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Arrival, information and accommodation
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Shrewsbury is well connected by
train
to the rest of the country, and its station, at the northeast edge of the centre, is a popular departure point for scenic rail journeys into mid-Wales.
Buses
from London, Birmingham and beyond pull into the National Express stand at the Raven Meadows bus station, off the Smithfield Road, five minutes' walk west of the train station. The
tourist office
is south up the hill from the two stations, on The Square (May-Sept Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-4pm; Oct-April Mon-Sat 10am-5pm; tel 01743/281200,
). The labyrinthine lanes and alleys of Shrewsbury's centre can be baffling, but fortunately it's too small an area to be lost in for long. As a general guide, Castle Gates/Castle Street runs from the train station up to Pride Hill, a short pedestrianized street that meets St Mary's Street/Dogpole at one end and High Street/Wyle Cop at the other. The Square off the High Street is at the heart of the town centre.
Shrewsbury has one particularly good
hotel
, the
Prince Rupert
, which occupies a tastefully converted old building, right in the centre of town off Pride Hill on Butcher Row (tel 01743/499955,
; A?90-110). Less expensive options in the centre include the
Lion
, a classic Georgian coaching inn on the Wyle Cop (tel 01743/353107; A?70-90), and the
College Hill Guest House
, a pleasant
B&B
in an old listed building at 11 College Hill, near The Square (tel 01743/365744; no credit cards; A?40-50). Most of the town's B&Bs are beyond the centre, with several dotted along Abbey Foregate, which runs east from the English Bridge at the foot of Wyle Cop: try the unassuming, neat and tidy
Abbey Court Guest House
, at no. 134 (tel 01743/364416; no credit cards; under A?40). The
youth hostel
is housed in a former Victorian ironmaster's house, about one mile east of the centre, at the far end of Abbey Foregate (tel 01743/360179,
; closed Nov-Feb). It's near Lord Hill's Column, the monument erected in memory of Wellington's sidekick at the Battle of Waterloo. Take bus #8 or #26 from the bus station. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United Kingdom,
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