Chester



Chester (Welsh: Caer) is a very pretty and historic English city on the river Dee, and the county town (capital) of the North-Western county of Cheshire. Although maybe not worth a whole holiday, it's well worth a day or overnight trip to see the Roman ruins and medieval city centre. This fine city is also the gateway to North Wales, as it stands directly on the Anglo-Welsh border.

Understand
Chester originated in the Romano-British period at the latest, when it formed the settlement known as Deva or Castra Devana, the fortress city of the 20th Legion (Legio XX Valeria Victrix). As a result, some parts of Chester are around two thousand years old. It was a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War in the 1640s, and along the walls, one can see the tower from which King Charles I watched his troops do battle.

A native of Chester is called a 'Cestrian'. Just as Cockneys must be born within earshot of the Bow Bells to be classed a 'true' Cockney, local tradition dictates that to be strictly deemed a 'Cestrian' the person must have been born within the boundaries of the city's Roman walls. However, the last maternity ward within those defined limits was relocated to its current site a couple of miles outside the city walls in the early 1970s.


 * Visit Chester tourist information.

By train
Wikivoyage has a guide to Rail travel in Great Britain

Chester has trains from:
 * London – London Euston hourly by Avanti West Coast, taking 2 hr 30 min via Stafford and Crewe, where you may have to change.
 * Liverpool – Liverpool Central every 15 min by Merseyrail, taking 45 min via Birkenhead and the Wirral.
 * Manchester – Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road every 30 minutes, taking just over an hour via Warrington and Runcorn, and continuing along the Welsh coast to Holyhead (for Dublin ferries). Slower trains trundle from Piccadilly via Stockport, Altrincham, Knutsford and Northwich, and from Leeds via Bradford, Manchester Victoria and Warrington to Chester.
 *  Birmingham – Birmingham International (for airport) and New Street every two hours via Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury and Wrexham, and continuing along the coast to Holyhead. It's usually quicker to take a train towards Manchester and change at Crewe.
 * Cardiff – Cardiff every two hours via Abergavenny, Hereford, Shrewsbury and Wrexham, and continuing to Holyhead.

By car
Chester is near the eastern end of the A55, which becomes the M53, which crosses the M56. London is approximately 170 miles by road, Birmingham approximately 90 miles, Manchester approximately 40 miles and Liverpool approximately 15 miles.

By bus

 * National Express coaches run from London Victoria, taking six hours via Heathrow Airport, Oxford, Birmingham Airport and city centre, and Stoke-on-Trent. There's one daytime and one overnight service and they both continue to Liverpool. Megabus doesn't run to Chester.
 * Stagecoach Bus 1 / X1 runs from Liverpool every 30 min, taking 1 hr 40 min via Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port and Bache.
 * Arriva Bus 84 runs hourly from Crewe via Nantwich. Bus X30 runs hourly from Warrington, taking 90 min via Runcorn.
 * Arriva Bus 1 runs every 10 minutes from Wrexham, taking 45 minutes. Bus 11 runs from Rhyl hourly, taking 2 hr 15 min via Prestatyn and Holywell, where you may have to change.

English and Welsh concessionary bus passes are only valid for their own section of the cross-border routes.

Get around
The city centre is relatively small with everything within walking distance. For areas a little further away, there are good bus services from the bus station on Gorse Stacks on the north side of the city to nearby villages like Blacon and Saltney, as well as more distant towns such as Mold, Wrexham and Liverpool.

Or one can take a taxi.

See




Roman Chester
Chester (or Deva in Latin) was one of the great military bases in Roman England, and as such, has its fair share of Roman ruins. Historians have even speculated that had the Roman departure not happened, Chester would have become the Roman Capital of England.



