The Chester Experience

Old enough to make your spine tingle, yet young enough in spirit to be effortlessly fashionable. Small enough to explore easily on foot, but big enough to be wonderfully cosmopolitan. One of Europe’s great heritage cities, Chester is perfectly pleasing in every way.

Climb above bustling streets to march around the city’s ancient encircling walls. Browse upstairs and downstairs around the Rows – our Medieval, two-tiered shopping galleries. Admire athletic rowers and laid-back cruisers on the River Dee, hugging the historic heart of the city.

Pose in front of Britain’s most photographed clock after Big Ben, muse within the atmospheric Norman cathedral where Handel first rehearsed The Messiah, let your imagination run amok among the remains of Britain’s largest uncovered Roman amphitheatre. Become part of the city. Discover the Chester experience.

Award-Winning Accommodation

Come stay in Chester and experience fantastic attention to detail and  magnificent customer service.

The Chester Green Bough Hotel won EnjoyEngland’s Gold Award in 2006, and became England’s Best Small Hotel of the Year. The judges praised the hotel’s “attention to detail and outstanding service, excellent value for money and very high quality food”.

The Chester Grosvenor and Spa meanwhile, won 2006 Large Hotel of the Year in the Visit Chester & Cheshire Northwest Annual Awards. The hotel – the North of England’s only Five Red Star hotel – was commended for its personal approach to customer care, and the development of its staff to ensure that guest expectations were exceeded.

We are pleased to announce 69% of Cheshire’s accommodation providers are assessed and graded by either The AA or Visit Britain – Quality in Tourism, considerably higher than the national average of 50%.

Did you know?

The city offers its visitors the widest range of city tours of any UK city outside of London

• In 2007 there are 13 race days or evenings in the Chester Races programme.
• Chester Cathedral has the finest Medieval quire stalls in the UKwith some of Europe’s finest carvings.
• Chester is the only place in Britain to have maintained the tradition of regular midday proclamations at the High Cross where proclamations have been made since the Middle Ages. Chester’s Town Criers, David and Julie Mitchell, are the world’s first husband and wife Town Crier partnership!
  (Tuesday-Saturday, May to August, at noon).
• The city boasts the largest garden zoo in England and is the UK’s number one wildlife attraction.

In the City, Don’t miss...

THE ROWS - World famous two-tiered shopping galleries including the oldest
shop-front in England.

CHESTER CATHEDRAL - Magnificent outside, breathtaking inside!

THE EASTGATE CLOCK - The stunning Victorian timepiece spanning the original entrance to the city.

THE CITYWALLS - The most complete in Britain. A 45-minute stroll encircling the city’s highlights.

THE RIVER DEE - Boating, river cruises, bridges, alfresco art and riverside café bars.

AMPHITHEATRE - The site of Britain’s finest imperial Roman amphitheatre.