Looking at Chester as a possible day trip out of London. The half-timbered buildings and town look inviting in pictures, and I love poking through old towns,shops and marketplaces, but pictures can be deceiving?<BR>As a comparison, on previous visits I loved Canterbury, Salisbury and York - but they had Cathedrals too.

Chester is well worth a visit. For detail on the cathedral please see www.chestercathedral.org.uk/. Otherwise, Chester is full of fine Elizabethan and Jacobean buildings and memories of the Romans, though some of the good-looking half-timbered buildings are nineteenth century rebuilds: please see www.cityofchester.org/. From Monday to Friday a restaurant car train leaves London Euston at 0844 and reaches Chester at 1110. Until January 2003 travel on Saturday and Sunday is complicated by work on the line, and a resulting passage by bus, not much fun. You can bring the price down to 40 pounds day return if you ring Virgin Trains early: from overseas 0044 8457 22 33, from Britain 08457 2233. At this low fare they hold only a number of places per train, so you should book a month in advance if you can. Once booked, you are bound to those trains only.<BR><BR>Please write if I can help further. Welcome to Britain.<BR><BR>Ben Haines

I can also remember walking the city walls at Chester, similar to York. There was also a Roman excavation somewhere near the walls one could look down on. Maybe a bit far for a day trip, an overnight might be better - sometimes the trains are held up in one spot for ages and you wouldn't have that much time there if you were to drive (getting in/out of London can take a while).

Thank you both. I'll take a look at the recommended websites.

I live in N Wales and Chester is our closest big shopping city. It is very nice for a visit, as those above have said. It also has a pretty river, the River Dee, I think and nice walks along it. Lots of shopping, too!

Chester's lovely, but it's a very long way for a day trip. It's nearly Liverpool!<BR><BR>Closer to home are Ludlow, Bath, Winchester *big recommendation* and Brighton. All have olde-worlde charm, old shops etc, and Brighton has an area of antique shops etc.

I see the point about a short day, so alter my advice to Euston 0700, full British breakfast on board, Crewe 0905 to 0917, Chester 0937. Again, for a 40 pound ticket you must phone to book.<BR><BR>Ludlow is a longer train run, Bath and Brighton are both delightful, but not so strong on the medieval and Elizabethan, and Winchester is indeed a good idea, just an hour by buffet car train from Waterloo at 0745, 0800, 0815, 0830 and the same minutes past each hour, Monday to Saturday. For Saturday you can buy a cheap day return valid at any time: Monday to Friday it is valid only after 0930.<BR><BR>Ben Haines<BR>

My husband and I moved from N. America in March and our dog is in quarantine near Chester. We visit him every week and we go into the City Center quite often after our visit with him. We love the area and see something new or dine somewhere different every time. A city guide booklet sold at the tourist information center at the town hall has been very useful to us. I would stay overnight.