Days out in Norfolk for April

hollydays

Dont forget the Priory Maze at Sheringham,your 3 year old will love that-have to disagree about Pettits,although I last went about 10 years ago! I found it shabby and very expensive,and noticed they had a sign up saying strictly no refunds,(which does not bode well in my humble opinion,)although it did have a certain charm.Think feeding the animals was sweet,but you can go to Wroxham Barns and bottle feed the spring lambs etc for less,there is also an old fashioned fun fair at this craft centre see https://www.wroxhambarns.co.uk

black-saturn

Lowestoft is a lovely place to go during the day. The seafront and shops are within walking distance of each other and it's less commercialised than Great Yarmouth. You will also find that Great Yarmouth is very dirty looking and has a lot of derelict buildings wheras Lowestoft hasn't.

Reedham is a nice place to visit too and it has a riverside pub which does lovely bar meals.

As already mentioned theres a pub in Caister called 'The castle' which does a lovely carvery. I'm a member of the carvery club there Then while your there you can step back in time and look at the remains of the real castle just up the road and walk round the village which is picturesque and has some really nice shops.

Gorleston seafront is nice too and again less commercialised than Great yarmouth (or not so great yarmouth as we call it).

Southwold has a pier with an interesting exhibit of unusual attractions on it. CLICK HERE to see what I mean. Also lots of the outdoor bits of Little Britain are filmed there so if your a LB fan it's a good place to go and if your a Kaiser Chiefs fan you can see where they had their album launch.

hollydays

Agree with the above comments re Great Yarmouth,but also dont think the pedestrianised shopping street in Lowestoft has that much to offer in terms of prettyness either,love the beaches in Lowestoft though.

taffyswife

My 3 year old son loves the model village on the sea front at Great Yarmouth.

Also the Sea Life centre - get your hand stamped, then you can go back in, later in the day. (If you are asked by anyone for your comments on their facilities - do their questionnaire, then ask if they have any vouchers etc for money off on future visits - got 2 free adult passes!!)

On the front at Lowestoft, there is a large soft play centre. Meant to be very good.

Taffyswife

shimmigirl

Dear all

thanks for the suggestions so far - I have been compiling them all into a list so we have plenty of ideas for when we get there.

I welcome any other recommendations though

Thanks Again
Shim

carolwat

hollydays wrote:

have to disagree about Pettits,although I last went about 10 years ago! I found it shabby and very expensive,and noticed they had a sign up saying strictly no refunds,(which does not bode well in my humble opinion,)although it did have a certain charm.[/url]

I think you should give them another chance as I think you will find it has changed a lot from the way you describe it. It was a very reasonable entrance price and wasnt shabby at all. There is also a fairground there too which is all included in the entrance fee. Upon leaving you can also pick up a ticket which enables you to return another day and save money on the entrance fee or they did in september anyway.

kitchpoo

carolwat wrote:

I think you should give them another chance as I think you will find it has changed a lot from the way you describe it. It was a very reasonable entrance price and wasnt shabby at all. There is also a fairground there too which is all included in the entrance fee. Upon leaving you can also pick up a ticket which enables you to return another day and save money on the entrance fee or they did in september anyway.

Last time I visited Pettits (2 yers ago) I did pick up on a number of health and safety issues, namely a saw was left by an operative on a picnic bench and a trailing power flex across a footpath!! Most wouldnt have seen it as a problem, but I had my 'Mr Safety' hat on that day!

black_saturn wrote:

Lowestoft is a lovely place to go during the day. The seafront and shops are within walking distance of each other and it's less commercialised than Great Yarmouth. You will also find that Great Yarmouth is very dirty looking and has a lot of derelict buildings wheras Lowestoft hasn't.

Lowestoft, although the centre is now improved, there are still parts on a par with Yarmouth in terms of shabbyness... and have they finished digging it up yet - There are some serious access issues to parts of Lowestoft still. Bro In Law works in a main dealership on Lowestoft Rd South, and business is awful as noone can get to it!

taffyswife wrote:

On the front at Lowestoft, there is a large soft play centre. Meant to be very good.

The shops are good, the new water features and the indoor kiddies soft play are good for those under 4. Another one worth visiting is the Poringland Playbarn - outside Norwich by about 6 miles. http://www.theplaybarn.co.uk/

black_saturn wrote:

As already mentioned theres a pub in Caister called 'The castle' which does a lovely carvery. I'm a member of the carvery club there Then while your there you can step back in time and look at the remains of the real castle just up the road and walk round the village which is picturesque and has some really nice shops.

I agree that the Castle has a good reputation and is well known for good food, but DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH CAISTER CASTLE CAR COLLECTION!! - I visited this in my childhood aged about 8 (some - ahem - 23 years ago!) and then again last summer - UNCHANGED - it is very static and overpriced for the contents - unless you really want to see the first Ford Fiesta that rolled off the production line in 1976.

stressedaah30

theres a brewers fayre on outskirt of norwich right near the main bypass to yarmouth so could come to norwich shopping and have meal there on way in or way home
also wroxham barns is nice and has junior farm lovely for kids and few fun fair style attractions and a nice place for food too

stressedaah30

theres a brewers fayre on outskirt of norwich right near the main bypass to yarmouth so could come to norwich shopping and have meal there on way in or way home
also wroxham barns is nice and has junior farm lovely for kids and few fun fair style attractions and a nice place for food too

kitchpoo

Yarmouth seafront is having a lot of money ploughed into it...I only last night saw the light display all the way down regents road and was rather impressed, and all around Britannia pier is completely changed and actually looks "classy" dare I say, which now puts Yarmouth on a par with Lowestoft if not better, but the work may still begoing on in April as they aim to have it done by Summer.