If you are a visitor to Chester, then actually and without recommendation visit this historic stately building to explore one of the most important sights of the city. Stained glass windows, exhibitions, relics, including Orthodox icons, patterned floors and the celebration of Gothic lets you spend a few hours here even if you are far from religion. Be sure to try to break into the cozy patio, the entrance to which is not obvious and seems closed forever. But no, the road will be lit up by the one who walks. Many invited, and few chosen. As a guide, I recommend walking around the cathedral to get to know for yourself those faces and faces that faithfully serve as the guardians of the building. An interesting fact, while living in Chester and working on a new album, Boris Grebenshikov often came here for inspiration and grace. Αμήν Your #guide_to_Greece#Socrates_to_Greece and this time to Chester

This cathedral is magnificent. It is large so takes some time to get round it and do it justice. The craftsmanship inside is superb from the stone masonry to the tiled floors and the wooden carving to the stained glass. They recommend a donation of £5/person minimum and it is definitely worth it.

After getting good instructions at the Visitor Information Center I headed to magnificent Chester Cathedral, bought a ticket (£4.50), and started with its lovely cloisters. They were so peaceful and atmospheric… Interesting how the modern sculpture “Water of Life” in the center of the Cloister Garden gracefully blends with old brick walls, towers, sculptures, gargoyles, etc. It doesn’t spoil the impression, it only adds to it. There are also charming lighted glass sculptures scattered under the trees and shrubs: this is “Enchanted Garden of Lights” presented by “Pyramid”, the nearby Borowski Glass Studio. They also add charm to the image of the old Cathedral. Another unusual thing was that there were studios for kids scattered in the nave as well as the world famous railway model, “Making Tracks”. Kids were totally crazy about this railway and I can understand why. So… Chester Cathedral is not just a church these days and that’s such a good thing. The Quire stalls of the Cathedral were constructed around 1380. The Quire is one of the Cathedral’s most significant treasures: its elaborate wooden carvings are truly spectacular - the Royal craftsmen of the 14th century created something incredible… how was it even possible? I was literally going in circles admiring every little detail of this real masterpiece of woodcarving. The Charterhouse with its magnificent stained glass windows, the 19th century Grand Organ, graceful Lady Chapel are gorgeous as well. It was around 3:00pm: time for my late lunch. Decided to eat inside the Cathedral in its beautiful “Cafe 1082 in The Refectory”, which I highly recommend. It is located in the same dining hall where medieval monks had their meals.

An absolutely stunning cathedral in the heart of Chester. We visit Chester often and walk past this cathedral, and we recently realised we’d never been in. We were so glad that we finally did.. it’s absolutely beautiful. You can learn so much by walking around and reading all the information. It’s so peaceful in there. There’s no fee to enter the cathedral however they do ask for a voluntary donation, which we gladly paid. The staff were all wonderful. There is a cafe that had many different food & drink options, and cakes (even gluten free ones). We didn’t eat or drink there as we’d just been for lunch. You can also book onto guided tours, unfortunately we’d missed the “cathedral at heights” tours, but will definitely return to do this. A lovely shop too with a variety of items for sale.

The cathedral is really beautiful and well worth visiting. My husband was enthralled by the Pete Waterman model railway display, while I chatted to a lovely guide who showed me the Lego model of the cathedral which is now completed. The cathedral is much bigger than I expected, stunning stained glass windows and the quire and nave are magnificent. There is an entry charge, which upsets some people and I understand why, but the cathedral is reliant on donations to keep it going. I recommend a visit if you find yourself in Chester, you won't be disappointed.

Came here on an August late morning. I hadn’t realised beforehand that there was a large model railway setup in the middle of the nave happening that day, so the main body of the cathedral was rather busy! It is a beautiful cathedral both inside and out, and the cloister garden is small but attractive. There was a lights/glass animals exhibition in the garden too, so more busyness! The cloisters themselves, and the quieter parts of the cathedral, are really quite atmospheric. The ancient choir stalls are superb. I also loved some of the windows, and there are a couple of modern art installations to discover as well. It was £5 to enter when I visited (£4.50 without gift aid) which did feel a bit steep. The refectory is worth going to see even if you are not eating, as it is apparently the oldest (?) of its type in the country.

We visited here on our weekend away to Chester. It is free to enter, although a donation is asked to help with the upkeep. We did donate £5. What an interesting Cathedral with some mosaics on the walls and lots of stained glass windows. The gardens were lovely as well. Nice gift shop and cafe.

I visited the cathedral with my two teenaged children (14 and 16). We'd booked the Cathedral at Height tour which took an hour and fifteen minutes to do. Our guide, Jacob, was excellent, really bringing to life the story of the monks when it was an abbey, and leading us through the labyrinth of narrow passages and spiral staircases, and out onto the roof where we had a superb view of the city and beyond. Finally we descended to the narrow passage leading to the west end of the cathedral, from where we had a superb view down the length of the nave. I did the tour five years ago - but this was better!

A beautiful building, went during Pete Waterman's train exhibition so £5 entrance charge, but usually free. Well worth the fiver. It looks like a small cathedral but it is a tardis. We spent hours here. Beautiful gardens and architecture.

Beautiful cathedral - well worth a visit. As some other reviewers have noted I really did not like being jumped on as soon as we went in - begging for a donation. And you really can’t get past the entry without doing so. I saw on one of the information stands that it costs £6000 to maintain so I can sort of appreciate the need but it’s just the way it was done and the need for 3 volunteers to do so left a nasty taste in my mouth. We thought we would do our but by having lunch in the refectory - which was a v nice area, v clean but Despite what others have said I thought that the prices were extortionate and to charge £2-55 for a coke and £8-50 for a sandwich is daylight robbery.