A day in Norwich

[RedDoughnut]

What should I do with a full day to myself in Norwich?

Somewhere to park?
Somewhere nice to eat?
What to see?

Anyone with local info please post your suggestions. Thanks!

Anyway, back to the OP. Norwich is definitely worth at least a day. Avoid the Riverside complex, Prince of Wales Road, & St Stephens - they're horrible. The rest of the city is just somewhere you can wander endlessly. The market is delightfully weird - you'll get an incredible food stall next to some bloke selling foam offcuts, next to a vintage clothes stall, next to a nail bar. It's open every day and I still get lost trying to find a stall I've been to loads of times.

The cathedral is great! Free entry, free tours, and you might even get to meet Budge the cat. The castle keep is closed at the moment, but the museum is wonderful. If you come on a day that Strangers Hall is open, that's well worth a visit too.

The best bit of Norwich is really the lanes, and the cathedral quarter. There's almost too much to take in. The best way I can describe it is that it's like York, but without the tourism, and packed full of small independent businesses.

Also shout to Head in the Clouds! Still going strong, and now run by the son of Nigel who opened it 50yrs ago.

Go to Norwich often. Biddys tea rooms for delicious cake and huge range of teas. Bread source do wonderful coffee pastries etc. I personally always enjoy a root around Looses in Magdalen street, it’s a big antique and bric a brac place, can get lost for ages in there.

Fellow NR2 resident.

I tell you, I’m taking my life in my hands when I step on to Town Close or Lime Tree Roads!

OP, as everyone has said (mostly!), it’s a Fine City… great centre to wander about in. Too small to get lost but big enough to discover. It avoided being heavily bombed in the war, so the medieval centre is pretty intact.

The Cathedral and Cathedral Close are beautiful. The Lanes, Tombland & Elm Hill, Jarrolds, the Market - just lovely. The castle is closed at the moment but there are some small galleries open (but better to come back when it’s fully opened).

Basement of Jarrolds Department Store has a food hall where you can sit at the counters and drink glasses of wine and choose individual items from the Deli, salads, cakes etc. It all feels quite swish but not expensive whatsoever. It’s like being in an upmarket tapas bar / covered market in Spain.

Briton Arms is lovely for tea and cake (or even Sunday Roast). Then you can wander along Elm Hill afterwards.

Oh, good call on the South Asia collection. It's an old Victorian roller rink, amazing building.

If you don't want to use park and ride St Andrews or Rose Lane are good car parks, £6 all day last time I parked and nice wide spaces.

(I don't understand the Waffle House fuss either!)

Also, The Sainsbury’s Collection at UEA. Beautiful gallery - truly amazing art and artefacts. Good cafe too.

Oh, I don't get the Waffle House love either but Hugh Jackman ate there the other week so it must have some appeal 😆

Yes I love it there too.

I don’t really understand the whole Waffle House love either. I think a lot of people like it because it’s not a chain, so it’s something specific to Norwich (as far as I understand anyway) but personally I’d much rather have a pizza at Pizza Express overlooking the castle and the lovely church opposite, and watching everyone mill about outside the forum below. I guess we’re all different and like different things!

Ooooh! Saving this thread for a solo trip that isn't yet planned but will have to be based on some of the recommendations here.

I used to love a wander in Norwich, but hadn't been there for about 10 years until late last summer. I think I must also have got a bad day. I stayed at the premier inn near the rail station, which was a poor choice I think as it meant walking back and forth along Prince of Wales road, and it felt somewhat unsafe at night. I went to a play in the evening and it was very quiet and eerie feeling in the city centre afterwards, and then busier but a bit more intimidating towards the station. But even in the day, just so much seemed to be closed or under construction, or just neglected feeling somehow. I imagine some of it was just a post-covid slump though. I had a second day to spend there and in the end just got back on the train mid-morning.

I'll have to go back again now that there are a lot more positive recommendations! I was disappointed by how much it seemed to have changed, but hopefully I just got a bad day/time/season.

I remember it being lovely though, so I hope you have a good time. If you are staying over, I'd pick a different premier inn than the one near the station, even though it looked like it'd be quite convenient!

I also recommend a short walk out to Plantation Garden if you're all shopped out.

When someone says Norwich all I think of at the moment is 45 Years.

