Hereford (Welsh: Henffordd) is an historic cathedral city in England on the river Wye. The county town of Herefordshire, the city lies close to the English border with Wales. A small city (population 55,000), Hereford nonetheless offers a great variety of attractions for the traveller.

Hereford

Get in

Herefordshire is a rural county and this is reflected in its transport links to Hereford. Roads from Gloucester or other places tend to be slow and bus transport from neighbouring counties isn't exceptional.

By train

There are two main rail lines to 1 Hereford station, one north-south, from Manchester to Wales and another branch from London, Oxford, the Cotswolds, via Worcester and finally Hereford. Direct trains from London Paddington take 3:05 to 3:32 hours to reach Hereford. There are five direct trains per day from London to Hereford. There is a more frequent train service from London Paddington to Hereford by taking the express trains heading for Cardiff and changing at Newport onto the line for Hereford.

By plane

The average journey time from London 2 Heathrow Airport (LHR ^IATA) to Hereford by car would be over 2 hours, depending on traffic.

Alternatively 3 Birmingham Airport (BHX ^IATA) is about 64 miles away with a journey time of about 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Get around

Trains link Hereford with the towns of Ledbury and Leominster and the village of Colwall and other towns outside Herefordshire such as Ludlow and Abergavenny. For the Herefordshire towns of Bromyard, Kington and Ross-on-Wye and smaller villages and places to visit there are buses. Buses to Leominster, Ludlow, Kington, Llandrindod Wells, Hay-on-Wye, Brecon and Monmouth leave from outside the railway station and also stop at the Country Bus Station. Services to Abergavenny, Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff, Ross-on-Wye, Ledbury, Bromyard and Worcester and most villages leave from the "County Bus Station" (behind the cinema on Commercial road - about 3 minutes walk from the station). City services start from the Shire Hall in St. Peter's Square or the "City Bus Station" at the rear of the Tesco supermarket in Bewell Street.

There are also daily National Express coaches to Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Gloucester, Swindon, Heathrow Airport and London (Victoria).

See

Mappa Mundi

• 1 Hereford Cathedral. The Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin and St Ethelbert the King, established in 1079.  
  • Mappa mundi, Hereford Cathedral. An internationally important medieval map of the world, drawn in the 13th century. (updated May 2018)
  • Chained Library, Hereford Cathedral. £6. (updated Sep 2019)
• 2 Old House. A well-preserved Elizabethan (?) merchant's (?) house in the centre of town.  

Do

• Go to the races at Hereford Racecourse, but only in winter as (unusually) it's only a jumps course. It's on A4103, Roman Road HR4 9QU, a mile northwest of town centre.

Buy

Hereford has a good choice of shops including chain and independent stores such as:

• iStore - Apple Premium Reseller and Authorised Service Provider
• Marks and Spencers
• Primark
• Next
• Dorothy Perkins
• Monsoon
• Ann Summers
• Animal
• H&M's
• TK-Maxx
• Boots
• tReds - Independent trainer shop

Also be sure to check out the small retro shops in the arcade next to the police station and the sweet shops in the centre of town.

Drink

Sociable city with good pubs and usually only a few fights on weekends.

• 1 The Kings Fee, 49–53 Commercial Rd, HR1 2BJ, ☏ +44 1432 373240. Wetherspoons pub. (updated Nov 2017)

Sleep

• 1 Alberta House B&B, 5-13 Newtown Road, HR4 9LH, ☏ +44 1432 297102. Check-in: 12:00 - 21:00, check-out: 10:30. Pleasant, great value family-run B&B with comfortable rooms and ample private parking. Single from £35, Double from £50, Family from £60 (see website for details). 
• 2 Castle House Hotel, Castle Street HR1 2NW, ☏ +44 1432 356321. Upscale hotel in Regency villa, great comfort, service and dining. No dogs. B&B double £160. (updated Jun 2020)
• 3 White House Glamping, White House Farm, How Caple, Herefordshire, HR1 4SR, ☏ +44 7849 621669. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 10AM. Family-friendly tipi glamping next to the river Wye. From £99. (updated Apr 2020)

Go next

Routes through Hereford

Shrewsbury ← Leominster ←	N  S	→ Ross-on-Wye → Gloucester
Brecon ← Hay-on-Wye ←	W  E	→ Ledbury → Tewkesbury
END ←	W  E	→ Malvern → Worcester

Hereford forms a great base for access to and accommodation for the annual Literary Festival in nearby Hay-on-Wye.