Discover Broadland’s waterways and landways

Let's go! A family in a canoe on the broads

With Let’s go! we’d like to share ideas on simple things you can do for free, local stories to discover and great attractions in Broadland, the area between Reepham and Reedham, which also covers north Norwich. When you live in a place it can be hard to see what’s special about it and, sometimes, you need to just ditch the chores and head out into our beautiful district!

“Our wonderful district is criss-crossed by landways and waterways and is a draw for many visitors, making our tourism economy worth over £170 million a year. We want to inspire people who live here to enjoy everything Broadland has to offer, supporting independent businesses at the same time.” Cllr Martin Booth

First, choose your favourite landway or waterway across Broadland.
Walk through golden fields and cool oak forests along Marriott’s Way and Weaver’s Way, the Themelthorpe Loop, the Bure Valley and across the Blickling Estate.
Paddle along rivers and streams, mainly the Bure, where you might catch the splosh of an otter or the blue flash of a Kingfisher.
On the Broads, set off in a slow boat and explore this way and that, with the wind in the reeds and the sun shimmering on the water, as dragonflies hum by.
Bike along leafy lanes, between idyllic market towns and villages, with quirky museums, the odd stately home and sumptuous gardens.
On a lazy day, take a steam train and watch the countryside drift by either in Aylsham or in Whitwell.
Settle down for cake in a tearoom or coffeeshop and debate the film-set vibes of places like Aylsham, Blicking Hall and Heydon.
Families who love all kinds of thrilling creatures head for ROARR!, The Bug Parc, Pettit’s Animal Adventure Park and also Bewilderwood just across the Broadland border.
Glorious Norwich and sweeping beaches are all close by.
Keep everyone well fed, with a picnic made up of delicious local food or stop in a pub garden for a pint and a bite.

