Day Trips from Manchester

In Brief. With its Roman origins and a medieval cathedral, the walled city of Chester has a long and varied history. The historical sites and the attractive Victorian town centre, mean that Chester is a popular tourist destination, with extensive shopping and eating temptations alongside more worthy pursuits. Not being a serious shopper, I took a boat trip on the river, walked the walls, visited the Cathedral, and ate rather too much. There is plenty to fill a day in Chester while still leaving its famous Zoo  for a return visit. Chester Cathedral from the city walls. What's Here? Though Chester has a population of around 80,000, and thus occupies a considerable area, the historic center is compact, and delimited by essentially complete defensive walls . Seemingly started by the Romans, but completed in their current location in the 12th century, the walls now provide a walking route that gives excellent views of the main streets, the cathedral, the race course and the river. ...

In Brief. Chester Zoo is a substantial modern zoo, with a remarkable collection of animals of all sizes, from land, sea and air. The Zoo is divided into several zones, for example there is an islands zone and a Madagascar zone, though it's hard to sense that you are really focusing on anything in particular with such diversity on hand.  The zoo itself is a pleasant environment, with lots of greenery, there are eateries spread across the site, and the enclosures seem in good condition and not too cramped. The flamingos What's Here? This is rather a formidable zoo, with everything from an aquarium and a butterfly house to large mammals (elephants and rhinos) and predators (jaguars and lions). There is so much to see that any day trip is unlikely to do it justice, and you can't help but find yourself wandering past potentially interesting things on the way to something you spotted on a sign or in the app.  For a typical animal, there will be some signs highlighting area of or...