More information on how to explore the broads can be found at www.norfolkbroads.co.uk
NR12 0BW
There are some fantastic walks that will keep you busy. Inside the Nature Reserve you will find some easy to follow footpaths that will lead you around and through the middle the reserve.
Once you’ve seen the reserve, you can head up to Hickling Broad via a footpath that runs across the front of the car park. This is a great area, so don’t hesitate to explore but be careful of traffic as some of your walking may have to be done on the road!
The visitor centre has a gift shop, refreshments and toilets. Wildlife Detective Bumbags for children areavailable to hire: £10 deposit and £1.50 charge.
Contact the centre on 01692 598276 for more information.
NR13 6HY
Ranworth broad is brilliant and pushchair friendly. Car park near the staith, near Norfolk wildlife trust office where you can buy a boat trip if you wish. The Maltings pub has been recently totally renovated and we had a great time the last time we went. Then you have a walk pushchair friendly to the actual reserve, which starts with an amazing gigantic tree. Then you have a short walk on a wooden path through wet land and reeds to get to the visitor centre where there are activities for kids, binoculars, ice creams and hot drinks from a machine.
The only thing is the lack of toilets. From the visitor centre, you can have a 45min boat trip around the broad to see the terns, gulls, cormorans, crested grebes and more sometimes. All our family love it! And if you feel like it there is the possibility of climbing to the roof of the nearby church. I would say for kids 4yo and over. C H-B, Apr’17
Salhouse Broad car park: Lower Street, Salhouse NR13 6RX
It is a 10 minute walk from the Salhouse Broad car park to the Broad – but some say this walk is just as nice as the Broad itself!
There is so much to do at Salhouse Broad; not least as here you can wake up to incredible views and surrounded by nature with our wild camping fields or moor your boat in our beautiful broad with running water and other amenities available. You can hire a canoe or kayak for the day or even by the hour and explore the stunning waterways of the Norfolk Broads.
Trowse, Norwich, NR14 8TR, Norwich NR7 0EQ
This woodland and water park just southeast of Norwich is a great place to walk, cycle, picnic or bird watch.
Nice place for family walks. Dry in summer and fairly accessible with a reasonably level stoney surface. Can get muddy during wetter months though.
Dogs are allowed, but are requested to be on leads in some areas.
Nice walk around broad, also provides views of the river Yare, where you can see passing trains (on other side of River), and rowing boats can frequently be seen on the river.
Car parking costs 60p per half hour, and is zealously enforced by an external contractor. Paul B Apr’17
NR12 8UR
Wroxham is known as the ‘Capital of the Broads’. Wroxham and Hoveton are actually two villages, but most people refer to the area as Wroxham.
From here, there are lots of places you can hire a day boat or holiday boat. Mainly, we go to just watch the ducks and the boats, enjoy the water and the lovely walks. The Broads Authority Tourist Information Centre is on Station Road, near Roy’s of Wroxham and there are lots of lovely riverside walks.
On our last visit, there were even special food bags for water birds on display for 50p so we could feed the ducks, geese and swans on our walk. The money went to Macmillan.
There are plenty of shops as well as takeways, pubs and restaurants. You can even use the train if you don’t have a car, as Wroxham is on the mainline railway.
The Broad itself is privately owned but boats can sail through it. If you’re just walking, like us, there is still plenty to see.
It’s easy to drive through Wroxham on the way to Wroxham Barns, or BeWILDerwood or beyond to the beach, but the village itself is really worth stopping at for a visit. It can get busy in the summer with tourists, but us locals can go anytime and enjoy the scenery.
