Chester City Walls — Attraction in City of Chester

For me, nothing can beat York City Walls in terms of being the best city walls in England. However, the Chester Walls do come closest.

I hadn’t really appreciated previously how much of these walls remains intact – you can join the walls alongside the racecourse and then complete a sort of three-quarters circuit of the city, ending up near the Roman Amphitheatre.

The route of the walls is quite interesting – in addition to seeing into gardens etc the walls also wind in between shops and pass through the main shopping area – you get to walk under the famous Eastgate clock as part of this walk. At one point as you’re walking along you also become aware that you’re suddenly about 20 metres above the canal and it’s quite a precipitous looking drop – it’s not immediately apparent how you gain that much height so quickly, but you do.

There are a few interesting looking little bars and shops that seem to open directly onto the walls dotted around – possibly a nice way to spend an afternoon.

The walls themselves are relatively flat, but they are old, so the ground is uneven. There are also steps. I would say only tackle a wall walk if you’re relatively mobile and it hasn’t been raining. If you start and don’t feel you can finish, there are plenty of places where you can give up and do something else – little flights of steps to different streets etc.

The walls are best explored just after dawn, when they are quiet and most serene – allow about an hour to do so and then maybe have some breakfast. I suspect the experience isn’t as pleasant when they are...

Great way to see the city before you go in. Some lovely views of both the inner city & some of the outlying area. You can circumnavigate the whole city in about an hour or get on & off the walls via one of many flights of stairs, as you work your way around. Little Roodee Car Park, on the south side of the city & accessible from the A483 Grosvenor Road, is an ideal place to park to access the City Wall. From here, heading east & looking across the river Dee, you can see the spire of 'St Mary Without the Walls' in the area of Handbridge. As you hard North along the wall you can see the Chester Roman Gardens outside of the walls confines & the very interesting Park Street inside. You soon pass Westgate Clock Tower. Not much further on you pass the very impressive Chester Cathedral, within the city walls, next is an interesting Falconry Centre. As you then come to King Charles Tower & the walls turn left, to wards the northern edge of the original city boundary, you can look down, what seems like a long way, in to the passing Shropshire Union Canal & then at the next corner, Water Tower Gardens, you can look out across both the canal & railway line now entering the ancient city. There's a slight deviation from the path of the original wall here, as You pass Queens School, but once your back on track you then pass Chester Racecourse on the site of the original harbour! The path then takes you back to the car park where there is a nice little...

I love walking the full length of the city walls when I'm in Chester. The 2-mile long circuit, with its gates, medieval towers and viewpoints, is virtually unbroken - though it does descend to street level in places - and it's open all year. Walking at a leisurely pace with frequent stops at points of interest, it takes me about two hours to go all the way round. There are many entry points, but although wheelchair users and people with prams can access the walls in a few places, they would find it impossible to do the full circuit because of uneven stretches and steps. Dogs are welcome, but they have to be on a lead. The best of what Chester has to offer can be seen and easily accessed from the walls: the cathedral, castle, Roman amphitheatre, canal towpath, River Dee boat landings, racecourse, and city centre shops. Some great views, not only of Chester but also of the surrounding countryside and Welsh hills. I find the history on the information boards fascinating. It's hard to imagine that ocean-going sailing ships used to dock right outside the city gates! There are even a couple of shops on the walls, and a unique little café next to the Eastgate Clock that I thoroughly recommend! Walking the city walls is an enjoyable way to get to know and find your way...