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Norwich & Norfolk

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20232024
5 days From £399 £349 per person
4.3 stars(262 reviews)
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Experience the beautiful landscapes of Norfolk by heritage railway, exploring historic towns and treasures along the way.

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Save up to £50pp on selected UK 2024 holidays when you book by 31st October 2023.

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Book your Europe or British Isles holiday by midnight Wed 18th October and be automatically entered into a prize draw to win a free Springtime Tulips & Keukenhof Gardens river cruise for two, with our sister company Great Rail journeys.

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Mobility Rating 2

2024 Tour code: 24NFS

About the tour

Explore the meandering waterways and heritage railways of Norfolk. Based in historic Norwich, experience scenic journeys on the Mid and North Norfolk railways, sail the Norfolk Broads on a Mississippi paddle boat, and visit Sandringham - the royal's country retreat.

Unforgettable Experiences

North Norfolk Railway
North Norfolk Railway
Journey on the North Norfolk Railway, travelling through the scenic countryside of the ‘Poppy Line’.
Sandringham
Sandringham
Wander the beautiful gardens and enchanting halls of Sandringham, one of Britain’s finest stately homes.
Norfolk Broads
Norfolk Broads
Sail along the Norfolk Broads, watching out for wildlife as you cruise the gentle waters.
Norwich
Norwich
Discover the fascinating history of Norwich on a guided tour.
Bure Valley Railway
Bure Valley Railway
Travel past flower-filled meadows and verdant scenery on the Bure Valley Railway.

What’s included

Itinerary

Day 1 - A warm welcome in Norwich

Your holiday begins today in Norwich, the lively capital of Norfolk, where you meet your Tour Manager at your hotel. Once you've checked in, you can start familiarising yourself with the city's cultural delights and welcoming atmosphere. Wandering the cobbled streets at leisure, you'll discover Norwich's vibrant arts scene, bustling markets, and rich literary heritage.

Includes
  • Dinner
Day 2 - Exploring Norwich

Today you enjoy a guided walking tour of Norwich's Old Town and learn some of the city's fascinating history. Dominated by a magnificent Anglo-Norman cathedral, Norwich is a pleasing jumble of historic and modern architecture. Its streets and open squares reveal museums, medieval churches, public gardens, and other attractions. Deceptively compact, Norwich is delightful and rewarding to explore on foot.

This afternoon you can discover more of Norwich at leisure. As well as Norwich Cathedral, the city has a second cathedral you could visit. The Cathedral of St John the Baptist is one of the finest examples of great Victorian Gothic Revival Architecture in the UK. Next to this masterpiece, you'll find Plantation Garden, a calm escape from the bustle of the city with its Gothic-style fountain, flower beds, lawns, Italianate terrace, and more.

Includes
  • Breakfast, Dinner
Day 3 - A heritage journey on the Mid-Norfolk Railway and sailing the Norfolk Broads

You discover Norfolk by heritage railway today. After heading to Dereham by rail, you join the Mid-Norfolk Railway* for a journey through the picturesque countryside to the market town of Wymondham. From here your coach takes you to Aylsham, an unspoilt market town where you board the Bure Valley Railway.

Running through the Bure Valley, the line follows the meandering River Bure passing by serene meadows and historic pastures. Along the way, you also journey through idyllic villages within the beautiful Broadland region.

Arriving in Wroxham, you experience the beautiful Norfolk scenery in a unique way. Aboard a Mississippi paddle boat, you cruise along the Norfolk Broads, renowned for its wonderful landscapes and wildlife. With light refreshments available on board, this is a truly relaxing way to spend an afternoon.

*Steam-hauled where possible , however due to timetable changes or weather conditions, heritage diesel locomotives may be running instead.

Includes
  • Breakfast, Dinner
Day 4 - The scenic North Norfolk Railway to elegant Sandringham

This morning you start with a scenic rail journey along the Bittern Line to Sheringham. Once you've arrived, you join the heritage North Norfolk Railway* for a picturesque, steam-hauled journey to Holt. The railway is famously known as the 'Poppy Line' because of the vibrant red flowers that spring up along the route during the summer.

