Liverpool or Chester for a short break?

[DontEscapeToTheCountry]

Which would you choose for two adults? Going by public transport.

I’m leaning towards Chester but wondering if there’s enough to keep us occupied for 4 days? Also is Chester Oaks worth visiting?

Any thoughts/opinions would be appreciated.

TIA

Depends what sort of things you like doing at what pace.
I'm within day trip of them both and haven't been for ages (not since our dd was younger) so I'm interested in what others have to say.

Fortunately, Liverpool and Chester are very nearby each other so you could stay in Liverpool city centre and travel into Chester for a day if you wanted or vice versa. Trains run every 15 minutes from what I recall!

Cheshire Oaks is a nice day out if you enjoy discount shopping (though there's also bowling, an aquarium and other activities nearby). We normally go by car though so I can't comment on how easy it is to get to via public transport.

Port Sunlight is a good day out that you can get to via train. It's a very unique 'model village' created as an experiment by William Lever to see whether his soap factory workers would be happier and healthier if they had better working hours and access to clean and spacious living environments (spoiler, they were). It has a museum and art gallery.

DH and I went to Chester for a weekend christmas before last.

To be fair it poured all weekend but we would have been hard pressed to fill 4 days. We walked the city wall, looked at the shops, saw the racecourse ate out etc etc but def were not dazzled.
We didn't go further afield so maybe missed something...

It was meh at best.

I love both places and it's really easy to get a train between the two so you could incorporate both.

Stay in Liverpool and do a day trip to Chester.

Yep, do both!

more Choice of accommodation in Liverpool and a train ride away from Chester from central station or Moore fields.

The river is lively in Chester and you can go on boat tour. Ghost tours are fun thing to do in Liverpool

Definitely stay in Liverpool and do a day in Chester, not enough to fill that time in Chester but so much to do in Liverpool. I’m a Londoner living in Merseyside and my family love coming to visit

Chester is not that big and I'd do Liverpool with a day out in Chester. Good train links.

Ind
Indeed!

(Source: Wirral native. )

Liverpool, you can get the train to Chester and the bus to Cheshire Oaks.

For 4 days there'll be more to do in Liverpool. Chester is lovely but quite small, also Cheshire oaks is worth it if you really like designer stuff and some home stuff is worth it, sometimes you get a bargain but a lot of the time it's not any cheaper than the normal non outlet stores. Last time I was there a lot of the stores were empty too (as in closed down)
An option would be stay in Liverpool and do a day trip to Chester (direct train from Liverpool)

Stay in Liverpool and then get the train to Chester for the day. They are every 15/20 minutes. The market/food hall is good for food but closed on a Monday. It only takes about an hour to walk the walls, the river is a nice walk and the boat trips are fun. Porta is an excellent restaurant.

Cheshire oaks is a good day trip and easy by bus from Liverpool. Good food too, definitely not full of closed shops like a PP mentioned. Mowgli does the best food at Cheshire oaks, there are a few in Liverpool town centre but can be hard to get a table

Cheshire Oaks is just a big retail park. If you are going on holiday I wouldn't bother with it. There will be one near where you live with all of the same shops and amenities.

Liverpool for sure. Not enough to do in Chester for 4 days

Both! I was born in Chester so I'm biased. You can get the train straight from Chester to Liverpool so you could easily do both. Cheshire oaks is good!! It can get busy tho and there isn't a train that goes to it, it's not easily accessible I would say, idk about buses.
Chester cathedral is nice to visit, the amphitheatre, the river Dee do river cruises and there are plenty of pubs and restaurants

I agree with @RedChester and yes the walls are a good idea for Chester

Definitely liverpool. Chester is ok for a day

I stayed in Liverpool for five days last year and included a day trip to Chester. Chester was lovely, for the day. But Liverpool is amazing! SO much to do!

I loved it so much that I'm booked to go against the end of May. I can't wait!

Thanks all. It seems that both is the way to go. I’m very grateful for your replies.

I hope that you have a wonderful time, OldTinHat.