10 Free Things to Do in Chester – Your Perfect Day Trip

It is not often that you get to explore the majority and the main attractions of a touristic city completely for free. There are plenty of free things to do in Chester and it is one of the major reasons that it makes it the ideal day trip from nearby cities like Manchester, Liverpool and beyond!

I have visited Chester as a day trip from Manchester and was not expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. If you love cobbled streets, riverside views, and a heavy dose of Roman history, Chester is your dream day trip. Speaking for myself, even more so because the only cost I spent was for transportation. It is right on the English-Welsh border, making it an opportunity to step foot in Wales also.

In this guide, I’ll take you through 10 completely free things to do on your Chester day trip. There are no tickets and no gimmicks, just a wonderful day of exploring and walking through a historic city for the cost of your train fare.

How to Get to Chester

Chester is well-connected by both train and bus, and it is accessible from many cities for a day trip. While I traveled here from Manchester, here are some of the options along with prices and details to travel to Chester by train and bus:

From Liverpool

• Train: Direct trains from Liverpool Lime Street to Chester take approximately 45 minutes. Advance tickets start from £6.40. Check train times
• Bus: Stagecoach operates buses from Liverpool to Chester, with fares starting at £2. The journey takes around 1 hour and 53 minutes.

From Manchester

• Train: Trains from Manchester Piccadilly to Chester take about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Advance tickets can be as low as £4. Check train times on OMIO
• Bus: Buses from Manchester to Chester are available, with prices starting from £5.

From London

• Train: Trains from London Euston to Chester take approximately 2 hours and 3 minutes. Advance fares start from £23.12. Check train times
• Bus: FlixBus offers services from London to Chester, with tickets starting at £12.48. The journey duration is around 4 hours and 40 minutes. Check FlixBus

From Birmingham

• Train: Trains from Birmingham New Street to Chester take about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Advance tickets start from £9.80. Check train times
• Bus: National Express operates buses from Birmingham to Chester, with fares starting at £9. The journey takes approximately 2 hours and 16 minutes.

Tips for Saving on Travel:

• Advance Booking: Plan ahead especially on train travel in the UK. Prices shoot up closer to the day.
• Railcards: If you travel frequently, consider purchasing a railcard for additional discounts.
• Off-Peak Travel: Traveling during off-peak hours can result in lower fares.

For the most accurate and up-to-date information, please check the respective transport websites or booking platforms before your journey.

By Car

Driving to Chester? There are several park-and-ride options just outside the city that help avoid expensive parking. Or, you can park at:

• Chester Market Car Park
• Frodsham Street Car Park
• Little Roodee Car Park (great if you’re starting near the River Dee)

Free Things to Do In Chester

I arrived in Chester via train from Manchester. Since the train station is outside of the city centre I started walking as it was only a 15 minute walk and didn’t want to spend any more than I absolutely needed to. Signs to the city center were well posted and I did not need to use Google Maps to make my way to Chester’s center.

1. Start your Journey at Eastgate Clock

The day started here! Once I followed the signs you will be greeted by the Eastgate Clock. This is the starting point to your day as you can either climb the stairs up to the city walls or keep walking straight into the city center.

Whatever you choose to do make sure you snap a picture of this famous clock. This is often called the second most photographed clock in the UK after Big Ben.

2. Walk the Chester City Walls

As I said you have two options, I opted to first do a circular route along the city walls to have a sense of the city and its history. It was relaxing and the architecture really is stunning. There are several points of exit and reentry along the walls similar to the walls found in York. I decided to exit to…

3. Visit the Roman Gardens

I exited the walls near the Roman Gardens. It is a peaceful green area which has scattered ruins and remnants of the city’s ancient past. It was the perfect place to have a break maybe have a quick pre-bought snack or drink before continuing on your day.

4. Visit the Roman Amphitheater

Before continuing on the walls just a short walk away you will find a Roman Amphitheatre paying tribute to the city’s Roman roots. This impressive open-air ruin is one of Britain’s largest Roman amphitheaters.

