Chester Rows
Chester Rows
4.5
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- AwayDays_RichMacclesfield, United Kingdom1,501 contributionsA beautiful cityThe cathedral, the city walls, the Rows and the river are what make Chester a beautiful city to visit. The Rows are unique and great to look at but also a good way of visiting the shops and avoiding the elements. Visit Chester and see the Rows, part of the city's roman heritage, fantastic.Visited April 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 29 April 2024
- Karn OWarrington, United Kingdom213 contributionsGreat family placeHad a lovely stay here for Mother’s Day weekend. Lovely clean apartment in great location for everything in Chester. Highly recommended . Not suitable for disabled people due to steep stairs leading to , and inside apartment .Visited April 2024Travelled with familyWritten 13 May 2024
- OldBearWigan, United Kingdom11,430 contributionsUnique!I enjoyed walking along the Rows, they are unique and it puts a different perspective on the way you see the streets below and this ancient city’s black & white Jacobean-style buildings. There are some nice independent shops, bars and restaurants which look quite amazing inside, all worthy of a visit if I were here longer. They also allow you to get through the area without getting wet, and are only accessible by steps. The architecture in this Roman city is amazing, with buildings dating back to the 13th century…. Wow!Visited July 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 25 July 2024
- Sadie P3 contributionsHistoric townStaying in Chester for a couple of days, enjoyed how lovely the shopping areas are. The most interesting being the Rows. What a fantastic idea, especially good on our second day when it decided to rain and we kept dry, but still wandered along looking in the interesting shops. The whole area makes you aware of the history of Chester. What a nice way to spend a day.Visited June 2024Travelled with familyWritten 26 July 2024
- NoraatcSudbury, Massachusetts40,790 contributionsWelcome to the medieval shopping mall!Chester has something very unique: The Rows, the two-tier medieval shopping galleries with their distinctive black and white architecture are over 700 years old! And they still look like new! The shops inside presented no interest to me though. The Rows give charming Chester its very distinctive and recognizable look.Visited August 2024Travelled soloWritten 1 September 2024
- LukeChester, United Kingdom7 contributionsAmazing musicians singing and playing the saxophoneThere are some amazing photo places on the balconies on the Chester Rows. You can get great photos of Eastgate Street with multiple Listed buildings and the famous Eastgate Clock. Sound travels really well across the street from the South side over to the North, so it's sometimes great to hear an amazing singer belt-out an Adele song at 10pm at night, or a brilliant Polish saxophonist called Pawel play soulful tunes to fill the air.Visited September 2024Travelled soloWritten 20 October 2024
- Aramagen Holistic ClinicChester, United Kingdom30 contributionsThe Rows offer so many diverse options. Eastgate Street & Row North is busy and bustling. Great photography on balconiesSo many shops on The Rows to choose from. Eastgate St, Watergate St. & Bridge St. Eastgate is my favourite as it has Waterstones bookstore which is great. Beautiful Tudor buildings. Even back alleys like Godstall Lane.Visited November 2024Travelled soloWritten 10 November 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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4.5
1,453 reviews
Excellent
875
Very good
473
Average
82
Poor
14
Terrible
9
grantos3000
Aberdeen, UK74 contributions
Sept 2021
Nice selection of shops. There are a number of vacant units but that I suppose is a sign of the times we are in. Having said that there are still plenty of unique shops as well as your normal chain shops you would find in any city centre.
Great variety of shops, bars, and places to eat, in a lovely setting with mostly Tudor style buildings lining the streets.
Will definately return as half a day wasnt really enough to appreciate this city centre
Great variety of shops, bars, and places to eat, in a lovely setting with mostly Tudor style buildings lining the streets.
Will definately return as half a day wasnt really enough to appreciate this city centre
Written 2 October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Niall R
1 contribution
Sept 2021 • Family
I’ve always wanted a Penhaligons fragrance and upon arriving the service was given with 110% effort from an employee called Chloe, she was absolutely amazing and served us with a class attitude. She wasn’t pushy and explained each fragrance we liked as-well as suggesting other possibilities we’d enjoy. We ended up buying a few fragrances and were not disappointed.
Written 15 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jeremy_hartigan
Chester, UK1,095 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
Living in central Chester the Rows are close by a regular part of my life. Unfortunately they they appear to be struggling a little of late
However the rows house a large number of artisan and bohemian shops.
Lowe’s jewelry, Loake’s shoes , Chester Model ship, Olive Bistro are some of my favorite venues
The Rows are a beautiful place to spend a few hours but all the shops require local support, try to buy local and support this unique part of our beautiful city
However the rows house a large number of artisan and bohemian shops.
