Boxing Day Walks Near Chester: 10 Ways to Walk Off Christmas Dinner

1. Chester city walls

The obvious Boxing Day walk, and a free one: Cheshire West and Chester Council says there is no charge and the walls are open all year round. The full circuit is about two miles, the most complete set of town walls left in the country, and Visit Chester puts the loop at around 45 minutes.

Boxing Day morning belongs to the runners: the Chester Round the Walls Race, run by West Cheshire Athletic Club every Boxing Day since 1972, starts from the Roodee at 10.30am, laps the racecourse, then takes one anti-clockwise lap of the walls over the Eastgate Clock and comes back down the Nuns Road steps. All places are sold out, so the route will be busy late morning; walk it after lunch, or stand on the walls by the Eastgate to watch.

Open all year round; Saturday 26 December, Round the Walls Race on the walkway from about 10.30am
Price free
Access steps at the gates; handrails at the Watergate
Website cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/leisure-parks-and-events/chester-city-walls
Good for no car needed, a 45-minute circuit, watching the race

2. Grosvenor Park, the Groves and the Meadows

A loop that never leaves the river. Start in Grosvenor Park, the Grade II* park the Grosvenor family gave the city in 1867, walk down to the Groves, cross the Queen’s Park suspension bridge and come back across The Meadows, the grassland and wetland on the south bank of the Dee.

The council’s park page gives winter hours of 8am to 6pm from 1 November, with surfaced paths, some gradients at the south end and accessible toilets. The Meadows have no sealed paths and sit in the flood plain, so after a wet Christmas they can be under water.

Open Grosvenor Park 8am to 6pm in winter; the Meadows are open land
Address Grosvenor Park Road, Chester; the Meadows, Lower Park Road, CH4 7BB
Parking none at the park; use the city centre car parks
Toilets accessible toilets in Grosvenor Park
Access surfaced paths in the park, some slopes; grass and mud on the Meadows
Website cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/leisure-parks-and-events/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-and-open-spaces-chester/grosvenor-park
Good for river views, a short loop from the centre, children

3. Millennium Greenway

A long, level walk out of Chester on a tarmac path, so mud is not a worry. The old railway line runs from Mickle Trafford through the city to Connah’s Quay, and the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust, which looks after it as part of National Cycle Network route 5, gives it as 7.4 miles, all traffic-free and all asphalt.

It is linear, so pick a stretch and turn back.

Open all year, no gates
Price free
Access level asphalt throughout; shared with cyclists
Website walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk/find-a-route-on-the-national-cycle-network/millennium-greenway
Good for pushchairs, wheelchairs, new bikes and scooters

4. Delamere Forest

Woodland on the edge of the sandstone ridge, and open on Boxing Day: Forestry England says the forest is open every day except Christmas Day. Two waymarked loops start by the visitor centre: the Linmere trail, 2 miles and graded easy access, and the Blakemere trail, 3 miles around Blakemere Moss.

The car parks open 8am to 5pm in winter, and are cashless. Forestry England says the hours of the café, toilets and other businesses on site may vary, and it has not published Christmas times for them.

Delamere station is a five-minute walk from the visitor facilities, though no trains are expected on Boxing Day.

Open every day except Christmas Day; car parks 8am to 5pm in winter
Price parking £4 up to 1 hour, £7.50 up to 2 hours, £11 up to 3 hours, £12.50 over 3 hours; card or phone only
Address Linmere, Delamere, CW8 2HZ
Access Linmere trail graded easy access
Website forestryengland.uk/delamere-forest
Good for waymarked loops, dogs, families, a lakeside walk

5. Helsby Quarry and Helsby Hill

A short walk with a big view at the end. Helsby Quarry is a former 19th-century sandstone quarry, now a Local Nature Reserve with a Green Flag award, and the council’s page describes a hazel-lined path from the car park to a meadow popular with dog walkers.

From there a signposted ten-minute climb leads to the top of Helsby Hill, looked after by the National Trust, with views over the Mersey to the Welsh mountains. The main paths are surfaced but have many steps; the north-eastern loop suits assisted wheelchair access.

