes this the rare heritage railway you can reach without leaving town.

Frequently asked questions

What is there to do in Cheltenham for free?

The Wilson art gallery and museum on Clarence Street is free with a suggested £5 donation. So are Pittville Park, Montpellier Gardens, Imperial Gardens, Pilley Bridge Nature Reserve and Leckhampton Hill, which became a National Nature Reserve in June 2026.

Is Cheltenham museum free?

Yes. The Wilson charges no admission, with a suggested donation of £5, and opens Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm. Some exhibitions and events are ticketed separately, and the Arts and Crafts Gallery has been closed since 1 June 2026 for works.

How much is Sudeley Castle?

£21.00 for an adult on the summer rate, which applies on open days from 25 June to 1 September 2026, and £24.00 at the regular rate. Children aged 3 to 15 are £9.20 or £10.50, and family tickets are £52.10 or £59.50. Sudeley is open daily from 14 March to 1 November 2026.

Is Sandford Parks Lido still open?

Yes, under a new name. It now trades as Cheltenham Lido, on Keynsham Road GL53 7PU, and it is still run by the same registered charity. The 2026 season runs from 28 March to 9 October, and an adult season ticket is £110.

When is Cheltenham Literature Festival 2026?

9 to 18 October 2026, run by Cheltenham Festivals with a Festival Village in Imperial Gardens.

When does racing start at Cheltenham Racecourse?

The 2026-27 jump season opens with the William Hill Showcase on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October 2026.

What can you do in Cheltenham with children?

Pittville Park has multiple play areas, aviaries, boat hire, a skate park and BMX ramps, all free. Sudeley Castle has an adventure play fort and runs children’s activities through the school holidays. The steam railway is £1 for children aged 5 to 15 over the summer, and Cheltenham Lido is free for under-5s.

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Prices and opening times change. Check with the venue before you set out.