The Manchester Ship Canal joins the Mersey estuary here, and the town is also the northern terminus of the Shropshire Union Canal (which used to exchange goods with sea going boats at what is now the boat museum). There are a number of tourist attractions - the Boat Museum, the "Blue Planet" aquarium and the Cheshire Oaks outlet village. The town is primarily industrial, being dominated by a Shell oil refinery and an ICI chemical works.
Ellesmere Port has a railway station with frequent electric services to Liverpool and occasional trains to Helsby on the Chester to Warrington line.