The oldest sections date back to the Roman Empire.
The settlement was founded by the Roman Legion as a fort with the name Deva Victrix in 79 A.D.
What sets Chester's walls apart from all other cities in England is that essentially the full circuit remains, allowing travelers to walk around the city to take in the views from the wall.
We did run into an area under repair, but we could walk most of the ring distance of just under two miles.
Our hotel during our stay was the Boathouse Inn, located just outside the outside of the ancient wall on the banks of the River Dee. In 2015, the historic family-run pub with lodging on the river expanded with 21 nautically-themed, cabin-style rooms across the parking lot, which our room was located. On the day we arrived, a late afternoon cloudburst welcomed us as we walked the last stretch along the river to check-in.
Temperatures must have topped 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
362 days of the year, air conditioning would not be necessary, but it would have been nice that day. We opened the windows and repositioned the portable fan by the window to run full blast while we unpacked.
Soon, the rain ceased, so we walked back up the river to an ice cream stand where we'd stopped to ask for directions on the way to our hotel.
Julie had said we'd be back. She ordered coffee bean crunch ice cream, so that it did double duty as her afternoon coffee.
It was tasty, but not quite an actual cup of coffee, so we strolled back to our hotel.
362 days of the year, air conditioning would not be necessary, but it would have been nice that day. We opened the windows and repositioned the portable fan by the window to run full blast while we unpacked.
Soon, the rain ceased, so we walked back up the river to an ice cream stand where we'd stopped to ask for directions on the way to our hotel.
It was tasty, but not quite an actual cup of coffee, so we strolled back to our hotel.
The bottom floor of the original Boathouse Inn is a pleasing combination of traditional British pub with a yacht club. While the specialty based on the many tap handles seemed to be their selection of J.W. Lee's ales, the bartender made excellent cappuccinos, too.
The next morning, we had a tentative plan to take a Viator Tour to Wales, but not being sure we'd feel like another tour we contacted Viator too late. Instead we spent the day in Chester, which actually had more than enough for us to see during out two night stay there.
Taking a pleasant walk on the city wall, we passed the beautiful downtown area and found ourselves at the falconry field by Chester Cathedral, which we re-visited later in the day hoping to get a free show from the wall, but the falcons weren't flying either time.
Chester Cathedral is built on the site of a Roman Era Christian basilica.
In 1093, a Benedictine Abbey was founded on the site.
Rather than being destroyed during the Dissolution, the enormous Gothic structure was converted to be an Anglican Cathedral, which it remains to this day. It truly is a magnificent, gorgeous church and well worth visiting.
We found a visitor's information center across from the Cathedral. They sold train tickets to nearby Wales, but by that point we realized we wanted to spend the day in Chester, so we instead bought combo tickets for the Hop-on/Hop-off bus and river cruise.
We took most of the bus tour around town, deciding to have the bus drop us by the river to board our river cruise so we would not accidentally miss getting around to it if we got sidetracked.
The afternoon scenery may not have been as dramatic as Budapest at night, but it is always nice to float past historic buildings and woods.
We learned that much of the real estate in Chester is owned by the Grosvenor Family, headed by the title Duke of Westminster.
The narrator pointed out the rowing clubs located by our hotel, justifying the yacht club feel of the Boathouse Inn.
Chester's maritime heritage goes back much further than rowing clubs, which started 150 years ago.
The Romans probably arrived via the River Dee, and it is that convenient access to the ocean that made it such a valuable stronghold.
In 907, the already ancient walls were refortified to defend Chester against the seafaring Vikings.
Despite its strong wall and other river defenses, Chester fell to the Normans in 1066. However, it was able to hold out longer than almost any Saxon city in England.
Chester was the largest port on the west coast of England until pre-industrial climate change combined with new generations of larger ships with deeper drafts to make Liverpool a better alternative.
Liverpool added its revolutionary wet dock in 1715, making it dominant in the Industrial Age that arrived 45 years later.
We stopped at St. John the Baptist Church, which we had walked past going to our hotel, vowing to return.
It dates back to 689, when it was founded by Aethelred, King of Mercia. It became a Cathedral in the Middle Ages. Much of the church was destroyed during the Dissolution, and part of that structure still remains.
