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. There are two main rail lines, one north-south, from Manchester to Wales and another branch from London, the Cotswolds, via Worcester and finally Hereford. Although fast Intercity trains ply this route, once you are on the single track sector (from Oxford to Hereford) the average speed goes down dramatically, preparing you in effect to life on the slower lane, a feature of this charming county and city. 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. The average journey time from LHR to Hereford by car would be over 2 hours, depending on traffic. Travelling to Hereford from London, by train, would take just over 3 hours.

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 "Country 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).

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

• 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.

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