Do

 * The Groves is one of Chester’s premier open spaces, running along the city bank of the River Dee. It became a promenade in the early 1700s and is now part of a longer Riverside Promenade.
 * In 1726, the area was leased to Charles Croughton who secured the river bank and planted an avenue of trees. By the late 18th century it had become known as The Groves. The City Walls also became a fashionable place and during the 18th century, the circuit was modified and the Groves and the walls were connected through the construction of Recorder’s Steps. In Roman times, this section of the riverside was a series of quarries where stone was extracted for building the fortress. In Saxon times, The Groves was probably the main port area and may have had a concentration of leatherworking.
 * The Groves is also the best place to go to take a trip down the river itself through all manner of vessels from motorised tour-boats to row boats and, in warm weather, even pedaloes.
 * Grosvenor Park was one of the first public parks in Britain outside of the big industrial cities and was given to the city of Chester in 1867 by Richard Grosvenor, the Second Marquess of Westminster.
 * Grosvenor Park was one of the first public parks in Britain outside of the big industrial cities and was given to the city of Chester in 1867 by Richard Grosvenor, the Second Marquess of Westminster.
 * Grosvenor Park was one of the first public parks in Britain outside of the big industrial cities and was given to the city of Chester in 1867 by Richard Grosvenor, the Second Marquess of Westminster.





Buy
Chester has fantastic shopping for its size. All the major stores are based in one of the most attractive city centres in the country. Traditional black and white Tudor buildings and The Rows (an historic two-tiered shopping gallery, the only one of its kind in the world!) coupled with good shops and great places to eat, such as The Watergates Wine Bar, are sure to make this a pleasant shopping trip. If that doesn't satisfy your consumerist needs, Cheshire Oaks is a designer outlet 10 miles away by bus or car.

Also, Chester has a traditional indoor Market located behind the town hall.

Eat

 * The Forge on Grosvenor Park Rd, opened in 2021, serves modern British grills. They're open M Tu 6-9:30PM, W-Su 12:15-2:45PM, 6-9:30PM.
 * The Forge on Grosvenor Park Rd, opened in 2021, serves modern British grills. They're open M Tu 6-9:30PM, W-Su 12:15-2:45PM, 6-9:30PM.
 * The Forge on Grosvenor Park Rd, opened in 2021, serves modern British grills. They're open M Tu 6-9:30PM, W-Su 12:15-2:45PM, 6-9:30PM.
 * The Forge on Grosvenor Park Rd, opened in 2021, serves modern British grills. They're open M Tu 6-9:30PM, W-Su 12:15-2:45PM, 6-9:30PM.
 * The Forge on Grosvenor Park Rd, opened in 2021, serves modern British grills. They're open M Tu 6-9:30PM, W-Su 12:15-2:45PM, 6-9:30PM.
 * The Forge on Grosvenor Park Rd, opened in 2021, serves modern British grills. They're open M Tu 6-9:30PM, W-Su 12:15-2:45PM, 6-9:30PM.
 * The Forge on Grosvenor Park Rd, opened in 2021, serves modern British grills. They're open M Tu 6-9:30PM, W-Su 12:15-2:45PM, 6-9:30PM.

Drink
Chester has plenty of historic, old-fashioned English pubs, with beer at around £2.50-3 a pint. However, most places will stop serving at around 11:30PM, and even a little earlier on Sundays. The only true exception being Watergates which trades until 2AM on Fridays and Saturdays.

Clubs
There are only a handful of night clubs and late bars to choose from. The latest any club will stay open in Chester is 3AM.



Sleep
There are many good hotels in and around the city. Contact the tourist office for details.

Mid-range
Most B&Bs are clustered to the east of the city in Hoole. This has its own centre, with good local pubs, some restaurants and shops. It's about a mile into the city centre and not a very attractive walk, but is convenient for the train station.

Stay safe
Chester is not an especially dangerous city, with no particular reputation for crime. The general rule is the nearer the racecourse (thus more expensive), the safer the area. However, the usual UK rules apply. Be aware that, between midnight and 3AM or so, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, there will be plenty of drunken people about, so stick to well-lit areas and main roads. If you are one of these people and don't know the city well, consider taking a cab home. Some parts of the city, especially Blacon and The Lache should be strongly avoided if you don't know the area, as they are considered unsafe.

Connect
As of Oct 2022, Chester and its approach roads have 5G from EE and Three, and 4G from O2 and Vodafone.

Go next
Wales - the border runs through Chester's western suburbs, and the Wales Coast Path long-distance walk begins in the city centre. Industrial Deeside is first, but head west and Wales gets much better. The Victorian seaside resort of Llandudno and the mountain town of Betws-y-Coed (gateway to Snowdonia National Park) are both around 50 miles (80 km) away.

Liverpool - vibrant and friendly port city, home of the Beatles, the Liver bird and a great skyline.

Manchester - old Cottonopolis is now a cosmopolitan metropolis.