CHESTER
Welcome to Pub Trails - CHESTER
One of the places visited that was so large and interesting that five trails were created for you to duplicate.
Chester is a city in North west England close to the Welsh border. It has excellent transport links. By road the M53 and M56 run close by. It has an impressive train station and is easily accessed by bus; many bus tourist trips also visit Chester. It is even accessible by canal as the Shropshire Union canal runs through the city.
Chester still has the city walls from medieval times. This is the most complete set of city walls in Britain and a walk around the walls covers nearly 2 miles. Inside the city walls is a thriving city centre of shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes. Several streets have' Rows'. That is a lower level of shops (some below street level) then a walkway on top of these shops which serve another row of shops.
the city also has a Cathedral and bit of a castle within its walls. Outside the walls there is the Chester racecourse and Chester Zoo.
There are 5 Chester PubTrails available on this site.
The canal trail (2) is the closest to the train station. However, the walk from the station to any of the trails is not long, it just means you may pass lots of pubs to get to a particular trail. Trail 3 and 4 start at Chester Cross and trails 1 and 5 start near the Amphitheatre. Trail 4 and 1 could easily meet. This means that trails can be expanded easily or mix and matched.
Trails have 10 to 13 pubs. This does not mean all pubs have to be visited (it is not a u-tube challenge) however, it does give flexibility. You can miss out pubs with no real ale or which are cocktail joints or old men's pubs or that are too busy or close together.
1. Bridgegate and the river (black icons) Excellent dog friendly trail
This trail takes in 11 or 12 pubs, 5 of which are across the river. Several of the pubs are outstanding and 7 are starred. This is a pleasant evening trail with a lot of variety. It starts at the Amphitheatre or Old Dee Bridge.
2. Along the canal (green icons)
Most of these pubs are close to the canal and easily accessed from it, rather than on the actual canal. Chester is a city and does not do quaint countryside canal pubs. Several of the pubs have appeared as the canal area is regenerated. This trail has a mixture of the old and the new. This is a long slow trail of 10 pubs, 5 of which are starred, Lunch or dinner should be factored in with The Old Harkers Arms excellent for food.
3. Chester Cross to Chester Cross via Northgate Street (Dark Red Icons)
This trail travels down one of the main roads crossing the city. It goes to the centre of the city where it meets Watergate Street famous for its 'Rows' - shops with another street of shops on top of them. The trail has 13 pubs, 5 of which are starred. There are some old pubs on this trail which passes the Town Hall and the Cathedral. Some of these pubs exist in groups next door to each other which, unfortunately, reduces the walk between them to mere steps. The closeness of the pubs means that this trail needs to be taken slowly.
4. Around Chester Cross via Grosvenor St (purple icons)
This trail has 10+ pubs with six of them starred. It is a gentle walk along a busy street.
5. The Amphitheatre plus (Yellow Icons)
This trail covers a selection of 12 (three starred) pubs starting close to the amphitheatre.
Chester and South Clwyd CAMRA
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Who owns your pubs?
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Interesting articles to read
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Who owns your beer?
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Comparing pubs in Scotland with England
Pub Facts
Most Chester pubs serve real ale and there is a lot of choice available including from several local breweries. Many pubs compete for impressing you with how old they are and there is a lot of black and white beams.
The city centre pubs usually serve food during the day time and many are actually food places serving beer.
Inevitably in a city of wide variety of pubs there were several that had shiny keg dispensers but with no identification to what was served – ask or find a sign somewhere on the wall (hopefully) – culprits were The Botanist, The Alchemist, Bar Lounge
There were several series cocktail places; The Alchemist and The Botanist were both making use of fancy chemistry set glassware and CO2 smoke.
Several craft ale places with prices reflecting the style on offer include Beer Heroes, Common Street Social and The Botanist, and The Cavern of the Curious Gnome with better prices and real ale.
Cheapest prices were the Sam Smiths pubs; The Falcon and Ye Olde Boot, and of course The Square Bottle (Wetherspoons). Ye Olde Custom House is worth checking out.
Brewing pubs included The Pied Bull, Brewhouse & Kitchen and The Brewery Tap
Links for CHESTER city centre Pubtrails
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Trail 1 - Bridgegate & the river
(black icons)
The Albion.
The Cross
Ye Old King's Head
The Brewery Tap
The Bear and Billet
The Carlton Tavern
The Red Lion.
The Handbridge
The Grosvenor
The Ship Inn
The Bear and Billet
Hickory's
The Boathouse
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Trail 2 - Along the canal
(green icons)
The Old Harkers Arms
The Cross
The Artichoke.
The Old Harkers Arms
The Cornerhouse (formerly The Compass).
Crossing over City Rd
The Cellar
The Mill Hotel.
The Lock Keeper
Oddfellows
The City Tavern.
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Trail 3 - Chester Cross to Northgate and back
(dark red icons)
The Victoria
The Amber Lounge -closed.
The Commercial Hotel
The Dublin Packet.
The Coach House
The Shropshire Arms
The Red Lion
The Liverpool Arms.
The Pied Bull
The Coach House.
The Music Hall Tap
The Botanist
Duttons.
Ye Old Boot.
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Trail 4 -Chester Cross & Grosvener St
(purple icons)
Watergate Up
Beer Heroes
Ye Olde Custom House
Bar Lounge
The Architect.
The Golden Eagle
The Saddle Inn
The Falcon
The Cavern of the Curious Gnome
The Slug and Lettuce
The Commonhall St Social
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Trail 5 - Amphitheatre to town
(yellow icons)
The Albion
All Bar One
The Church
The Plumber's Arms closed
The Alchemist
The Marlborough Arms
The Brewhouse & Kitchen
Square Bottle
Fifteen
Revolution
The Old Queen's Head
Pub Quiz
What is Donald Duck’s middle name?
Answer at foot of page
PLACES TO VISIT WITH PUBTRAILS
The towns and villages highlighted on this web site have a wide variety of pubs and beers in them. All of the places are great to visit, whether for a day or longer, and most have tourist attractions for all of the family.
There is a large variety of pubs throughout the different towns shown below. Some you may wish never to visit again but even discovering these can be interesting. There are pubs that you would not take your wife into. While some you could not take your girlfriend into. A few you would not take either into. However, most of the pubs are very pleasant.
HOME MAP of places visited
Alnwick Ambleside Anstruther Bakewell Bamburgh Barnard Castle Bath Berwick upon Tweed Birnam & Dunkeld Bourton on the Water Bowness on Windermere Bridge of Allan Chester Chichester Dunblane Dunoon Edinburgh Ely Fort William Glasgow Gourock Greenock Helensburgh Inverness Kelso Keswick Knaresbourgh Largs Linlithgow Lyme Regis Melrose Montrose Newton Stewart North Berwick Norwich Oban Pebbles Penzance Portree Pitlochry Quorn Richmond Rothesay St Andrews Seahouses Seend Shrewsbury Skipton Stirling Stratford-upon-Avon Stockton Heath Whitby Windemere Whitstable York
Other large places with several Pubtrails
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Glasgow
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Norwich
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York
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Edinburgh
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Shrewsbury
“No married man is genuinely happy if he has to drink worse whisky than he used to drink when he was single.”
— H L Mencken
Other interesting pages
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Books on Beer
A variety of books that investigate styles of beers and brewing.
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Pubs visited by Stevenson & MacKay
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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Books on Pubs
A variety of books looking at the development of public houses.
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Map of CAMRA branches
Map of CAMRA branches and e-mail links
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Places visited by Pubtrails
Map of villages, towns and cities visited by pubtrails
ANSWER: Fauntleroy