12 Best Things to do in Chester, UK

Chester ‘The walled city’ is in Cheshire, England. Chester is close to the border of Wales, on the River Dee. There is plenty to do in this historic city, if you are in the area, it is worth a visit. We had the privilege of living in Chester for just over a year!

Here is our list of 12 things to do in Chester…

1. Walk around the city via The Chester City Walls

Chester City Walls were built by the Romans to protect the city between 70 and 80 AD and are the only walls in Britain to still maintain the full circuit. Therefore, you can get great views of the city along the walls and there are lots of historical things to see with information boards along your way. What’s more, you can even take a walking tour, that takes you around the whole 2-mile circuit if you want to know all about the history!

2. Visit Chester Castle: Agricola Tower

Agricola Tower was founded by William the Conqueror in 1070 and was the first stone gateway to Chester Castle in the 12^th-century. You can visit the castle where you will see paintings from 1240. Also, look out from the castles wall-walk to appreciate its place in the city.

Chester Castle is usually open for visitors between July and September, they open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10.30am to 4pm. The cost to visit the Agricola Tower is £2 per person (members of English Heritage go free).

Grosvenor St, Chester postcode: CH1 2DN

3. Have a wander around Chester Cathedral

The Church of England cathedral, located in the city of Chester, has been the seat of the Bishop of Chester since 1541. Chester cathedral is a Grade I listed building and dates back to between 1093 and the early 16^th century. The present building still represents styles of English medieval architecture. The cathedral is used as a venue for concerts, exhibitions as well as graduations (Lu Graduated here!) and the building is a major tourist attraction in Chester.  So if you are in Chester, give this one a visit!

St Werburgh St, Grosvenor Precinct, Chester postcode: CH1 2DY

4. Window shop along the rows

And actually, shop if you see something you like (of course!). The Rows are sheltered two tiered walkways with unique (mostly) black and white and half-timbered buildings that house many different shops along the way, as well as cafes and other outlets. However, the origin of the rows is subject to speculation; though we do know that they date back from the medieval era.

5. Take a picnic to Grosvenor park

This was our favorite picnic destination when we lived in Chester… and you can see why! What’s more, Grosvenor Park won the Green Flag Award for public parks! The park is just outside the city walls, overlooking the river Dee (more on this further down) making it easily accessible If you are staying in the heart of the city.

The park has lots of history as well as activities such as; The Lodge Café, The Miniature Railway, children’s play park and is also home to an Open Air Theatre! Making this a great park for a sunny day out that the whole family can enjoy. As well as all this, the parks squirrels are also very friendly and if you are friendly too, they will come up and eat peanuts from your hands (too cute!).

Grosvenor Park Rd, Chester, postcode: CH11QP

6. Stroll through The Roman Gardens

The Roman Gardens, constructed in 1949, were built to display the building remains from the Roman legionary fortress of Deva. The Gardens are just outside the city walls, by Grosvenor Park and The River Dee. The gardens also house the remains of the Angle Tower that was once part of the original Roman city wall. Another one of Chester’s historic landmarks, not to be missed on your visit to Chester.

Pepper St, Chester, postcode: CH1 1DQ

7. Pedalo down The River Dee

Or just take a stroll by the river… The River Dee flows through both England and Wales, forming the border between the two. The river has a total length of 110km (68miles) and flows east via Chester. Also, by the river in Chester, you will find a promenade with cafes, ice cream stalls, restaurants, and pubs. On a sunny day, it’s the perfect place to grab an ice cream and have a stroll down the river, or if you are feeling adventurous you can also hire a pedalo, rowing boat or motorboat and sail down the river instead.

There are also many events that take place on the river dee. In June The River Dee is used for The Deva Chester Triathlon. As well as the Chester Raft Race being held here every July, raising money for charity. Also many rowing clubs in the Chester area use the river, so there is always lots going on here!

8. Visit the famous Chester Zoo

If you’ve watched ‘The Secret Life of The Zoo’ on Channel 4, you’ll know all about Chester Zoo and its animals. If you are in Chester and Zoos are your thing, then it is definitely worth a visit! We lived very close to the Zoo when we lived in Chester, so it was a great day out within walking distance for us.

However, wherever you are staying in Chester, the zoo is easy to access with its own park and ride facility – taking you to and from between the city centre and the zoo.

But, for those that haven’t seen ‘The Secret Life of The Zoo’ I’ll tell you a bit about it… So, Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by the Mottershead family and is one of the UK’s largest zoos! The zoo is 130 acres with a total land holding of around 400 acers and is home to over 700 different species and over 9000 animals. The Zoo was also voted the best zoo in the UK by trip adviser!

Chester, postcode: CH2 1EU

9. Shop till’ you drop at Cheshire oaks

If you like shopping, you will love Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet. Cheshire Oaks is the largest designer outlet centre in the UK. Hence, there are 145 stores to browse, from Nike to Mountain Warehouse, Regatta to The North Face.

Cheshire Oaks is located in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, so it is about a 15minute drive outside of Chester City Centre. Also, It doesn’t matter what time of year or time of the week you visit, as Cheshire Oaks is open 7 days a week, all through the year! (excluding Christmas day)

(mon-fri 10am-8pm, sat 10am-7pm, Sunday 10am-5pm some stores open at 11am)

It is also free to park and there are many large parking areas to choose from as well as a multi-story carpark… or if you don’t have a car you can get a bus from Chester Bus Interchange straight to Cheshire Oaks.

Kinsey Rd, Ellesmere Port, Postcode: CH65 9JJ

10. Explore the Crocky trail

Cotton Abbotts, Waverton, Chester, postcode: CH3 7PH

11. Eat ice cream at The Ice cream Farm

Well, there is actually more to do than just eat ice cream at The Ice cream Farm – believe it or not! The farm is a family friendly tourist attraction in the Cheshire countryside that is only £1 to enter for adults and £2 for children and parking is included in that price.

There are many different activities to suit the whole family as well as over 50 different ice cream flavors to choose from! The Ice Cream farm actually has a Guinness World Record Awards for ‘The World’s Largest Ice Cream Shop’. Also, if you are dairy free or vegan, they even cater for you too! (Bonus!)

They offer play passes for children or you can pay as they play, but the good thing about the play passes is that they don’t have an expiry date which means if you don’t use them all on your first visit you can take the same pass along the next time you go.

Drumlan Hall, Newton Ln, Cheshire, Chester, postcode: CH3 9NE

12. Spend a rainy day in Storyhouse

Well, it doesn’t have to be raining to visit, but it’s something dry to do if it is… Storyhouse is a cultural building in Chester with many usages, it opened in 2017 so it’s fairly new. The building has a cinema, restaurant, theatre, and a city library. The building was built in 1936 and used to be an Odeon Cinema. Therefore, it is a grade-II-listed building. But its also had a new extension which houses the theatre auditorium.

Hunter St, Chester CH1 2AR

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Thank you for reading, we hope you enjoyed the post! If you did or you have any other cool things to do that we’ve missed, let us know in the comments!

Lu & Ad

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