Insight Guides Great Breaks Norfolk & Suffolk

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Print ISBN: 9781786717450
• eBook ISBN: 9781786710970
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

Insight Great Breaks Guides:pocket-sized books to inspire your
on-foot exploration of the best of the British Isles.
Now with free eBook.

Practical, pocket-sized and packed with inspirational insider information, this will make the ideal on-the-move companion to your trip to Norfolk and Suffolk
Features over 10 detailed walking tour itineraries, including Norwich, the Norfolk Broads, Aldeburgh and Around and beyond to Cambridge
Overview section features concise insider information covering everything from landscape and location, to history and culinary highlights
Top Ten section takes you to the heart of your destination, from Sutton Hoo to Norwich Cathedral and Southwold Pier
Rainy Day recommendations offer plenty of options, whatever the weather
Includes an innovative extra that's unique in the market - all Insight Great Breaks Guides come with a free eBook
Invaluable itinerary maps and practical Travel Tips section ensure effortless exploration
Inspirational colour photography throughout

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus onhistory and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

Tour 1: Norwich

Take a step back in time and explore Norwich, an underrated city packed with historical sites and lovely little alleys. This is a full-day 2-mile (3km) walking tour.

Highlights

Norwich Castle Museum

Norwich Lanes

Museum of Norwich

Elm Hill

Norwich Cathedral

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

Until the Industrial Revolution, Norwich was one of the most prosperous cities in England. Set amid rich agricultural land it rose to prominence in the Middle Ages as a market and trading centre, growing rich on its trade of worsted cloth. Tradition has it that the city had a pub for each day of the year and a church for every Sunday. There were in fact 700 pubs in medieval times, down to around 140 today and declining. Evidence of its former prosperity can be seen in the 32 medieval churches and many historic houses dotted around the city.

Norwich also has a large and colourful market, some great little shops, no shortage of excellent cafés and restaurants and a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere.

Market Place and Norwich Castle.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Norwich

Norwich Castle

The city’s gaunt Castle 1 [map] stands high up on a grassy mound above the city centre. It was built as a royal palace but became the county gaol in 1220 and remained so for 650 years until it was bought by the city for conversion to a museum. The Keep, which is all that remains of the original castle, was refaced in 1834 – hence the newer-than-Norman look. The battlements and dungeons can be visited on guided tours (additional charge). The Keep is due to receive a major revamp in 2018, which will see it restored to its former glories by reinstating the Norman floor and recreating Henry I’s royal palace, to be completed by 2020.

Castle Museum and Art Gallery

Converted from the old prison blocks, the excellent Castle Museum and Art Gallery (tel: [phone]; www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk; July–Sept Mon–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 1–5pm, Oct–June Mon–Sat 10am–4.30pm, Sun 1–4.30pm) offers a combination of fine art, natural history, archaeology and history. The remarkable array of galleries covers everything from Egyptian and Viking history to the world’s largest collection of ceramic teapots. The highlight is the art gallery, with an outstanding collection of paintings by the Norwich School (1803–33), a group of landscape painters who drew their inspiration from the Norfolk scenery. The leading figures were John Crome and John Sell Cotman.

The Royal Arcade.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

The Royal Arcade

At the castle exit turn right, then right again down the steps, crossing the main road for the Royal Arcade 2 [map] a beautiful Art Nouveau thoroughfare.

Market Place

At the end of the arcade you come to the Market 3 [map] (Mon–Sat 8.30am–5.30pm), which has been held here for over 900 years. It is one of the largest open markets in Britain, with over 190 tightly-packed stalls selling everything from flowers, fresh cockles and Cromer crabs to cheap clothes and household goods. Food options are abundant: fish and chips, kebabs, take-away Thai food, mushy peas or stuffed Cromer crabs.

Norwich for kids

There’s plenty for children to do in Norwich, starting with the more obvious museums, which also cater for kids’ special events, including dressing up. Check the website for Norwich Castle, Bridewell and Strangers’ Hall (www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk). The Norwich Puppet Theatre (www.puppettheatre.co.uk) hosts individual and family workshops, activities and events, plus regular shows. For families who enjoy walking, try the self-guided Curious About Norwich walks (www.curiousabout.co.uk), or for the brave hearted, an evening ghost walk (www.ghostwalksnorwich.co.uk) – be prepared for blood and gore and an encounter with the ‘Man in Black’.

On the far side, looms the massive City Hall (1938) with its soaring tower; to the right is the 15th-century Guildhall, a fine example of the flintwork for which the city is famous, and to the left, with its tower dominating the city centre, the large perpendicular Church of St Peter Mancroft 4 [map] (Mon–Sat 10am–4pm, winter until 3.30pm, Sun during services only; free). The finest of the city’s medieval churches, it has a light and lofty interior with a hammerbeam roof and notable stained glass in the east window depicting the lives of the saints and scenes from the New Testament.

The Forum

In stark contrast to the church is the modern glass-fronted Forum 5 [map] (www.theforumnorwich.co.uk) right opposite, built on the site of the old Norwich Central Library which burnt down in 1995. This horseshoe-shaped building encompasses the regional library, the tourist office, BBC East offices, Fusion (a digital screen gallery), as well as shops and a café. Inevitably controversial when it was built in the heart of the historic city, the Forum has nevertheless become a buzzing centre where people meet or gather in the outdoor plaza to watch amateur performances or free screenings of major sporting events and cinema classics.

Alley leading to the Church of St John Maddermarket.

Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications

Pottergate

Cross the square and take Lower Goat Lane behind the Guild Hall, which takes you down to Pottergate. The alleys here and to the east, across Exchange Street, are known as the Norwich Lanes 6 [map] , a lively shopping area with enticing little independent outlets and cafés within lovely old buildings. Turn left at Pottergate and cross into the small square with the flint-faced Church of St Gregory, whi...

Table of contents

• Norfolk and Suffolk’s Top 10
• Overview: Rural Retreat
• Food and Drink
• Tour 1: Norwich
• Tour 2: The Brecks
• Tour 3: King’s Lynn to Holkham
• Tour 4: Wells to Cromer
• Tour 5: Norfolk Broads
• Tour 6: Great Yarmouth
• Feature: Birdwatching
• Tour 7: Southwold and Around
• Tour 8: Aldeburgh and Around
• Feature: Aldeburgh Festival
• Tour 9: Bury St Edmunds and Around
• Tour 10: Cambridge
• Tour 11: Around Cambridge
• Feature: Art and Artists
• Tour 12: Colchester and Constable Country
• Active Pursuits
• Themed Holidays
• Practical Information
• Accommodation