5. Explore Chester Cathedral

After that short detour I continued on the city walls before ending up the other side of the Eastgate Clock. Head back toward the city center and visit one of the best free things to do in Chester. l. Unlike York cathedral, it is free to enter and because of this we like Chester Cathedral more! In all seriousness though I would say that Chester Cathedral’s true beauty lies on the inside.

This cathedral is packed with gothic beauty and you can wander in the corridors leading to the main church. It is truly stunning and it is like every cathedral shown in the movies. You really need to experience it for yourself. The church’s main interior was also stunning, with its stained glass and paintings. It was a sight to behold and I am going to let these pictures do the talking for me

6. Town Hall Square

Once you are finished admiring (or praying) inside the cathedral, turn the corner and you will find yourself in the Town Hall Square. You are not going to spend much time in it but the town hall is a grand building in itself and worth the short stop to take a look.

7. Chester Cross

From the town hall head down to the Chester Cross. Not going to lie, for all the fuss online about this cross I was underwhelmed at the sight of it. It does hold historical significance as it was the Roman forum and later a medieval market square. Nowadays it is just a reference point as it is the point of intersection between the 4 major streets in Chester. It is also surrounded by some of the best-preserved examples of…

8. The Rows

The Rows are simply iconic and it is one of the must things to do in Chester. No trip here is complete without exploring the city’s two tiered shopping galleries. The rows are basically streets unique to Chester where you find shops on top of each other, with main shop entrances at street level and other shops on top of them. I sometimes got confused where the entrances where.

The buildings are like framed with black and white facades and separated by wooden staircase to make the second floor accessible. Historically, it was designed to separate the shops from street level from covered upper walkways to make shopping easier in bad weather.

9. Stroll Along River Dee

Once you finished exploring the Rows, or maybe even shop on this iconic street filled with local and main stream shops, head down to the river. I was planning to take a nice stroll but I visited in February and the weather was bitter cold so I didn’t spend some time next to the water.

If you are visiting in the summer, then you should be able to enjoy this more. Instead I headed to local Pret to warm up and grabbed a hot chocolate. (I do not like coffee)

10. Finish off at Grosvenor Park

Right alongside the banks of River Dee, sits Grosvenor Park, Chester’s green lung. Although not huge, I found it ideal to snatch a bench and nibble on some snacks before walking back to the train station. It was the end of my day in Chester and I slowly made my way back to grab the train back to Manchester.

If you however, want to spend more time in Chester here are some other paid attractions that you could visit to extend your stay.

Optional Paid Things to Do in Chester

There are other things to do outside the free options that I mentioned above. Although in my opinion all the main attractions are free to visit. Some noteworthy mentions are down below

Chester Zoo

If you are going to pay for one attraction while in Chester than it has to be Chester Zoo. It is one of the UK’s best and most famous zoos, home to over 20,000 animals. It’s not cheap, but if you’re staying longer than a day, it’s definitely worth a visit. If you are only visiting for a day trip than this makes it a bit tight as you will definitely need well over 4-5 hours to explore this huge zoo. Tickets can be purchased from Chester’s zoo official website

Sick to Death

One of the strangest attractions that the whole of England has to offer let alone Chester. This is a quirky museum of medicine and crime and teaches you all about medicine through time. To top it all off it is located inside a church. It is definitely weird but educational and fascinating in its own unique way

Roman Tours

If you fancy to dive deeper in the free walking tour that I laid out for you above, I won’t be offended as I don’t come in a Roman soldier outfit and I definitely do not know all of the ins and outs of Chester’s history. There are paid walking tours led by costumed Roman soldiers that does precisely this. It is somewhat worth it if you are in the past and want to learn more about Chester’s origins.

Things to do in Chester- Final Thoughts

I found myself enjoying Chester thoroughly as it was a nice relaxing day without a whole load of expenses. You can easily do all of the above in around 4-5 hours leaving you time in the evening at your city of origin as well. While it is not on the top of my list of day trips from Manchester, it is definitely up there. I think the city of York just edges it somewhat, you can have a read of top things to do in York and decide for yourself on which medieval city to visit!

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