To think Norwich is overrated?

[MissManda]

I hope I don't cause offence to anyone with this post. However, I visited Norwich for the first time today after people telling me it was lovely and worth the visit. I expected it to be similar to York...but..it just wasn't. It seemed quite rundown and dirty, difficult to navigate, and literally the only nice bit was near the cathedral. However, even that was still not anywhere near as nice as somewhere like York...

I spent 6 hours there exploring. Am I missing something or is Norwich hugely overrated?

That is so not literally only the nice bit! You didn’t look properly. You did do Elm Hill? The castle? The river?

Don’t you like pubs?! It has great pubs. The lanes are great. It’s small though, and not like York.

Now Oxford is a city that’s overstated.

You can think whatever you like OP, you don't need MNs permission to not like somewhere.

Yes, I feel like we did everywhere. The riverside looked up and coming but was mainly commercial chains and leisure.

Did you walk round tombland? St Benedicts
Lots of nice restaurants and pubs.
The market
Little streets off it.

Norwich has never been wealthy ( well apart from the 13th -15th century) but there are loads of nice places.
Round the train station is a bit grim.

The river walks are lovely. It also doesn’t have quite the horrible drunk tourism that York has.
But it’s a working city, not a theme park. And it’s pretty beautiful IMPO

I wouldn’t have bothered with Riverside, it’s not up and coming. That’s not the bit of river I meant though- that would be past cow tower etc at the bottom of the cathedral gardens.

If you went to the “ new river bit” then that’s horrible and commercialised.

Have you never read reviews of what type of bits of any city might suit what you want as a visitor!!! I’m shocked, I wouldn’t just rock up somewhere without doing serious research

Norwich has great pubs!!

Interesting. I partly agree with you OP and I live here. Norwich (in my opinion) is a lovely place to live and bring up children, but it is a working city and not nearly as touristy as York or Bath etc. It has the medieval walls and gates but they are mostly just part of the environment with more modern parts as well. It does have great shopping though.

Gentleman's walk, Market, The Forum, St. Peter Mancroft, Sainsbury's Centre, Dragon's Hall, GuildHall, Norwich City Council building, Jarrold's building, Castle -- all unimpressive?

I've been to York & it was nice but not all that. I suppose Chester is the most charming English city I've been to.

There is so much to see there. Pubs shops restaurants. Lovely vibe. I don't understand anybody who thinks differently.

Sainsbury centre for visual arts. Probably one of the most interesting places. With Henry Moore’s in the grounds. Designed by Norman foster, collection including picasso and bacon

Great coffee shop and cake game too, which I always overlooked in favour of the pubs but last time I visited I was pregnant so I switched it up. Upper St Giles had some lovely places.

I mean why didn’t you start a thread.
Where should I visit in Norwich thanks mumsnet

Norwich is beaut

Is it that highly rated though? I've lived in Chester, York and close to Bath and would never have thought as Norwich as somewhere along those lines! You hear plenty of love for parts of North Norfolk but I'd always assumed (on limited evidence) Norwich was just a small provincial city? "Normal for Norfolk" and all that!

I'm actually going next month so hoping it is lovely. Talk of good pubs is a promising start.

Norwich is fabulous. I love it there.

You still managed six hours of exploring though so it can’t have been that bad

sorry posted too soon...

Norwich is beautiful... we took a canal boat on the broads.. for many years when our kids were younger..

then spent a week in Norwich .. I loved it... just steeped in beautiful buildings and shops bars restaurants...

🌸

Where did you eat?

Grosvenor fish and chip shop is amazing but I was really pleased to see loads of new food options on the market last time I was there.

No one goes to Norwich expecting Bath.

But bath is a theme park. They now have a Frankenstein experience next to the Jane Austen experience.

Neither have anything to do with Bath

@Rayna37 You're right - Maybe I just had high expectations of it being like Bath, York, Chester and then it wasn't.

I can’t believe Winchester gets missed off all these ‘charming’ city suggestions! Another place that has charm in spades. Like Norwich.

The congestion and poor public transport are pretty annoying

You can buy an actual nice house in Norwich centre for 250k
Of course it’s not like bloody bath.
It’s a real life city not a theme park

Did you visit the spice museum?