Home > Visitor Information > Getting Here

Getting Here

Chester is located in the heart of the UK about 197m/317km from London. It is the most southerly part of England's Northwest region and is also one of the traditional Marcher counties, bordering North Wales.

You can use Cheshire as a base for visiting Liverpool and Manchester, the Peak District, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Snowdonia.

Take the stress out of parking and avoid traffic by using one Chester's Park and Ride service.

Park and Ride sites provide a total of 3,170 parking spaces and services run every 10 minutes (subject to city centre traffic conditions).

There are various drop off and pick up points around Chester city centre.

The nearest airports to Chester and Cheshire are Manchester International and Liverpool John Lennon, which are both about 40 minutes by road from Chester.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport - is the fastest growing regional airport for scheduled traffic, serving over 60 destinations with all the major operators. The modern terminal building is home to a growing number of prestigious retail brands offering the highest quality of products and services. The car park is located directly opposite the terminal building and with over 6,000 spaces, you will never need to worry about finding a space. LJLA is fully integrated into the Northwests public transport system and located just 10 minutes from the major motorway network.

Manchester International

Car hire comparison services comparing all the providers at Manchester Airport. More....

Airport transfer minibus service (minimum of 7 passengers) and general travel / shuttling (private hire) in executive buses for corporate clients or those requiring a dedicated luxury vehicle provided by BusyBus.

Main motorway links to Chester and Cheshire are through the M6, M56 and M53. Route planning information can be found at The AA, RAC, Multimap and Streetmap.

It is possible to hire a car at airports and some of the larger towns in and around Cheshire (including Chester, Crewe, Macclesfield and Warrington). The average cost of hire is from about £60 per day. For more information on car hire choose Car Hire Centre.

CrossCountry - covering around 1,500 route miles and calling at over 100 stations - stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance, and from Stansted to Cardiff - CrossCountry is the most extensive rail network in the UK. Our services combine routes that used to be part of Virgin CrossCountry along with the Cardiff-Birmingham-Nottingham, and Birmingham-Leicester-Stansted services previously operated by Central Trains.

Travelling from overseas? - BritRail - Great Trains, Great Value, Great Britain. With our outstanding variety of passes and promotions, your British experience is only one step away!

Virgin Trains run frequent, high speed direct services between London Euston and Chester in approximately two hours.

There are also many services to Crewe, from both London and the North West, for onward connections to Chester with Arriva Trains Wales.

You can use Cheshire as a base for visiting Liverpool and Manchester, the Peak District, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Snowdonia.

Virgin trains also operate services to the other main Cheshire gateways of Macclesfield and Warrington Bank Quay on the West Bank route from Glasgow in the North and London in the South.

Book in advance at www.virgin.com/trains for Value Advance fares between London Euston and Chester from only £8.00 one way.

High speed rail services are available to Crewe, Chester and Warrington from London's Euston and Paddington Stations (2.5 hours), and from Glasgow on the West Coast main line. Rail services also run from Manchester International Airport. Rail timetable information is available here.

In parts of Cheshire, tourist bus routes provide services to a number of the county's attractions during the summer months.

Airport transfer minibus service (minimum of 7 passengers) and general travel / shuttling (private hire) in executive buses for corporate clients or those requiring a dedicated luxury vehicle provided by BusyBus.

Number 27 route, on Summer Sundays and Bank Holidays to Tatton Park.

Also in operation all year is: -

Number 200 route, linking Manchester Airport with Quarry Bank Mill at Styal and the town of Wilmslow.
Further information and advice about bus, rail, coach routes and timetables is available from the Cheshire Traveling 0870 608 2 608 open 7 days a week from 8am - 8pm. There is also a Minicom available nationally on 0870 241 2216

All National Express services in Chester now depart from Chester Visitor Centre by the Roman Amphitheatre.

Chester Visitor Centre is the main ticket agency for National Express in Chester. Facilities include:

- The Rows Cafe
- Fully accessible toilets
- Accommodation booking service
- Baby change/feeding
- Tourist Information Centre
- Gift Shop
- DVD Show
- The Amphitheatre Project exhibition
- World of Names - family histories printed in minutes

• Accommodation Ratings
• - Accessibility Statement
• - Corporate Pages
• - About us
• - Competition Winners
• - Data Protection
• - Terms & Conditions
• - Site Map