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About 2 nights in 'trendy but kind' Norwich
The newspaper says that Norwich is a 'cosmopolitan city with a small-town feel, a green conscience and a warm heart'. 'It's trendy but kind,' the report added.
Norwich is a very walkable riverside city - in fact it had the country's first pedestrianised street, London Street, in 1967. Today, most of the city centre is traffic free, a deliberate attempt to make it as enjoyable an experience as possible.
Places to stay recommendations
There's a shabby chic vibe to The Georgian Townhouse, a short walk from the city centre through Chapelfield Gardens. Choose from cosy bedrooms to one- and two-room apartments.
There's more Georgian splendour at The Assembly House, close to the Theatre Royal and Forum. With stylish rooms and suites, this is also the place to explore your inner Bridgerton - you can imagine Regency balls in the elegant dining rooms.
Close to the magnificent Norman cathedral, the award-winning Maids Head Hotel is thought to be the oldest hotel in the UK, dating back over 800 years. You can even stay in the room where Queen Elizabeth I slept while visiting her friend Bishop Matthew 'Nosy' Parker. In the 2026 Suffolk and Norfolk Tourism Awards, the Maids Head won Hotel of the Year and its WinePress Restaurant was awarded the Taste of England title.
The hotels have car parks but it would be great if you could arrive by train - London is just 90 minutes away and Cambridge just over an hour.
Events in Norwich
February - Norwich Science Festival
May - Norfolk and Norwich Festival
June - Norwich Wine Week
July - Norwich Pride
July - four-day Lord Mayor's Celebration
July - Shakespeare Festival in the Cloisters
September - Run Norwich
October - Norwich Beer Festival
Itinerary Info
Duration
48 hours
Itinerary Schedule
Arrive in the City of Stories
UNESCO's first English City of Literature, Norwich is a great place to write your own story of discovery and exciting experiences.
Arrive at Norwich Station and walk the short way into the city centre, crossing the River Wensum at St Crispin's Bridge.
After checking in, get your bearings at Norwich market, the largest permanent covered market in northern Europe. From here, to the east, you'll see the twin Norman buildings that dominate the city - the spire of the cathedral and imposing castle. Check out the modern millennium Forum, the best used library in the UK and popular gathering point, opposite the city's parish church St Peter Mancroft. Head past handsome City Hall to the flint knapped ancient Guildhall and then explore charming old streets, especially The Lanes and Victorian Arcade where you'll find independent shopping, numerous cosy pubs and locally-owned restaurants. For High Street shops head to Chantry Place.
Why not make your own flavoured spirit at The Gin Academy, discover the city's history at Museum of Norwich at The Bridewell Museum or the city's historically progressive approach to welcoming people from overseas at Strangers Hall Museum. If you'd like some exercise, at City Greens Golf you can play world-famous golf courses on state-of-the-art simulators.
Take a tour of the city centre
The best-preserved complete medieval city in the British Isles, a tour of the city with Paul Dickson will reap huge rewards. This is the best way to discover the city's nooks and crannies, experience cobbled streets like Elm Hill with quaint shops that have barely changed in four hundred years, get the lowdown on local folklore and the historic figures who helped make the city, including the man who takes credit for the rude 'flicking the Vs'!
If you decide to go it alone, there are lots of blue-tabard volunteer guides around the city centre who'll give you friendly advice and help.
Visit Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
Having recently undergone a £28m refurbishment as 'Royal Palace Reborn', Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery has been dominating the city for 900 years. We call it our 'Box on the Hill'. And it's a box of treasures with galleries of contemporary and 19th century 'Norwich School' art, natural history, archaeology and you can meet Boudicca's Iceni and the city's ceremonial Snapdragon.
And that's before you get to the magnificent keep, reimagined as it was during an 1121 Christmas visit by King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, and including The Gallery of Medieval Life: A British Museum Partnership that showcases nearly 1,000 medieval artefacts. Norwich Castle is now the UK’s most accessible castle, with step-free access from basement to rooftop battlements.
Get ahead of the curve - 2027 is the international Year of the Normans, so it's a great time to visit before another invasion... this time of visitors to see how the conquerors put their stamp on the evolving city.
In the evening take in a show at one of Norwich's theatres: Norwich Theatre where you can see London West End shows at lower costs and with none of the city hassle, riverside Norwich Playhouse which is established as one of the best fringe venues in the country, and The Maddermarket Theatre, renowned for its Elizabethan-style productions as well as community theatre.
Riverside and Norman cathedral
Take things gently before your return home.
Start your day at Pull's Ferry on the River Wensum. It's from here that the Normans brought their quarried stone from Caen in Normandy by sea and river to build the cathedral. Head along Riverside to Bishop's Bridge, the oldest still-used bridge in the city, and modern Jarrold Bridge. Wherever you are in the city you'll enjoy the juxtaposition of contemporary and ancient. Then move onto Quayside where you're at the heart of medieval mercantile Norwich, when the city was the second most prosperous in the country after London because of the wool and textile trades. Whatever time of day, you'll enjoy a quiet, traffic-free time, marvelling that you're in the heart of a city that's the only one in an English National Park, the Broads.
Head to Norwich Cathedral, either across the city or returning by the riverside. The cathedral precincts are worth exploring, but head inside this magnificent Norman building to marvel at the architecture. It has the largest cloisters of any cathedral in the country which host a Shakespeare festival each summer. Amazing to think this was all built as penance for bribery. Discover the amazing history of this ecclesiastical masterpiece with one of the volunteer guides.
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