The cottage location

Baker’s Cottage in relation to Chester city centre

The cottage is conveniently situated in an area of Chester known as Handbridge, on the south side of the River Dee.

The house is in an Edwardian terrace in a quiet residential area away from the main road with a wide mix of housing stock as you might expect in an area near to a city centre. A short walk brings you to the local shops, pubs and cafes of Handbridge.

Walking in to the city

Most people will find the easiest and most pleasant way to access the city is on foot. From Handbridge you can cross the river by the Old Dee bridge or Queens Park footbridge which bring you to the city walls and the riverside Groves. Here you’ll find cafes, restaurants, a waterside pub, Cheshire ice cream stalls and boat trips.

From the riverside you have the option to walk along the top of the city wall right into the city centre. There are also routes through the Roman gardens and Grosvenor Park, both of which bring you to the edge of the main shopping and restaurant areas.

The city’s shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants are mainly within or very close to the city walls. The centre is very compact so you can reach most of the main attractions within 20 to 30 minutes walk including Chester cathedral. The main exception is Chester Zoo which is on the outskirts of the city and about a 20 minute drive away.

Many of our previous guests rate the convenient location of the cottage as one of its most memorable features.

Alternatives to walking

If you don’t feel like walking back after a long day’s shopping and sightseeing there are regular buses between Handbridge and Chester bus station. There are also guided hop on/hop off  bus tours, although they can’t go right into the pedestrianised city centre.

If it’s late at night you can get a taxi to the door from one of the taxi ranks dotted around the city centre or the Kingkabs office in Bridge Street.

You can also drive into the city but parking can be expensive.

The facts and figures:

• Actual distance from the cottage to the Cross (traditionally used to mark the city centre) is 0.8 miles (1.3 km), that’s about 15 minutes at average walking speed.
• The main shopping area starts around Pepper Street which is 0.6 miles away (just under 1km).
• Distance to Chester’s famous race course just over 1 mile (1.8 km).
• Chester train station is 1.4 miles (2.3 km) and there’s a taxi rank just outside the station.
• Chester zoo is 4.4 miles (just over 7 km).

Distances for day trips

Chester is ideally located to explore Liverpool, Manchester, the Wirral peninsular and North Wales with great motorway access as well as being at the hub of an extensive railway network.

Some typical day trips:

• Liverpool is just under 30 miles (48 km).
• Manchester is just over 40 miles (64k km).
• Llangollen in Wales is 23 miles (37 km).
• Llandudno on the North Welsh coast is 46 miles (74 km).
• Llanberis (for Mount Snowdon) is 69 miles (111 km).

» Find out more on our ‘day trips’ page.