Between the sandstone ridges of Cheshire and the coal-rich valleys of North Wales lies a collection of villages that defy the frantic pace of modern life. From the Roman-shadowed lanes of Handbridge to the industrial heritage of Ruabon and the ancient yews of Overton-on-Dee, we curate the essential stops for a weekend in the Marches.
01 Handbridge
Just across the Old Dee Bridge, Handbridge feels less like a suburb and more like a self-contained republic. Historically known as the 'Maypole of Chester', its streets are lined with salmon-pink sandstone and independent spirit. It is the perfect vantage point to watch the river flow toward the sea while clutching a coffee from a local roastery — and in spring, the banks of the Dee are carpeted in wild garlic, which finds its way onto the menus of every kitchen in the neighbourhood.
Stay Near Handbridge
Edgar House — riverside luxury built into Chester's city walls, steps from the Old Dee Bridge.
02 Christleton
Christleton is the quintessential English village, complete with a duck pond that has served as the community's heart for centuries. The Shropshire Union Canal carves a peaceful path through its centre, offering miles of towpath walks that lead all the way back to Chester's city walls. It is a place of manicured hedges, timber-framed cottages, and high-end pub dining — the kind of village that makes you understand why people in Chester talk about 'getting out to the villages' with such genuine reverence.
Explore the Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal towpath connects Christleton directly to Chester's city centre — a 2-mile walk through working countryside.
03 Marford
Unique for its Gothic Revival architecture, Marford is famous for its distinctive 'eye' windows — built, according to local legend, by a former landlord to ward off the ghost of his late wife. Today, this leafy village sits in gentle countryside between Chester and Wrexham, offering some of the most architecturally distinctive residential streets in the borderlands. It is a village for the unhurried explorer — someone happy to wander lane by lane, wondering at facades that belong in a Victorian novel.
04 Tattenhall
Tattenhall is where the Cheshire set comes to breathe. Sitting beneath the looming sandstone ridge crowned by Beeston Castle — visible for miles across the Cheshire plain — this village boasts a vibrant high street and a genuine obsession with quality local produce. The surrounding countryside is among the finest walking terrain in north Cheshire, and the village pubs take their food as seriously as any city restaurant. Tattenhall is the spiritual home of the 'slow food' movement in the county.
05 Upton-by-Chester
Often overlooked by those rushing to Chester Zoo — which lies just beyond its northern boundary — Upton-by-Chester offers wide, tree-lined boulevards and a sense of mid-century grandeur that is quietly distinct from the medieval drama of the city centre. It is a village designed for the evening stroll, with hidden pocket parks and a quiet, dignified atmosphere. Walkers who continue north from Upton find themselves at the zoo's vast perimeter and the open meadows of the Dee floodplain.
Chester Zoo is 10 Minutes Away
Upton-by-Chester is the ideal base for a Chester Zoo visit — closer than the city centre and with less traffic on match days and peak weekends.
06 Ruabon
Ruabon is a masterclass in industrial heritage. Famous for its deep crimson 'Ruabon Red' terracotta bricks — the most distinctive building material in North Wales, used in everything from Wrexham's St Giles's Church to Victorian schools across the region — the village glows with a warm, ruddy beauty at sunset. It serves as the gateway to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the UNESCO World Heritage Site where Thomas Telford's extraordinary iron trough carries the Llangollen Canal 126 feet above the River Dee. The Bridge End Inn is the perfect stop before or after the aqueduct walk.
07 Overton-on-Dee
In the churchyard of St Mary's Church in Overton stand twenty-one ancient yew trees, some estimated to be over a thousand years old — and listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Wales. This village, perched on the edge of the Maelor on a wide bend of the River Dee, feels genuinely ancient in a way that even Chester occasionally struggles to match. Its wide high street and timber-framed houses suggest a history that hasn't quite finished being written. The Dee here is slow and green, and the surrounding countryside belongs to a different, quieter Wales entirely.
