Plan your trip

WAlk HERE

Walk 15 in this issue is the perfect combination of wall circuit and exploration of the tranquil meadows beyond the city.

GETTiNG THERE

Chester is at the western end of the M56, with good rail links from Manchester. It’s also on the Via Devana, about 226 miles north-west of Colchester, if you happen to be a Roman centurion.

GUiDED TOURS

Most of the information in this story (and much more we couldn’t squeeze in) came from Liz Roberts, of the Guild of Chester Tour

Guides ( www.chestertours.org.uk) – and their tours really are the best way to walk the walls and learn as you go. The Chester Tour costs £8 adults, £7 concessions, £20 family ticket, and runs every day at 10.30am (with an extra walk at 2pm from Easter to the end of October).

WHERE TO STAy

Country Walking stayed at the Hallmark Hotel Chester The Queen: a complex title but a grand building, handily located right next to the station (0330 028 3402, www. hallmarkhotels.co.uk). Not only are the rooms absolutely sumptuous, with a buffet breakfast that will set you up for any kind of day on the walls, but the secret garden round the back (see below) is resplendently Roman-themed. Doubles from £63 per room, with breakfast – and there are some very luxurious rooms higher up the scale.

WHERE TO EAT & DRiNk

Chester is awash with fantastic pubs and restaurants for every taste, and in this case Tripadvisor’s

Top 10 is your best bet. But we’ll highlight some quirky options.

Prohibition (66 Watergate, only contactable via Facebook and Twitter) is themed like a speakeasy: you have to work out where the door is (it’s unmarked) and knock; the door staff will only let you in if there’s room. Then there’s the

albion Inn (01244 340345, www.albioninnchester.co.uk), a venerable alehouse which sits right beneath the walls on Park Street, and is, in the frequently newsworthy words of owner Mike Mercer, ‘family hostile’. He runs it as a ‘proper old pub’, themed to the heritage of the First World War, with no music, no chips, no designer drinks, no wi-fi, no fruit machines – and no children admitted. A place out of its time, perhaps, but it’s exceedingly popular with those who like Mike’s old-world approach.

mORE iNfORmATiON

For a whole wealth of tourist and access information, see www.visitcheshire.com/chester