9 brilliant family days out in Norfolk

Looking for some great family days out in Norfolk?  We’ve got you covered!  With stunning beaches, historic houses, animal attractions, and its own national park, there’s so many brilliant ways to entertain kids in Norfolk.

Whether you’re planning a day trip, a fun weekend break, or a week-long family holiday,  we’ve rounded up our favourite tried-and-tested Norfolk days out.

From outdoor adventures and wildlife experiences to indoor attractions for rainy days, you’ll find plenty of inspiration below.

And if you’re looking for even more ideas, check out our bumper guide to the best things to do in Norfolk with kids.

*contains affiliate links

One of the best family days out in Norfolk is aboard a boat on the Broads.  Whether you go for an hour or a week, the kids will love it!  Plus, it’s also one of the best Norfolk days out for adults.  With 125 miles of man-made navigable waterways, the Norfolk Broads are the perfect place for a boat ride, even for beginners.

Luckily, you don’t need to own your own boat.  There’s plenty of places to hire boats in Norfolk and they come in all shapes and sizes.  We’ve hired day boats from Wroxham and a 7-day holiday boat from Horning and it’s fantastic fun for all the family.

The kids love playing at “captain”, looking for windmills, or spotting birds along the banks.

Once you’ve tried your luck at crabbing follow the path to the beach. Wells-next-the Sea has a beautiful, sandy beach with a row of pretty, colourful beach huts. It is a popular beach, so can get busy.  Nevertheless, a visit to Wells is still high on our list of fun family days out Norfolk.

Despite the town’s name, it’s about one mile to the beach at Wells-next-the-Sea.  A scenic pinewood path leads to the beach, but you could take the Wells Harbour Railway, a miniature gauge railway.

For some history and heritage in Norfolk, head to Blickling Hall in North Norfolk.

Blickling Hall is a magnificent Jacobean House in Aylsham and was the birthplace of Anne Boleyn.  Originally a deer park, Blickling Hall has extensive grounds, which are perfect for a family walk or cycle.  It has a varied landscape of woodland, open fields, a lake, and formal gardens near the house, so is perfect for nature-lovers too.

We followed one of the four waymarked trails, which led us to the key attractions at Blickling Hall estate.  As well as stunning Norfolk countryside, you can expect to find an 18^th Century Gothic Tower and a pyramidical mausoleum.

For any nature-lovers, one of top attractions in Norfolk is the seals.  Norfolk has an abundance of common (harbour) seals and grey seals, so is a brilliant place to spot them.

One of the best places to watch seals in Norfolk is from Blakeney Point Nature Reserve, home to the largest Grey Seal colony in England.  From here you can book the ferry trip, which departs from Morston Quay.

Other places to spot seals in Norfolk are at Hunstanton in summer or Horsey Gap in winter.  You may also see some along the coast at Hunstanton.  You should do it – they are just so adorable!

The Norfolk Coast Path stretches for 83 miles from Hunstanton to Sea Palling in the north east.  You can access this at many points, but we chose to walk the stretch from Weybourne.  It’s a beautiful route with a back drop of steep yellow chalk cliffs. It is also a popular spot for paragliders who glided back and forth along the line of the cliffs.

We started on the shingle beach but returned atop the Weybourne clifftops.  Here you can spot a lot of concrete pill boxes along the route.  These are reminders of the defence system used during World War II.  In the distance you can see the pretty Weybourne Windmill.

It’s 3 miles to Sheringham, but we turned back before we got there and headed in the other direction.  Here you’ll notice the former anti-aircraft training camp from Weybourne.  It is currently home to a military museum and you can see some of the large gun emplacements pointing out to sea.

With 90 miles of beautiful coastline, it’s easy to find a beach to suit everyone in Norfolk.   You’ll discover long expanses of unspoilt golden sand, backed by sand dunes.  However, to avoid the crowds, head to one of Norfolk’s more remote beaches.

One of the best beaches in Norfolk is at Brancaster, which has miles of unspoilt golden sand.  There’s a car park adjacent to the beach, but you can do a scenic walk from St Mary’s Church in Titchwell.

There are too many great beaches in Norfolk to mention them all, but some of our other favourites include Mundesley and Holkham.

We first hired bikes in Norfolk when the twins were too young to cycle themselves and needed a tag-along.  I’m not keen on hills, so was excited to cycle somewhere completely flat.  However, Norfolk is not completely flat and does have hills!  Despite this, a bike ride in Norfolk still makes a fantastic day out with the family.  There’s plenty of long country roads or coastal routes with fantastic scenery.

Alternatively, you could try one of the traffic-free cycle routes.  On our recent visit to Norfolk, we stayed in the picturesque market town of Reepham in North Norfolk.  From here you can access the long-distance Marriott’s Way cycle route.

The 26-mile cycle route meanders along the disused railway lines through fabulous Norfolk countryside from Aylsham to Norwich.  You don’t have to do it all in one go, but it’s traffic free, so ideal for family cycling or walking.

Great Yarmouth is the ultimate destination for classic holiday fun in Norfolk and perfect for a day out with the family.  Not only does it have a long, sandy beach, a Ferris wheel, two piers, and a Golden Mile of amusement arcades, but its very own circus!

In fact, the Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth is rather unique, as it’s one of only three in the country with a sunken water stage.  The Hippodrome Circus puts on a spectacular show which is ideal for a family day out on a rainy day in Norfolk.

Other places to visit in Great Yarmouth on a rainy day include the Sea Life Centre and the Time and Tide Museum.

Norfolk is a county in eastern England, in the region of East Anglia.  It’s the fourth largest in England and has a long coastline on the North Sea, giving a choice of beautiful beaches.

Norfolk is only a 2-hour drive from London by car.

Alternatively, regular trains run from London Liverpool Street and King’s Cross to Norwich.

Below is a map of 9 places to visit in Norfolk with kids.

Save the map to use when you are there by clicking on the star to the right of the title.

You can later find the map by going to your Google Maps app and selecting the saved icon.

Have you tried any of these great days out in Norfolk with kids?  We’d love to hear your comments below.

Pin for later:  9 brilliant family days out in Norfolk

*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission. (Read our full Disclosure Policy)