Address Alvanley Road, Helsby, WA6 9PX
Parking car park off Alvanley Road
Access surfaced paths with steps; north-eastern loop for assisted wheelchair access
Website cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/leisure-parks-and-events/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-and-open-spaces-rural/helsby-quarry
Good for big views, dogs, a walk under an hour

6. Frodsham Hill on the Sandstone Trail

The Sandstone Trail runs 34 miles from Frodsham to Whitchurch, and its first mile makes a short, steep Boxing Day walk: from Frodsham’s Main Street the path climbs steeply to the war memorial on Overton Hill, looking out over the Mersey estuary, then carries on along the wooded edge of the escarpment. Turn back at the memorial for a short walk or follow the trail south towards Woodhouse Hill for longer.

The trail’s site lists shorter circular walks built on the route. Frodsham’s pubs are at the bottom of the hill for afterwards.

Address start on Main Street, Frodsham, WA6
Price free
Access steep climb with steps from the town to Overton Hill
Website sandstonetrail.co.uk
Good for estuary views, a hill with a pub at the bottom, longer routes

7. Little Budworth Country Park

A smaller country park near Oulton Park, and a fallback if the Delamere car parks are full. The council’s page describes woodland around a rare patch of lowland heath, ponds and boggy mires, with paths that make “a gentle walk whatever the time of year”, including the Heathland Trail, a mostly flat 1.5-mile waymarked loop.

There are toilets in the Coach Road car park, and the council points to pubs in Little Budworth, Eaton and Cotebrook for food afterwards. Follow the signs for Oulton Park from the A49 or A54.

Address Coach Road, Little Budworth, CW6
Parking Coach Road car park
Toilets in the Coach Road car park
Access mostly flat waymarked loop
Website cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/leisure-parks-and-events/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-and-open-spaces-rural/little-budworth-country-park
Good for a quieter alternative to Delamere, heathland, dogs

8. Marbury Country Park

The former Smith-Barry estate beside Budworth Mere, now part of 350 hectares of Northwich Woodlands with surfaced paths, lime avenues and an arboretum. The council’s page says there are routes accessible to all, including wheelchairs and pushchairs, as well as harder ones that are not.

It links on foot to Anderton Nature Park and the Anderton Boat Lift, which is closed to visitors until 2027 for repairs, though the riverside around it is open. A season parking ticket is £31.

Address Marbury Road, Comberbach, Northwich, CW9 6AT
Parking car parks within easy walking distance; season ticket £31 a year
Access accessible routes for wheelchairs and pushchairs, plus rougher paths
Website cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/leisure-parks-and-events/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-and-open-spaces-northwich-and-winsford/marbury-country-park
Good for a mere-side loop, accessible paths, a walk on to Anderton

9. The Wirral Way to Parkgate

The old Hooton to West Kirby railway, now a 12-mile path, and the one walk on this list you might reach by train on Boxing Day if Merseyrail runs its holiday service to Hooton again. The council’s Wirral Country Park page starts at Hadlow Road Station near Willaston, restored as it might have looked in the 1950s, with toilets, and follows the line through the Neston rock cutting and over the Millennium Bridge to Parkgate, where the Dee estuary opens up.

For something shorter it lists the Parkgate Circular, a very easy 3-mile route from the Old Baths car park. All the car parks are locked at night and have a 2.2-metre height barrier.

Address Hadlow Road Station, Willaston, CH64; Old Baths car park, Parkgate, CH64
Parking council car parks, locked at night, 2.2m height barrier
Toilets at Hadlow Road Station
Access level old railway line
Website cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/leisure-parks-and-events/parks-and-open-spaces/parks-and-open-spaces-rural/wirral-country-park
Good for estuary views, birdwatching, a flat 3-mile circuit

10. Moel Famau and the Jubilee Tower

The hill to pick for a proper climb. At 554 metres, Moel Famau is the highest summit in the Clwydian Range, topped by the ruins of the Jubilee Tower, built in 1810 for George III’s golden jubilee. Natural Resources Wales waymarks the Jubilee Tower Circular from its Coed Moel Famau forest car park: 3.6 miles with 280 metres of climb, about two and a half hours, coming back along Offa’s Dyke Path.

The shorter way up is from Denbighshire Council’s Moel Famau car park at the top of the pass, which its page lists with 90 spaces, winter hours of 8am to 6pm and no overnight parking.

Open Denbighshire's Moel Famau car park 8am to 6pm in winter
Price parking £2.50 for 4 hours, £6 all day (Denbighshire Council car park)
Address Moel Famau Car Park, CH7 5SH (put "Moel Famau Car Park" into a sat nav, the council says)
Website naturalresources.wales/coedmoelfamau?lang=en
Good for views across North Wales, a proper hill, Offa's Dyke Path