Experience the best of Chester

Chester was founded by the Romans as the fortress of Deva, and the circuit of its city walls, about three kilometres around, is among the most complete in Britain, with a walkway along the top. The east gate carries the Victorian Eastgate Clock, and the remains of a Roman amphitheatre lie just outside the walls.

The Rows are two levels of covered galleries that run above the street-level shops along the main streets, set in timber-framed buildings, many of them Victorian copies of medieval originals. The red-sandstone cathedral, once a Benedictine abbey, stands close by, and the River Dee flows past the Roodee, a racecourse, and the green slopes of the Groves, where pleasure boats run.

Chester Zoo lies on the northern edge of the city, and the Welsh hills and the town of Llangollen are a short drive to the west. Cheshire cheese, pies and ales are local fare, and the city is liveliest in summer, when its riverside cafés and the walls are full of walkers.