Test the waters and go to concerts at the Pittville Pump Room (http://www.cheltenhamtown...) 10 minutes walk north of High Street
Visit the Holst Birthplace Museum (http://www.holstmuseum.org.uk/), where the composer Gustav Holst was born in 1874.
Visit the Art Gallery and Museum (http://www.cheltenhammuse...) on Clarence Steet. Its collection of furniture and other pieces by Cotswold-based Arts and Crafts Movement craftsmen such as Ernest Gimson and Edward Barnsley is particularly good. Currently closed until 2013.
See a production at the Everyman (http://www.everymantheatr...) or Playhouse (http://www.playhousechelt...).
Go shopping on the Promenade and in the elegant Montpellier area
Visit the heritage Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway (http://www.gwsr.com/) which runs steam-hauled trains between Cheltenham Racecourse and Toddington most weekends throughout the year except in January, February and early March it re-starts for Gold Cup week, and most weekdays in summer. It often has notable visiting engines, such as the Great Western Railway 'City of Truro' which was the first in the world to exceed 100mph, in 1904.
events
Gold Cup horse racing (http://www.cheltenham.co....). March.
International Jazz Festival first week of May
Cheltenham Science Festival early June
Cheltenham International Festival of Music 3 weeks in July
Fringe Festival at the same time as the Festival of Music
Cheltenham Cricket Festival Starts late July or Early August
Cheltenham Festival of Literature October
Walk the Line music festival October (http://www.walkthelinefes...).
Wychwood Festival of music May