Adventures around Chesterwith PlusBus
Explore the city sights and the countryside around Chester with a PlusBus ticket. There's a spectacular cathedral, medieval walls, the Wales coast path and a 128-acre zoo. These are just a few of the many adventures you can have with a PlusBus ticket in Chester.
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1. Visit Chester cathedral
Ask for PlusBus when you buy a train ticket to Chester and you travel on almost any bus around the city and beyond. The centre of Chester is packed with fantastic sights: the interesting Grosvenor museum, refurbished food market, canals and city walls. And, at its heart, the incandescent Chester cathedral with lovely stained glass and medieval wood carving.
- How do I get to Chester cathedral by bus? Several buses run from Chester railway station into the centre of town. Bus 1 from outside Chester railway station (stop S4) takes just a few minutes to get to Grosvenor Street (stop X) near the museum. Walk a few steps back up Grosvenor Street and turn left up Bridge Street, passing rows of the black-and-white medieval shops for which Chester is famous. Turn right and left past Chester Cross into Northgate Street to reach the cathedral.
- From the window of the bus, you can see Chester’s Roman amphitheatre and the garden near it dotted with Roman remains. The bus then goes under red sandstone Newgate, a bridge that carries the old city walls over the road.
- If you need refreshments after sightseeing, there is Cafe 1092 in the cathedral refectory. And, a little further on along Northgate, the renewed Chester Market is open until late Tuesday to Sunday. The new market’s food court serves up everything from fried lentil fritters with spiced chickpeas at Guroma to salted caramel brioche with honey-glazed apples at Crustum.
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2. Get the bus to Wales and walk back
Chester’s PlusBus zone extends into Wales and you can sample a stretch of the Wales Coast Path beside the River Dee. Take the bus to the village of Saltney and walk back along the river, passing some great cafes along the way. You can get the bus back from South View Road after about three miles or choose to go on along the walkway round Chester’s city walls or along the canal.
- How do I get to Saltney by bus? Catch bus 4 from Chester railway station (stop S4) for about 20 minutes to Sandy Lane and cross the main road into St David’s Terrace.
- How do I walk back to Chester? Follow the fenced path left at the end of St David’s Terrace, beside the playing fields. Keep right along Kynaston Drive, right and left along Mainwaring Drive. Head across the playing field to Saltney Ferry Road and turn right, passing the Old Chapel cafe.
- At the end of the road, keep straight on the path and cross the Higher Ferry Saltney footbridge. Turn right and walk back along the River Dee past the monument at the start of Wales coast path. Eventually, when the river curves right, keep straight and turn right along Sealand Road. Turn third left along Catherine Street to reach the Garden Social coffee shop
- Beyond the coffee shop, turn right down Charlotte Street and right again on South View Road to the bus stop to catch bus 10/10A into the centre of the city. Alternatively, turn left along South View Road to find the canal and the walkway along the city walls and follow them instead, passing several interesting sights. You can find a map of the walk here.
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3. Take a trip to Chester Zoo
From aadvark to zebra and chimps to warthogs, you can meet all sorts here. With 20,000 animals across 128 acres, Chester Zoo makes an epic outing. And with zones representing different habitats, you can be transported around the world on a single visit. Take a boat trip through the Islands or walk through a leafy tropical house, full of colourful birds. As well as a huge range of birds and animals, insects, reptiles and fish, there are plants too: orchids and cacti, rock gardens and flowers for pollinators.
- How do I get to Chester Zoo by bus? Follow Good Journey’s directions. Bus X1 runs from the station to the zoo.
- For more car-free ideas around Chester, see our guide. You can take a boat trip on the Dee or a trip to the Anderton boat lift in Northwich. You could also catch the train to Delamere Forest to walk through the green spaces, past meres and mosses. Or to bustling Liverpool with its world-class museums and musical heritage.