Chester, with its medieval half-timbered center, may be around 215 miles from London, but its prime position close to two very popular cities makes it easy to get to for a day trip or a short break.
Located midway between two national parks – The Peak District and Snowdonia, and almost equidistant from Manchester or Liverpool – Chester is very easy to fit on a North West or Lake District itinerary. Use these information resources to find out how to get to Chester from London, Manchester or Liverpool and plan your trip.
Celebrity sightings in Chester
Cheshire, the county that surrounds Chester, is millionaire territory. If you are into your soccer celebrities, you will probably see many Manchester footballers and their WAGS (wives and girlfriends) shopping in the city’s designer boutiques.
How to get to Chester
By train
From London : Virgin Trains operate direct service to Chester train station from London Euston every hour at 10 and 40 minutes past the hour. The trip takes a little over 2 hours. Advance round-trip fares in 2017 started at £ 44 when purchased as two individual (one-way) tickets.
From Liverpool – Merseyrail operates a frequent direct service from Liverpool Central Station to Chester, every few minutes. The journey takes 41 minutes and a round-trip ticket in 2017 costs £ 7.20. As it is basically a commuter service, there is no discount for buying tickets in advance.
From Manchester – Northern operates frequent services from Manchester Piccadilly Station, at 17 and 30 minutes after hours throughout the day. The journey takes about an hour and a half and the cheapest round trip, the off-peak ticket costs £ 12.60. Again, there is no advance purchase discount bonus in this case.
- Read more about train travel in the UK
- Plan a trip with The National Rail Inquiries Journey Planner
- Book train tickets for the UK
By bus
From London Coaches from London to Chester take between approximately five hours and up to 7 hours. National Express operates several services a day with one-way fares in 2017 ranging from roughly £ 5 to £ 20. The fastest coach leaves London at 4:30 pm and takes 5 hours and 15 minutes. Buy your ticket well in advance and you could get one of the very cheap £ 5 tickets in 2017. Buses depart from Victoria Coach Station in London and arrive at Chester Bus Exchange on Hunter Street.
Bus tickets can be purchased online through the National Express website.
From Liverpool: National Express also operates a limited number of buses from the Liverpool One shopping center bus stop to Chester. The journey takes approximately 45 minutes and costs between £ 3 and £ 4 each way. There are local bus services in Merseyside that make this trip, but planning a route that way is very complicated and the roughly 27-mile trip could take up to 5 hours. The commuter train makes more sense and the service is more frequent.
From Manchester: There are three direct National Express services per day from Manchester Coach Station to Chester, and one trip through Liverpool, adding an additional hour to the 1 hour 45 minute journey. In 2017 the fare ranged from £ 6 to £ 11 one way. This is a 40-mile journey, and as with Liverpool, commuter train service makes the most sense – it’s faster and generally cheaper.
- Read about bus travel in the UK
- Book UK bus tickets
By car
From London : Chester is located about 215 miles northwest of London on the M1 motorway. It takes approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes in normal traffic conditions. Less if you are very lucky and do not find traffic. This is not likely, even in the middle of the night because the M1 is usually clogged with trucks. Gasoline (gasoline) prices fell in January and February 2016, but still probably doubled the price of gasoline in the US The price of car fuel tends to rise and fall and, if it is low for a long time , the government will be tempted to tax you more.
Also keep in mind that when you look at prices at the gas pump, the price displayed is per liter (a little over a quart).
From Liverpool : It is a 27 mile drive from Liverpool through the Kingsway Tunnel under Mersey to Wallasey on the A59, then merges with the M53 to exit Junction 12 to Chester. There is a toll for using the tunnel. Depending on traffic, the trip should last between 35 and 45 minutes.
From Manchester: This 40-mile journey will take about an hour, using the M56 and M53 motorways. Join the M56 at Wythenshawe and exit at Junction 15 onto the M53. Then leave the M53 at Junction 12, signposted for Chester.
- Use the Automobile Association Route Planner to map a route with suggested stopovers and gas stations.
- Check daily gasoline prices (gasoline)
