7 Things To Do In Chelmsford Essex

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Chelmsford is Essex’s only city! Traditionally towns had to have a cathedral to be granted city status. It’s located just 40 minutes from London Liverpool Street by train (30 minutes from Stratford) and is easily reached via the A12…when the A12 is behaving itself! Which makes it popular for commuters. In this post, I will be sharing some fun things to do in Chelmsford Essex!

Things To Do In Chelmsford

Shopping

For me, one of the main reasons I like to go to Chelmsford is for the huge range of shops (and Primark!). There are two indoor shopping centres, High Chelmer and The Meadows. The last time I visited The Meadows was looking a little sorry for itself, there are a lot of empty units. High Chelmer is the better out of the two.

You’ve then got the High St with other big names stores (Waterstones, Lush, Debenhams, Paperchase) and Bond Street has some ‘luxury’ shops and a John Lewis. Chelmsford Market (indoor) can be found on the lower level of the High Chelmer multi-storey car park and is open 5 days a week between Tuesday and Saturday. The High St market takes place on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Bell Meadow Park/Central Park

A nice little place to stop for a rest is Bell Meadow Park, it’s just a short walk from the High St, alongside the River Chelmer. There are benches and a walking path that leads into the larger Central Park.

Jump Street – Clip N Climb

There are two Jump Street locations in Essex, one in Colchester and then a second in Chelmsford. These are trampoline parks! However, Jump Street Chelmsford also has Clip N Climb with over 30 different climbing walls! It’s fun for all ages, with the walls having harder ‘challenges’ if you want to push yourself a little harder. Clip N Climb time slots are 1 hour in length with a short safety video at the start.

Clip n Climb at Jump Street in Chelmsford Essex

BCK YRD Golf

BCK YRD Golf is an indoor crazy golf course! It’s quite small but so much fun! The holes are all created using scrap. There are two courses, each with 9 holes. They are quite quick to complete, so in my opinion, it’s worth doing both courses (£10)! The cocktail menu is also pretty good. When you pre-book a ticket, you can choose a package that includes a drink, which makes a cocktail only £6! Kids are allowed at BCK YRD Golf until 8pm (£7.50 for both courses).

For those that like ‘proper’ golf (or at least a step up from crazy golf), West Park has an 18 hole pitch and putt course. (I haven’t been there for ages though!)

Riverside Leisure Centre

Another place I haven’t been for AGES, but Riverside Leisure Centre has a swimming pool and an indoor ice rink! The leisure centre was recently renovated.

Hylands Estate House and Gardens

Hylands Estate is free to visit! The gardens and park are open daily, however, Hylands House is only open one Sunday a month. Visitors can also enjoy carriage rides from the Hylands Horses on various days throughout the year. Carriage rides are £4 per person.

The grounds at Hylands Park are MASSIVE. Between 1996 and 2017, Hylands Park was one of the sites of the annual V Festival. At its peak over 90,000 tickets were sold, including 50,000 camping tickets (although some of the camping fields were in surrounding fields).

2012 Olympic Torch Relay at Hylands Park Chelmsford — 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Event at Hylands Park

There are various walking routes around Hylands Park, with the longest being the 4-mile perimeter walk. I once did the Cancer Research Run 10k event at Hylands Park! The Pleasure Gardens (flower garden) are in the centre of the park, close to Hylands House. The Adventure Castle playground is suitable for wheelchair users. This is closest to the Greenbury Way entrance car park.

Chelmsford City Racecourse

Chelmsford City Racecourse is actually closer to Braintree (5 miles) than what is it Chelmsford (9 miles). Although I’m pretty sure they moved the city boundary so they were able to call it Chelmsford… The racecourse is for horse racing but they also hold other events, such as concerts and Clockstock Festival (Dance DJs).

Food & Drink in Chelmsford

In Chelmsford, you’ll find a whole range of different cafes and restaurants, from themed restaurants to foreign cuisines. There are plenty of choices close to the High St. One of my personal favourites is Songs Buffet, which is an Asian ‘all you can eat’ buffet (currently closed). The Cake Box in the High Chelmer Shopping Centre does amazingly yummy slices of cake in fun flavours!

The newest Tiptree tearoom can be found along Bond Street. There’s a Tiptree products shop and a patisserie downstairs, with a table service cafe upstairs. I’ve been to several of the Tiptree locations now and Bond Street is one of the only tearooms which offer a large range of Conserves/Jams with the cream teas!

I haven’t been yet, but Turtle Bay looks like a fun Jamaican themed restaurant with brunch, cocktails and rums options!

Chelmsford Park And Ride

As mentioned above, Chelmsford is easily reached by rail and road. You’ll are several multi-storey car parks in the city centre, but I like to use the Park & Ride service. There are 2 Park & Ride locations, one located just off the A12 at Sandon and a second at Chelmer Valley which is on the ‘Braintree side’ of Chelmsford. It’s free to park and then you can purchase a ticket either on the bus or on the First Bus app. Adult tickets are £3.60 Monday to Friday and £3.50 on Saturdays (closed Sunday).