I’ve been thinking about some of the negative comments … I think the whole of Norfolk has been quite badly affected by the whole cost of living crisis - I live in what used to be a relatively “posh” middle class village but everything seems to be closing down on the high street, there’s a rougher feel to everything now. Norfolk really lacks good public transport (except if you literally live in the middle of Norwich) and what trains there are run at odd times and are expensive. (A return from Diss for example, the first stop from Norwich for many, 22 mins away is now about £12 return). I think a lot of people have really tightened their belts and just don’t venture into Norwich like they used to, even the teens etc who used to love to go there for a day out. Of course, you still get incredibly affluent areas and people in Norfolk, I’m not denying that but I’ve lived here for 15 years and I can definitely see it’s changing.

@BrunchMonster The Premier Inn on Duke Street a much better option than the one by the train station (you can walk to Jarrolds and the Market Square in less than 5mins, and same to Elm Hill and the Cathedral). Nice area with the Playhouse Theatre and Art School behind it. Slightly rubbish views on to carpark but some windows you can see the cathedral spire. Bad thing is no aircon and it’s unbearably hot in summer so it’s only an option in cooler weather. You can open the windows to here fresh air in unlike some Premier Inns

That sounds like a much nicer area. though not sure I could make do without aircon! Guess it's quite unpredictable what the weather would be like end of august though, which is when I went.

I will have to go back one of these days and see how post-covid improvements are doing. It's actually doable in a day from where I am if I don't go to the theatre, but I've often found that Norwich seems pretty good for theatre and events like that, so that's often a reason i'd consider going there, which makes staying over necessary. And as mentioned above, the train is bizarrely expensive to get to Norwich compared to other places a similar distance/time, so it's not somewhere I've been back to again recently.

I don't remember the road from the station being so bad before - actually I used to remember it being full of furniture and home decor type shops, but maybe that's just my memory playing tricks on me. Now it seemed to be clubs and lots of random empty buildings.

Maybe I'll do a summer outing there one of these days.

@indecisivewoman81 and @JeandeServiette

I don't know if you're on FB, but this group is brilliant for finding GF in Norwich and Norfolk. Gluten intolerant DD is at UEA.

Norfolk Coeliacs and Gluten Avoiders | Groups | Facebook

Suprised by posters saying CoL crisis is impacting Norwich more than other cities because from my experience that’s not true. Whiles wages aren’t great in Norfolk living costs are still lower than many equivalent and therefore norwich rates well on affordability.

I still feel like norwich is far more independent shops and food places than most other places of a similar size. Have any of the people saying things are going down hill centipede into the north of the city recently? The many many pubs round there are brilliant and since covid seem to have really upped their game on food. There’s also several newish brunch places. Definitely a gentrification in action.

I feel like the city centre is still relitively unscathed by business closures and empty shops compared to other places too. The lanes seem to be thriving. The noticeable empty spaces are where places like Debenhams and Topshop used to be but obviously those closures aren’t norwich specific.

The Premier Inn at the bottom of St Stephens is most peculiar and St Stephens is only really to be visited if you're wanting to book a driving theory test or you're planning on going clubbing so having to walk it daily from the hotel won't give a decent impression of the city. It's also v near the red light district so going to be different at night to the rest of the city.

Biddy's tea rooms as mentioned by a pp, is brilliant but you must book in advance. Brix and Bones is good if you're into gastronomy. Locally sourced, organic, seasonal, sustainable. Really bold and evolving menu.

Castle Mall has so many empty shops but tbh that started happening as soon as chapelfield opened. Some types of places are thriving - another No33 where Pedro's was in chapelfield gardens - and others aren't, hence empty shops.

My kids love going shopping up city and can get the bus in from our village - though timetables not great in the evenings.

I had my wedding reception at the Wine Cellar 😎

A short walk out along Earlham Road is a fabulous coffee shop called Dyrrah - they do the best pizza I have ever had some evenings.

Thank you!

'My kids love going shopping up city'

😊

Classic Norfolk / Norwich phrase - lovely to see it on here!

The Assembly House for afternoon tea (or just a light lunch).
The Cathedral Close

I'm literally five minutes from Chapelfield Gardens, but we still all say 'going up city' if we're venturing beyond the mean streets of residential NR2

I used to live on Newmarket Rd, in the really dodgy bit between Town Close & Lime Tree. Now THAT was scary...