Lowe’s jewelry, Loake’s shoes , Chester Model ship, Olive Bistro are some of my favorite venues
The Rows are a beautiful place to spend a few hours but all the shops require local support, try to buy local and support this unique part of our beautiful city
Written 23 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lelanni
U.K145 contributions
Oct 2021
We love Chester and go about six times a year, sometimes for shopping, having lunch out or down by the river. However the lack of public toilets in the centre is a disgrace. The ones going past TKMax and further along closed before covid and have never reopened. A family with three young children asked a security guard where the toilets were and he simply replied that there were none and go to Marks or a cafe
Written 22 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mike D
5 contributions
Sept 2021
I used to come to Chester on business 30 years ago, it's now a sad reflection on what it used to be. Well over 1/3 shop units on the 'rows' were empty. Those that were open were top names from London's west end. Obviously Chester is only interested in pandering to high end overseas visitors who have bags of dosh!
Written 13 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
L_K1509
London, UK1,704 contributions
Sept 2021 • Couples
The Chester rows hold an Interesting history, which we only learnt about by doing a waking tour. The tour was organised by the visitors centre and got only £8 it was interesting and very worthwhile.
The rows are two levels of shops, one ground floor and the upper walkway reached by stone steps ( at some locations steep).
There are a mixture of shops, bars and restaurants on both levels.
The rows are two levels of shops, one ground floor and the upper walkway reached by stone steps ( at some locations steep).
There are a mixture of shops, bars and restaurants on both levels.
Written 26 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Melanie H
York, England, United Kingdom17 contributions
Jan 2020 • Couples
Wow how amazing are the rows. Shops on ground level and up. Some of the steps where a bit steep. But if you walk up them from one end and come down at the other end not that bad. I learnt the hard way at first by going down the steps in the middle to go to another shop down below lol. Well looked after. My husband kept saying like your and no it’s not we don’t have rows in york. Yes we have some white and black buildings but that’s it. A good mixture of shops to look in. some great street artists definitely need to have another few days down in Chester as didn’t get todo everything we wanted.
Written 26 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Martin W
Auckland, New Zealand73 contributions
Jun 2020
As an architect, I was fascinated by all the quaint tudor detail in the rows. I believe a lot of these buildings were erected in Victorian times but they certainly look very authentic. I especially like the way little sets of steps would drop down from the upper levels at frequent places, even through little circular stairs at street corners. Marvelous. I should imagine it would be nigh on impossible to get this sort of thing through Councils these days.
Written 4 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RicherTrips
Monterrey, Mexico4,567 contributions
Jul 2022
This medieval town has a taste very diferente to other British towns. Its distinctive half-timbered houses reminded me of Germany, but its particular white and black made it unique. I understand it´s called Tudor style. Another peculiarity is its balconies on the second floor of the Rows. When it started raining, we simply climbed to the upper floor and continued our visit.
Strolling the pedestrian streets of The Rows is lovely, but the Cathedral should not be missed. Of the Roman amphitheater, on the other hand, there’s not much left, but local teachers and tourist guides seem to be very proud of its recent finding.
Strolling the pedestrian streets of The Rows is lovely, but the Cathedral should not be missed. Of the Roman amphitheater, on the other hand, there’s not much left, but local teachers and tourist guides seem to be very proud of its recent finding.
Written 22 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Barry B
Hoddesdon, UK1,303 contributions
Dec 2019
This is one of the main things that Chester is famous for, historically significant, and home to independent shops as well as some of the smaller chains.
These are as a result of the old merchants of the town building multi-storey houses initially with the shops in the first floor, now bit the ground and upper floors are retail establishments.
Brilliant place to spend sometime when visiting the town
These are as a result of the old merchants of the town building multi-storey houses initially with the shops in the first floor, now bit the ground and upper floors are retail establishments.
Brilliant place to spend sometime when visiting the town
Written 1 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi. I'm visiting on a Sunday and Monday soon. I know smaller shops often close on those days. Are shops on The Rows more likely to be open on the Sunday or Monday (trying to fit a trip in to the zoo too). Thanks!
Written 21 October 2018
yeah, I would say the same. Town was almost empty and closed by 4pm on Sunday.
Written 8 November 2019
Hi, has anyone been to the Chester Christmas market? Is there much there and what's the atmosphere like?
Written 2 December 2017
There are quite a few different stalls outside near by the forum shopping centre and the cathedral the atmosphere is great! Christmas lights are lovely in Chester very pretty! Hope this helps
Written 2 December 2017
Are the shops open on a Sunday
Written 4 August 2017
Only just seen your question.... yes normal hours 10/11-4pm for most
Written 7 August 2017
are the Chester Rows easy to access for a disabled person? my partner has a mild mobility problem and struggles on stairs. Thankyou
Written 8 February 2017
Hello sorry for delay in replying you have probably been there by now. They are on two levels access to upper levels is mostly by stairs suggest you contact Chester tourist office to see if there are places you can get up easily. I work in an old Theatre without a lift we have lots of people who come with mobility problems my advice is if you take it slowly and carefully you'll get up the stairs. Good luck !
Written 31 March 2017
We are driving from Stratford-upon-Avon to Liverpool and would like to spend a few hours walking around Chester Rows. Can anyone suggest where we should park and whether there is anything else close by that we should look at too. Thanks
Written 23 August 2015
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