Enjoy the Pause Welcome Book.

Chester sits where four main roads meet, so the approach depends on where you set off from.

• From Manchester and the M6: the M56, leaving at junction 15 for the M53 and A55 towards Chester.
• From Liverpool and the Wirral: the M53 south, which runs into the A55.
• From North Wales: the A55 east.
• From Wrexham and the Midlands: the A483 north.

All four bring you to the ring road around the city walls. From there, follow signs for the city centre. The parking map below shows the last part, including the gates you come through.

Chester railway station is about three-quarters of a mile from the house in a straight line, so the walked route is a little longer — around fifteen minutes at an easy pace.

• The simplest arrival: taxis wait outside the station, and it is the easiest step-free way to reach the door with luggage.
• On foot: City Road, then Foregate Street, Eastgate Street and Bridge Street, then down Lower Bridge Street, where Steele Street turns off.
• Worth knowing on that walk: Eastgate Street and part of Bridge Street are pedestrianised and laid with historic sett — handsome, but uneven under wheels and tiring underfoot with a case. Lower Bridge Street has a pavement on both sides.
• By bus: the nearest stops are on Lower Bridge Street, roughly 100 metres from the door, and one has a shelter. Check a current timetable before you travel.

The station has step-free access to every platform, lifts, accessible toilets, a Changing Places toilet and seven Blue Badge spaces, and is staffed from 03:00 to 01:00 daily.

Read the full access detail →

Free private parking, with space for one car, reached through the gates from the church car park.

Come through the gates beside the church car park. The space is marked.

Paula is adding the turning and width notes for the gates.

Booked with me directly? You're in from 3pm. One of the perks.

Your unique four digit code is sent at least two days before you arrive. It is never published on this page.

1. Place a warm palm flat on the black screen. The numbers light up.
2. Tap in your unique four digit code.
3. Press the star ✱ at the end. The code won't work without it.
4. Twist the knob and come in.

If the lock or the code isn't playing ball, press the Ring doorbell to reach me, or WhatsApp Paula on the number in your booking confirmation.

Scan the QR code on the wall, opposite the vestibule, next to the plant. You'll connect automatically, with no typing.

The network is Plusnet, and the router lives behind the sofa. The password is on the QR code, never on this page.

Paula is adding what to do if the internet drops.

Please sign out of any streaming account you use on the TV before you leave.

Paula's own list, put together in August 2026. Distances are straight-line from the postcode, so the walked route is a little longer than the figure suggests.

Taxi

• KingKabs — 51–53 Bridge Street, CH1 1NG. 01244 343434. Four minutes' walk, city-centre base, 24 hours, app booking.
• If they are busy: Chester Radio Taxis 01244 372372, or Chester Taxi Services 01244 421024.
• Nearest rank: Frodsham Street, by the Town Hall.

Food shopping

• Tesco Express — 2 Pepper Street, CH1 1DF. Two minutes' walk, and it has a cash machine. The nearest of the two.
• Waitrose — 71 Boughton, CH3 5AF. Twelve minutes' walk, and the better of the two for a full shop on foot.

Petrol

• Asda Express — Queen's Park Road, Handbridge, CH4 7JF. 01244 680158. A short drive over Bridgegate. 7am to 10pm Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm Sunday.
• Open later: Shell, Tarvin Road, CH3 5NJ. 01244 314931. 6am to 11pm.

Laundry

• The Launderette — 56 Garden Lane, CH1 4EW. 01244 380014. Fifteen minutes' walk. Self-service, service washes, dry cleaning and duvets.
• Handbridge Launderette — 35 Handbridge, CH4 7JF. 01244 681009. Ten minutes' walk.

Charging an electric car

There is no charging point at the house, and a portable charger must not be run from a socket here.

• Nearest public charging: the council's New Market car park on Hunter Street, CH1 2AR — about ten minutes' walk, on the Monta network.
• Height limit: two metres at the entrance, which rules out a roof box or a tall van.

Charger availability, tariffs and even which network runs a site all change, so check a live charging map for your dates rather than trusting a figure printed on a website.

Cheshire West and Chester Council: New Market car park ↗

Zapmap: live UK charge point map ↗

Opening hours change, and these were right in August 2026. Ring ahead if the trip depends on it.

Unless we've agreed something different. Booked direct? You have until 11am.

• Set the heating to Eco. The Nest dial is at the bottom of the stairs.
• Used towels in the bath.
• Dishwasher on, or emptied.
• Bins into the correct outside bin. Collection is Thursday — the poster above the bins says which one goes out that week.
• Windows closed.

No keys to leave. It's a smart lock, so the door locks itself behind you.

Left something behind? Tell me and I'll post it on.