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Getting to Chester

Chester is located in Cheshire in the heart of the UK about 197m/317km from London. It is the most southerly part of England's Northwest region. You can use Chester as a base for visiting Liverpool and Manchester, the Peak District, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Snowdonia.

Park and Ride

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.

Airports

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

Get to and from Liverpool John Lennon Airport or Holyhead Port with a new service from BusWhereTo.com. This service offers direct and quick connection to the Liverpool Airport, Holyhead Port, from Chester - buy single or return tickets. It's quick and easy.

By Road

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).

By Train

Travelling to Cheshire by rail is an easy, relaxing, experience, with high speed trains leaving London every hour for Cheshire’s main line stations. Virgin Train’s Best Fare Finder will give you the best value fares to Cheshire if you are flexible about when you can travel.

With a frequent four trains an hour service between Chester and Liverpool, visiting Chester this Christmas couldn't be easier.  Take the train and enjoy the festive atmosphere of Chester's Classic Christmas. Save yourself time, money, hassle and stress with Merseyrail.  For timetable information Visit the Merseyrail website at www.merseyrail.org.

Chester is now only two hours from London where you can connect to local Arriva Trains services to the North Wales Coast. Crewe is the northern hub of the rail network with regular connecting services throughout the region.  There are inward services from London, Scotland, Derby, Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Warrington Bank Quay sits on the West Coast Mainline with services from London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Lake District. 

Macclesfield serves Cheshire’s Peak District with direct services from London, Bournemouth, Southampton, Oxford and Birmingham.

And, if you are travelling from overseas, check out a Britrail Rail Pass or travel to Manchester, Liverpool John Lennon or Birmingham International Airports.  They all have direct rail links into the heart of Cheshire.

With Cheshire’s vast number of connecting rail services, travelling around Cheshire by train is easy and cost effective.

From Chester you can take the train into Liverpool, the Wirral, the North Wales Coast, Frodsham, Warrington, Delamere (for the Forest), Northwich, Knutsford (for Tatton Park) and Manchester.

From Crewe, Nantwich is only 10 minutes away by train and there are local services to the Potteries, Manchester, Chester, Shrewsbury and Liverpool.

From Macclesfield, you can visit Congleton and into Manchester and Stockport for Buxton and the Peak District.

From Warrington Bank Quay, you can connect to services to Chester and the North Wales Coast, Liverpool and Manchester.

Buy a Cheshire Day Ranger and you have the freedom to explore the county by train including Manchester, Liverpool and Stoke-on-Trent. Just hop on and off the train as many times as you wish.

And, if you are travelling off-peak by Northern Rail, ask for a Duo Ticket.  When two adults travel together, the second person goes half price.

By Bus

Cheshire is well served by local bus services throughout the county and if you 60 or over, or “eligible disabled”, your National Bus Pass will give you free off-peak bus travel throughout the county.

Airport transfer mini-bus services (minimum of seven) are available from BusyBus with their dedicated luxury executive vehicles.  BusyBus also operate sightseeing tours throughout the area including North Wales.

Bus services from Manchester Airport include the Service 200 Styal Shuttle which takes you direct to Wilmslow via Styal for Quarry Bank Mill.

Chester has its own City Centre Shuttle Bus operating from the railway station on Mondays to Saturday. The bus is charged at £1 each way and drops off/picks up at Frodsham Street and Foregate Street. From the City Centre you can travel by bus into Wales, the surrounding countryside and Chester Zoo.

Crewe has regular bus services to Nantwich, Sandbach, Congleton, Macclesfield and the surrounding area – some starting from the railway station. 

From Macclesfield you take can the bus into the Cheshire’s Peak District including Buxton, Bollington, Gawsworth (for Gawsworth Hall), Knutsford (for Tatton Park), Prestbury and Whaley Bridge.

Warrington has extensive bus services operated by Network Warrington including services to the lovely village of Lymm, Altrincham (for Dunham Massey Gardens), Runcorn and Liverpool.

Full detail of all Cheshire’s local bus services can be found at Traveline North West or by telephoning 0871 200 22 33 open 7 days a week from 8am – 8pm.  There is also a Minicom available nationally on 0870 241 2216

Bus Routes: -  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

Coach Travel

All National Express services in Chester now depart from the Bus Exchange, Stand 7 behind the Town Hall.

Chester's Official Visitor Information Centre at the Town Hall is the main ticket agency for National Express in Chester. Tel: 0845 647 7868.