As well as plenty of handsome architecture, the village-y Montpellier district hosts a lively assortment of bars, restaurants, hotels, independent shops and boutiques. Along Montpellier Walk, 32 caryatids (draped female figures based on those of Athens’ Acropolis), each balancing an elaborately carved cornice on her head, function as structural supports between the 1840s edifices that now serve as shops. The attractive Montpellier Gardens, directly opposite, were laid out in 1809, and are the focus of major local festivals.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
29.22 MILES
After Welsh marauders torched the original Saxon cathedral, the Norman rulers of Hereford erected a larger, grander cathedral on the same site. The…
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18.58 MILES
Morgan has been handcrafting elegant sports cars since 1909. You can see the mechanics at work on two-hour guided tours of the unassuming shedlike…
7.3 MILES
Gloucester’s spectacular cathedral is among the first and finest examples of the English Perpendicular Gothic style. Benedictine monks built a Norman…
28.96 MILES
The haunting riverside ruins of this sprawling monastic complex have inspired poets and artists through the centuries, most notably William Wordsworth,…
25.93 MILES
When Shakespeare retired, he swapped the bright lights of London for a comfortable town house at New Place, where he died of unknown causes in April 1616…
26.08 MILES
Start your Shakespeare quest at the house where the renowned playwright was born in 1564 and spent his childhood days. John Shakespeare owned the house…
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14.21 MILES
Bibury's most famous attraction, this ravishing row of rustic cottages – as seen in movies like Stardust – was originally a 14th-century wool store,…
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13.21 MILES
Most of this wonderful modern museum is, of course, dedicated to Cirencester’s Roman past; reconstructed rooms, videos and interactive displays bring the…
Nearby Oxford & the Cotswolds attractions
0.16 MILES
Founded in 1853, on the site of the town’s original spa, Cheltenham Ladies’ College is one of Britain’s most prestigious independent girls’ schools. It’s…
0.41 MILES
Famed as one of the most beautiful streets in England, this broad, tree-lined boulevard leads down from the high street to Montpellier, and is flanked by…
3. Wilson Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum
0.44 MILES
This excellent gallery-museum focuses on local life through the ages. There’s an emphasis on applied arts and design, with some wonderful British ceramics…
0.48 MILES
Cheltenham’s only surviving medieval building, dating from the middle of the 11th century, was awarded minster status in 2013, and is particularly worth a…
0.78 MILES
Composer Gustav Holst was born in Cheltenham in 1874, and the rooms of his childhood home are laid out in typical period fashion. Spread across four…
1.31 MILES
The Pittville Pump Room is Cheltenham’s finest Regency building. Modelled on an ancient Athenian temple, it was built in 1830 as the centrepiece of a…
5.24 MILES
Dating from around 3000 BC, Belas Knap is one of the country’s best-preserved neolithic burial chambers, complete with ‘false’ portal leading nowhere. The…
6.28 MILES
Winchcombe’s much-restored, 15th-century Perpendicular St Peter’s church is worth a visit for its majestic tower, arcaded interior and the series of…