Sandford Park Ale House

Oxford & the Cotswolds


Usually featuring 10 hand-pulled ales and ciders, and host to an annual cider-and-cheese festival, this relaxed, unassuming place is Cheltenham's premier beer house, and an erstwhile winner of CAMRA’s National Pub of The Year. The decor combines contemporary simplicity with trad pub memorabilia – there’s bar billiards – and there’s a large back garden. There’s classic pub grub too (£4 to £9).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Oxford & the Cotswolds attractions

1. The Promenade

0.34 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…

2. Cheltenham Minster

0.42 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…

3. Wilson Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum

0.45 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…

4. Cheltenham Ladies’ College

0.47 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…

5. Holst Birthplace Museum

0.5 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…

6. Montpellier

0.53 MILES

As well as plenty of handsome architecture, the village-y Montpellier district hosts a lively assortment of bars, restaurants, hotels, independent shops…

7. Pittville Pump Room

1.05 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…

8. Belas Knap Long Barrow

4.73 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…