What’s on, where to stay and what to do in Broadland

Explore, experience and enjoy FREE events celebrating Broadland’s history and culture from 6 to 15 September.
In Broadland, HOD opportunities include the Norfolk Wherry Trust boatyard, religious tourism at the time of Chaucer, Girl Guiding, a Battle of Britain station at RAF Colitshall, fine chapels and churches, printing at Blickling and Thorpe Asylum.
It’s a chance to have a look around special places and see objects which are often not available to the public. Please check the timings, then make plans to visit your favourite events.
All Broadland HOD events
Find out more about Norfolk Heritage Open Days
A handsome market town, full of alleyways and secret corners
You’ll absolutely know when you’ve reached the heart of Reepham. Between the churches, the Dial House and the auction house you have the hub of a town which gained its market town charter in 1277. Follow secret alleys between buildings to discover back lanes and old houses all pushed together in a charming jigsaw mix. Back in the centre, the independent shops will draw you in too, with many temptations from curated vintage to beautiful eco to stylish floristry, before hunger drives you into the restaurant or the pub or the deli food shops for delicious local food and drink.
The big curiosity is the fact that there are two churches backing onto each other; in fact there used to be three on top of what looks to be an Anglo-Saxon pagan site, so it seems that Reepham has been a magnet for people to gather, long before it even gained its current name. A little further out you’ll find the old railway station café and bike fixing shop, then keep going to find more interesting businesses at Salle Moor, some of which welcome visitors. Salle church is also magically airy and full of light, and a good place to sit and contemplate if you feel the need. In the other direction is Whitwell Station where steam trains take you on jaunts through golden fields. Following the train theme, this not far from the Themelthorpe Loop either, once a long-winded fix to a muddled railway network and now a 12-mile route for energetic walkers and cyclers which take you back to where you started. When you’re done come back to base and overnight in great designer style in Reepham or take to the countryside and sleep in quirky prairie cabins or a peaceful cottage down a less-travelled lane.
Visit Reepham, and follow alleyways and paths to an ancient England.
A Norfolk village, seemingly untouched by time
Turn off the country road at the sign for Heydon and slow to a crawl as you come to the green. You have to stop, you can’t go any further as it’s the end of the road. At first glance, there is the green with the old covered well, with the handsome church on one side, facing a row of exquisitely picturesque Georgian and pre-Georgian houses. Then to the left a row of cottages which couldn’t be prettier, and a classical tearoom with Georgian bay window and an ancient pub.
In summer the hollyhocks lean in the breeze and flowers spill undisturbed into the road. With no cars driving through, you can hear insects buzzing by, the clatter of crockery from the tearoom and cyclists discussing their route over cups of tea, their bikes propped against the iron fence edging the green. Past the Church are large gates and a cattle grid, hinting at an estate and a hall. They’re usually open and you can take a looping stroll under the ancient oak trees and admire Heydon Hall from a distance. You might even recognise it, as it has been a film location too.
But it’s not at all stuck in the dreamy 1950s, as down the alley by the pub, is a collection of independent businesses where you can linger over beautiful clothes and thoughtfully-chosen artisan gifts. In fact, behind those shops is where you park your car so as not to crowd the view of the green. Of course, make sure you have tea and cake or a proper pub lunch or even both before you leave.
Thanks to Heydon being one of the rare privately-owned villages in a conservation area, it has remained a blissfully quintessential English village surrounded by glorious Norfolk countryside.
Visit Heydon, and wander around an idyllic village you’ll always remember.
Welcome to a wonderful market town and foodie heaven
If you love to eat and drink, and shop, then Aylsham is your heaven. Recently named one of the best places to live in the UK, here are a few reasons why, and they’re all walkable. Breakfast on pastries and coffee at the epic bakeries in the appealing and historic Market place, then go past the perfectly miniature cocktail and seafood bar (that’s for later) and pop into the chocolate and sweet shops on Red Lion Street to keep you going as you dip in and out of the shops.
For lunch try pizzas with a stamp of authenticity or look for the deli-greengrocer’s shop on the way to the steam train station, with the wooden cart brimming with fresh produce, and choose treats for a picnic lunch. They grow a lot of their produce on a field nearby which is all you need to know. Even the local mini supermarket next door is Norfolk-owned and proud champion of local suppliers. It’s time for tea? How about choosing between several vintage tearooms for cream teas or painting a plate while you scoff cake. Under a blue sky, the warm Norfolk clay roofs link the buildings, many of which are Grade I or II listed in this lovely town, once known for the quality of its woven cloth which was highly appreciated by medieval royals. The Romans thought it was a pretty perfect location too, as revealed by the regular digs at the local garden centre. For history buffs, the mini museum facing the peaceful church, is a must-visit.
When the sky goes peachy at dusk, sip your cocktail made with Norfolk spirits or a bottle of local micro-brewery beer, before your evening meal calls from down the road. Book ahead for the private dining room and restaurants in Red Lion Street and around the Market Place, where the inn has hosted Daniel Defoe, Horatio Nelson and Queen Victoria as well as all the many others since about 1650. There’s a Cromwell-era ghost as well.
Finally sink into bed at the same inn or in the designer rooms in the old ironmongers and try to read a few pages from that great book you bought in the irresistible indie bookshop you can probably see from your window. The whole point is that this is a place where you can abandon your car on arrival. Head out into the country on foot or by bike along Weaver’s Way or any of the lanes you fancy. Stop to explore the sumptuous house and gardens of National Trust’s Blicking Hall before heading into the lovely forests and fields on the estate. Maybe catch the steam train along the Bure Valley, criss-crossing the river all the way to the Broads if you like, or choose an early stop to get off and walk back, so you can work up an appetite for more delicious local eating. This is a Cittaslow town after all, with regular market days offering even more choice local foods.
Visit Aylsham, for thrill of discovering great local food, and long to stay longer.
A pretty Norfolk village, for enjoying life on the River Bure
Coltishall is said to be the birthplace of the iconic wherry and the boatyards based down Anchor Street, were building Norfolk keels and wherries to carry goods up and down the shallow rivers and The Broads waterways going up river as far as Aylsham. Coltishall is now the highest navigable point on the River Bure, a beautiful green thread winding through Coltishall. In the upriver direction you can walk under the shade of the willows towards Buxton, starting at the bridge. There is a great pub just across the river, and a popular tearoom and shops with picnic food and fine houses around the central meadow. On a bright day it’s hard to imagine that Black Shuck, Norfolk’s haunting and legendary black devil dog beast with red eyes, is said to favour this bridge under the cover of deep darkness. Reputed sightings are a few and far between, last one in 1950, so you can sleep easy.
The staithe at Coltishall common is the other destination for a day of lazing on the grass, enjoying an ice cream while watching people boating, canoeing and paddleboarding along the river, with a view of the meadows beyond. If you fancy getting on the river yourself, there are several companies that can organise lovely days on the water with all the kit you need. When it’s time for lunch you can choose from two great pubs sitting side by side or walk back to the thatched church of St John. There you’ll spot the bakery café or turn down a leafy lane leading to a boutique hotel, with grounds down to the river, where you can enjoy a sumptuous afternoon tea. Whether you choose this hotel or an idyllic country cottage, Coltishall is in that perfect mid-point, if you’d like to explore the Broads to the east, the market towns to the west, then head north for glorious beaches and south to explore historic Norwich.
Visit Coltishall, and head for the river for heavenly days on the water.
An old maritime village with ferry, embraced by the river Yare
Reedham is a village with a waterfront, where life follows the rhythmic pace of the river ferry, taking a few cars at a time across the River Yare. From the A47 follow pretty lanes all the way to the most southerly point of Broadland. It feels like it’s on the edge of the world, where the ferry chain clanks steadily and breezes ruffle the river surface, carrying the scent of the North Sea from several miles away.
For centuries this was watery marshland and Reedham was a coastal village when the North Sea reached much further inland than Great Yarmouth. King Edmund of East Anglia once lived here and it was important to Romans too, as they had a lighthouse to guide their shipping all those centuries ago. You can still spot parts of Roman bricks within the church walls. Look out for the Polkey’s Mill, once part of network of windmills, sails turned towards the easterly wind, responsible for draining these marshes for farming.
Today the ferry is a fun and essential service, much loved by children and drivers, who are also saved a long round trip. The lovely mainline train station feels like a vintage step back in time, and is a great way to reach Reedham, to start wonderful walks across the marshes, where all you can hear are the birds and you feel like you can see forever. The Reedham Swing Bridge allows the train to travel on to the horizon, and it’s worth a watch if larger boats are coming through. After your walk, come back to Reedham for a rest by the river, then restore yourself with afternoon tea at the old post office or a drink and a hearty meal at any of the lovely riverside restaurants and pubs. Pettit’s Animal Adventure Park is also close by and great fun, especially for families.
Visit Reedham, and escape the world for a walk under an enormous sky.

Back to the top