After experiencing this slice of railway history, your day continues with a visit to Sandringham, the Royal residence that was a favourite country retreat of the late Queen Elizabeth II. You have some time to explore the stunning house and its acres of beautifully landscaped gardens before returning to your hotel in the late afternoon.

*Steam-hauled where possible , however due to timetable changes or weather conditions, heritage diesel locomotives may be running instead.

Includes
  • Breakfast, Dinner
Day 5 - Homeward bound

After breakfast this morning, it's time to say goodbye to new friends as your holiday comes to an end. Head home with the lovely new memories you've made this week, or you could explore more of Norfolk's treasures on your own.

Includes
  • Breakfast

Additional information

Departure times

Your tour begins in Norwich, where you meet your Tour Manager at the Holiday Inn Norwich City at 14.00pm.

Mobility information

Due to the nature of our tours they are generally unsuitable for those with restricted mobility. If you’d like to discuss any particular holiday with us in this respect, then please don’t hesitate to call us.

Hotel

Holiday Inn Norwich City, Norwich

Holiday Inn Norwich City, Norwich

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Trains

Bure Valley Railway
Mid-Norfolk Railway
North Norfolk Railway

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Reviews

4.3 stars4.3 / 5 · 262 reviews

  1. 5 stars
    (118)
  2. 4 stars
    (107)
  3. 3 stars
    (28)
  4. 2 stars
    (6)
  5. 1 star
    (3)

R Birnie

4 stars

Submitted 17/Sep

The trip was good value and the outings were interesting. The hotel was comfortable and well located except for the fact that bedrooms overlooking the football stadium had constant noise from some kind of machinery. The food was plentiful but not wonderful.

Collected by Trustpilot

Stephen Rhodes

1 stars

Submitted 17/Sep

Advertised as a 5 day break, in fact you only do something on two days with a 2 hour walk around Norwich on a third day? The choice of Holiday Inn as a place to stay leaves a lot to be desired, the views of Norwich City`s football pitch are splendid. Breakfasts are ok but dinner is awful, we got a special menu, a choice of three starters, main courses and desserts. The hotel uses the cheapest options in preparing these meals, most are frozen, all are over cooked, tasteless (soup, chicken, bread and butter pudding), hard to identify (cottage pie) tough (Chicken) and mostly inedible. If the hotel has a qualified chef, he should be ashamed of what he serves. Rail Discoveries should be even more ashamed to have ordered such awful food in the first place. Their tour manager, who agreed with me the food was awful should be even more ashamed not to have done something about it previously or on our visit.1950 school meals were more enjoyable! As for Holiday Inn, here is part of their reply to my complaint:- We are sorry to hear that your stay was not up to our usual standards namely the food. With the first night of the group, we understand their must be some misunderstanding as on the first night of each group staying one of the team members goes table to table and take the order. ( There were two waiters looking after 36) With regards to the young lady, we do apologise if you were made to feel this way but please be assured I have spoken with her and this was never her intention to make you both feel this way. (A complaint to the young lady in charge on the said evening brought no response) As far as we are made aware, we did not have any complaints from this group so we are very disappointed to hear you had a bad experience. We regularly have Rail Discoveries stay with us at the Holiday Inn and normally receive very high feedback. As yet Rail Discoveries are still investigating my complaint. I you still wish to go, we can recommend a very nice restaurant next to the railway station call GEM. We went there on the second night and went home on the third night! Good luck

Collected by Trustpilot

A Attard

4 stars

Submitted 3/Sep

Enjoyable trip but hotel evening meals were disappointing.

Collected by Trustpilot

David

4 stars

Submitted 3/Sep

A good four day break however dinner menu could be better.

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Roger

4 stars

Submitted 31/Aug

Interesting, varied, well organised trip.

Collected by Trustpilot

Mr K C Day

5 stars

Submitted 30/Aug

Value for money.

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