Coffee with a thousand years of history
Old stone walls, a slice of cake and the hush of a church all around you.
One of the most peaceful cafés in Chester is inside St Peter's at the Cross. The church is said to have been founded in 907, on the site of the Roman fortress headquarters, so a toastie here comes with more than a thousand years of history overhead.
Outside, the four main streets meet at the Cross, the heart of the city since Roman times. The café keeps to its own days, so it's a happy find rather than a fixed plan.
Every café in this guide was chosen by our family, and none of them paid to be here.
Tea and cake, Chester style
Breakfast in Chester: brunch on the Rows
Coffee arrives at a window seat, and below you the morning street begins to fill.
The best breakfast in Chester city centre comes with a view from the Rows. The Flower Cup on Watergate Row serves all day brunch and speciality coffee among the plants, one floor above the street. It's walk in only, with vegan choices on the menu.
Bean & Cole on Frodsham Street, just past the Eastgate Clock, feels like a neighbourhood café in the middle of the city, with all day brunch, pastries and carefully chosen coffee.
The Rows are reached by steps, which is worth knowing if stairs are hard for anyone with you.
Looking down from a Rows balcony 
Plants and window light in a Chester café 
Brunch for two
Lunch in Chester: Marmalade and Gaudi's
Soup made that morning, a slab of lemon drizzle and a table by the window.
For lunch in Chester, Marmalade on Northgate Street sits near Storyhouse and the Cathedral. There are cooked breakfasts too, and most cakes come gluten free. It's popular, so a weekend table is worth booking ahead.
Gaudi's faces Chester Cathedral and is the fuller choice for breakfast or lunch after a morning among the stained glass. Our two days in historic Chester shows how a Cathedral morning fits around it.
Gluten free choice is not an allergy guarantee. If cross contamination matters to anyone with you, a word with the café beforehand is the safe way.
A café front on the way into town
Chester Market, when everyone wants something different
Street food steam under a glass roof, and a long table with room for everyone.
When nobody can agree on lunch, Chester Market is the answer. Its kitchens share one big hall, so each of you can choose your own plate and still sit together at the long tables.
The hall is all on one level, with automatic doors, accessible and Changing Places toilets, baby changing and a feeding room. Traders keep their own hours within the hall's.
Enjoy the Pause is a holiday home with two bedrooms, tucked into a quiet street inside the city walls. Stay with us and Chester Market is a 13 minute walk from your front door, so lunch can wait until everyone is hungry, with no car park to think about.
For a sit down family meal, our family friendly restaurants guide has more.
Storyhouse, for a rainy afternoon
Rain on the tall windows, a coffee on the table and shelves of books between the seats.
On a wet afternoon, Storyhouse puts a café, a library, a cinema and a theatre under one roof, inside Chester's old 1930s Odeon. Children can settle into the children's library while the grown ups finish their coffee.
There's a lift to every floor and a Changing Places toilet on the ground floor. It can be lively, so St Peter's suits the days when calm matters most, and there are more wet weather ideas among the things to do in Chester.
Cookies and ice cream, to take away
Fresh brownies through a hole in the wall, in a passage most people walk straight past.
Tucked into Music Hall Passage, Buzzy Bee is a tiny bakery run by two sisters, Millie and Lydia, who began on market stalls before opening their own shops. Stuffed cookies and brownies are baked every day, all to take away, so a treat for the walk costs no time at all.
Summer in Chester tastes of ice cream on the riverbank. Snugburys on the River sits beside the Dee, a 7 minute walk from your front door, which makes a cone along the Groves an easy end to an afternoon. This branch keeps its own hours.
Luca's Gelato on Faulkner Street in Hoole is worth a separate trip beyond the walls. Our picnic guide has the best benches by the water, and when the afternoon turns into evening, our pubs and bars guide takes over.