As we were taking photos, a man we at first took to be a groundskeeper but was likely a priest who studied history, began describing what we were looking at, including Norman architectural features.
Once again, it was the luck of our timing, as we were the only ones there, but I think it also had to do with us being obviously more interested in our surroundings than our smart phones. Never forget to be in the present moment.
When we went inside, the same priest pointed out to us the magnificent pipe organ, which had been used at the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838 and then transported in pieces to grace this beautiful church.
The guide on the bus repeated something our excursion driver from Bath mentioned about property taxes being based to some extent on the ground space, leading to cantilevered second stories.
In Chester, building owners took that a step further.
While the city wall seems to dominate any elevator pitch about the reasons to visit Chester, close behind are the Chester Rows.
This shopping era from Medieval times has multi-story timbered buildings that continue to house a vibrant retail district.
As we had our afternoon iced cappuccinos on the sidewalk by one of these shops, an amazing light operatic singer down the road entertained passers-by, receiving sincere applause and more than a few tips.
After returning to the Cathedral once more for a more thorough vist, we walked out to Roodee Race Course, recognized by Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest race course in the world. The first horse race was held there in 1539. My dad always loved horse races, and I have fond memories of going to "the track" in California with him as a boy. Interestingly, the site was the harbour for Chester in Roman times before silting up, and the race course incorporates the ancient city wall into its structure.
After returning to the Boathouse Inn for happy hour, we found ourselves seated in the river-front beer garden alongside a self-proclaimed socialist labor leader and his wife, who were Brits about our same age.
We enjoyed a long, pleasant conversation over drinks. He voiced strong opinions about our President, which you can surmise from the fact that he said if he was an American, he would vote for Bernie Sanders. We laughed about our differences of opinion.
That night, we had a great meal at the river-view patio of Hickory's Smokehouse, a short walk along the river from our hotel, followed by an evening walk along the wall before turning in.
We had a whale of a time from the moment our train arrived in Chester, even if we didn't get around to touring Wales.
Chester Cathedral is built on the site of a Roman Era Christian basilica.
In 1093, a Benedictine Abbey was founded on the site.
Rather than being destroyed during the Dissolution, the enormous Gothic structure was converted to be an Anglican Cathedral, which it remains to this day. It truly is a magnificent, gorgeous church and well worth visiting.
We took most of the bus tour around town, deciding to have the bus drop us by the river to board our river cruise so we would not accidentally miss getting around to it if we got sidetracked.
We learned that much of the real estate in Chester is owned by the Grosvenor Family, headed by the title Duke of Westminster.
The narrator pointed out the rowing clubs located by our hotel, justifying the yacht club feel of the Boathouse Inn.
The Romans probably arrived via the River Dee, and it is that convenient access to the ocean that made it such a valuable stronghold.
In 907, the already ancient walls were refortified to defend Chester against the seafaring Vikings.
Despite its strong wall and other river defenses, Chester fell to the Normans in 1066. However, it was able to hold out longer than almost any Saxon city in England.
Liverpool added its revolutionary wet dock in 1715, making it dominant in the Industrial Age that arrived 45 years later.
We stopped at St. John the Baptist Church, which we had walked past going to our hotel, vowing to return.
It dates back to 689, when it was founded by Aethelred, King of Mercia. It became a Cathedral in the Middle Ages. Much of the church was destroyed during the Dissolution, and part of that structure still remains.
As we were taking photos, a man we at first took to be a groundskeeper but was likely a priest who studied history, began describing what we were looking at, including Norman architectural features.
When we went inside, the same priest pointed out to us the magnificent pipe organ, which had been used at the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838 and then transported in pieces to grace this beautiful church.
In Chester, building owners took that a step further.
While the city wall seems to dominate any elevator pitch about the reasons to visit Chester, close behind are the Chester Rows.
As we had our afternoon iced cappuccinos on the sidewalk by one of these shops, an amazing light operatic singer down the road entertained passers-by, receiving sincere applause and more than a few tips.
We enjoyed a long, pleasant conversation over drinks. He voiced strong opinions about our President, which you can surmise from the fact that he said if he was an American, he would vote for Bernie Sanders. We laughed about our differences of opinion.
We had a whale of a time from the moment our train arrived in Chester, even if we didn't get around to touring Wales.
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