Accommodation is plentiful. Amongst the hotels , there's the Great Malvern , 7 Graham Rd (tel 01684/563411, ; A?70-90), a family-run, medium-sized hotel in a substantial old stone building right in the centre, and, just along the street, at no. 23, is the comparable Montrose (tel 01684/572335; A?40-50). The smartest hotel in town is the Foley Arms , 14 Worcester Rd (tel 01684/573397; A?70-90), which occupies a good-looking Georgian building - with oodles of wrought-iron work - again in the centre. B&Bs include the inexpensive Kylemore , 30 Avenue Rd (tel 01684/563753; no credit cards; under A?40), the Wyche Keep , an impressive Edwardian house with garden access to the hills at 22 Wyche Rd (tel 01684/567018; no credit cards; A?50-60), and Elm Bank , an elegant Regency town house with en-suite rooms at 52 Worcester Rd (tel 01684/566051; A?40-50). The homely youth hostel , serving simple meals, is a mile south of Great Malvern train station, off the main A449 at 18 Peachfield Rd, Malvern Wells (tel 01684/569131, ; closed Nov to mid-Feb). The nearest campsite is at Odd Fellows Pub , four miles southwest in Colwall (tel 01684/540084).

For food , Great Malvern has oodles of cafA©s and tearooms - one of the more distinctive is the St Anne's Well CafA© , a cosy vegetarian cafA© serving inexpensive wholefood snacks, salads and cakes from its Victorian premises at the Well; just follow the signs up through the park from the centre. They'll also give you a glass to sample the spring water that babbles into a basin outside the door. The town's other cafA© with character lies downhill from the tourist office at the train station. Known as the Lady Foley's Tea Room during the day, and Passionata in the evening (tel 01684/893033; reservations recommended), it's actually on one of the station platforms and makes the most of its Victorian surroundings. Finally, Cridlans' Restaurant (tel 01684/562676), a French-style brasserie just outside the abbey gates, is a slightly pricier, but still good-value place to eat, serving light lunches and tasty continental dishes on check tablecloths; try their delicious home-made sausage sandwich.